The Story of Stevie’s Creole Cafe, Which Serves the Best Gumbo in LA | Eater LA
"Like the marquee lights of a Bourbon Street bar, the sign above the cafe beckons diners who zoom along Pico Boulevard in Mid-City, where heaping bowls of crab-filled gumbo, comforting red beans and rice, zingy jambalaya with fettuccine noodles, and tender cornbread muffins await them. On a recent cold night in February, four first-timers at a neighboring table ask if the gumbo is worth ordering, peering at the white ceramic cauldron of dark brown stew before the narrator, its cooked shellfish poking out from the broth of filé powder, buttery roux, and stock (the narrator: “I tell them it’s probably the best in Los Angeles”). The dining room is easy-going with weathered wooden tables packed together; the patio is often empty on chilly nights, while inside it feels as warm as a Southern home — cheerful and veritably humming. The late critic Jonathan Gold once called the gumbo the “best bowl of gumbo this side of New Orleans,” but to only come for that would undercut the menu’s other gems, including one of the best macaroni and cheeses in town. Founded in 1986 by Stephen Perry — who earlier worked as a child actor in The Raisin in the Sun with Sidney Poitier and later performed in The Sound and the Fury with Yul Brynner and Joanne Woodward, and who also appeared on television in shows like The Mod Squad and The Twilight Zone — the restaurant drew a wide audience through entertainment‑industry connections and a yearslong local radio campaign; in 1993 Gold wrote that Perry sold his food “with the vigor some may think more appropriate to used cars.” The operation expanded to Encino in 1999 with supper‑club vibes, live music, and cocktails, drawing celebrities such as Natalie Cole, Bobby Brown, Stevie Wonder, and Eddie Murphy; after closures of the original location in 2011 and the Encino spot in 2015, the family reopened on Pico Boulevard that year with a more fast‑casual ambience. “Being in LA with only so many Creole restaurants here, it’s really special what we have,” says Lauren Perry, who — along with sisters Morgan and Cameron — helps run the restaurant and who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Phoenix before returning to revamp recipes, refine operations, and “evolve a brand that my parents started.” “I learned the art of food and the science. I enhanced our dishes and even got a little creative,” says the younger Perry, whose additions include flavored cornbreads, a tweaked gumbo recipe, and a new étouffée. In the last eight years the cafe has become a Mid‑City staple, pulling former Encino patrons and longtime Crenshaw fans north of the 10 for blackened red snapper, fried chicken, and dark, brooding gumbo piled with shrimp, Andouille sausage coins, shredded chicken, and crab legs. The elder Perry, now 78, still drops by to taste test and greet regulars: “He’s definitely proud with the legacy and thankful. For a Black family to start something and leave an impression, he’s blessed that we want to do this and actually love it,” says Lauren. Lauren also credits the community for the restaurant’s durability: “We have customers who come multiple times a week, and sometimes daily because we have such a niche food.” Open daily from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., the cafe continues into its 39th year as one of Los Angeles’s most beloved Creole restaurants." - Matthew Kang
