F O O D + D R I N K
PHOTOS BY CARLIE ANNE COLLECTIVE
CREOLE LUNCH HOUSE 37 Delicious Years By Kristina Charles
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f you’re looking for a hot, old-fashioned, home cooked meal, you need to try the Creole Lunch House located on 713 12th St. in Lafayette. The southern cuisine is known for their stuffed breads and plate lunches served fresh daily. Merline Herbert worked in the school system for 22 years as an elementary school teacher and principal. She decided after retirement that she and her husband would take a leap of faith into a brand new avenue in their lives, restaurant entrepreneurship. Merline, a passionate cook and mother of 2 boys, knew she loved cooking, eating and feeding, but she said what stumped them in the beginning was not knowing what to cook and what their specialty would be. But just like most things in life, and as the saying goes, “The answer is right under your nose.” Merline and her husband decided they would cook what they make at home: home cooked, soul food meals from the heart. On June 23, 1983, Merline and her family opened what is now still called “The Creole Lunch House.”
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“We started the restaurant and I was scared but it was exciting and ended up being a beautiful experience,” said Merline. “We started in a smaller building (originally a tutoring center) in the backyard then we moved into this building a year and a couple months after opening up because we started producing our creole stuffed breads and we used that little building to get started,” she added. The Creole Lunch House now has a large USDA approved processing plant that produces their Creole stuffed breads on Distribution Drive in Lafayette. Over the years, the restaurant had 5 locations: Johnston Street, Northgate Mall, Lake Charles Mall, Lafayette Regional Airport (8 years) and they have participated in Jazz Festival in New Orleans. Due to the LFT airport location, Merline says her food has been tasted by celebrities and pilots flying in throughout the world looking for a home cooked, rice and gravy meal. 337M A GA ZIN E.C OM
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