What Goes Into Our Seafood Gumbo

Ask ten people in Acadiana how to make a gumbo and you will get eleven answers. At Kings, we are not here to settle the argument. We just make a seafood gumbo the way folks around Port Barre expect it, and we make it every single day.

It starts with the roux. A dark roux takes time and attention, cooked low until it turns the color of an old penny. Rush it and you taste it. Burn it and you start over. That patience is the part you cannot fake, and it is the backbone of the whole bowl.

From there it is the holy trinity, onions, bell peppers, and celery, cooked down until soft and sweet. That is the Louisiana base for just about everything we do, and gumbo is where it shows up best.

Then come the seafood and the seasoning. The pot simmers until everything has had time to get to know each other. We serve it over rice, the way it should be, so every spoonful has a little of everything in it.

You can get our seafood gumbo by the cup or by the bowl. A cup is a good way to start a meal, especially next to a po'boy or a salad. A bowl is a meal on its own, and plenty of regulars order it that way and call it lunch.

If you cannot decide, the Little Teche Dinner pairs fried fish and shrimp with a cup of that same seafood gumbo and a side. It is a good plate for someone who wants a taste of a few things without choosing just one.

We also keep a chicken, sausage, and tasso gumbo on the menu for the folks who want their gumbo without seafood. Same care, same roux, different bowl. Between the two, there is usually one that fits whatever you are in the mood for.

Gumbo is comfort food, and comfort food is the whole idea at Kings. We are a truck stop on US Hwy 190, open 24 hours, but the kitchen cooks like somebody's grandmother is watching. That is on purpose. A driver who has been on the road all day should be able to sit down to a real bowl of gumbo at 2am if that is when hunger hits.

If you have not had ours yet, this is your sign. Come sit down and order a bowl, or get it to-go for the road.

A few tips if it is your first time. Order a cup if you want to taste it alongside a po'boy, or a bowl if gumbo is the whole plan. Ask for extra rice if you like it on the thick side, or a little hot sauce if you want a kick. However you take it, it travels well, so do not be shy about getting a bowl to go for the drive home. It is the kind of food that tastes even better the next day, though around here it rarely lasts that long.

See the full menu for everything we are cooking, or order online and we will have your gumbo ready.