Gumbo Boys
Cajun restaurant · Downtown Los Angeles ·
Louisiana-style eatery with gumbo, po' boys, and beignets
Louisiana-style eatery with gumbo, po' boys, and beignets
"Gumbo Boys is a walk-up window that serves every Cajun-Creole comfort food you can imagine. Focus on the menu’s delicious fried things, like baskets of hush puppies, catfish nuggets, and a whole softshell crab looking pretty on a mound of fries. If you’ve got room, tack on an order of their andouille sausage gumbo—it’s smoky, full of snappy sausage, and a lot spicier than you might think." - brant cox, sylvio martins, cathy park
"It’s not uncommon to see a line in front of Downtown LA’s Gumbo Boys. This Cajun restaurant is run by siblings from Baton Rouge who specialize in its namesake dish, delivering bowls of rich, aromatic, soul-warming gumbo. Alongside the stew, the restaurant offers shrimp and grits, red beans, po’ boys, and plenty of fried seafood." - Mona Holmes
"Though it’s not too difficult to find, this tiny shack of a Cajun restaurant amidst Downtown’s Historic Core serves some of the best gumbo and other Louisiana specialties at very approachable prices. Founded by four siblings from Baton Rouge, Gumbo Boys is the best kind of gem in bustling Downtown." - Eater Staff
"Gumbo Boys is a walk-up window that serves every Cajun-Creole comfort food you can think of. And while their forearm-sized po'boys come bursting with crispy fried shrimp and soft shell crab, it's still nearly impossible not to tack on more delicious fried things to your order. There's baskets of hush puppies, okra, and pillowy beignets capped in mounds of powdered sugar, and if you've got room, make sure to get a side order of their andouille sausage gumbo— it's smoky, full of snappy sausage, and a lot spicier than you might think." - Sylvio Martins
"I've watched them grow from a sidewalk pop-up on Sixth and Spring in early 2018 into a permanent spot inside the former Meatzilla building at 646 S. Main Street, and I'm glad the family-run Gumbo Boys—siblings Paul, Quintin, Buckner Harris IV and Elizabeth Harris from Baton Rouge—are back in Downtown LA. They serve classic Creole-Cajun fare (gumbos, red beans and rice, jambalaya, po’ boys, and fried seafood platters) with approachable pricing (most dishes well under $15) and community-minded touches, including occasional giveaways like a free crawfish boil. The Sweep the Kitchen Sink gumbo is a particular hit, featuring shrimp, lump crab, andouille sausage, chicken, okra and the Holy Trinity of onion, bell pepper and celery; other standout items include an LA-inspired fried eggroll stuffed with three kinds of cheese, red beans, rice and andouille finished with remoulade, and crispy boudin balls made from housemade pork-and-chicken-liver boudin served with remoulade. Elizabeth’s Sissy’s Sweets supplies Southern desserts made from scratch—beignets, bread pudding and pecan praline. After learning to operate in professional kitchens and running a food truck (January 2020 for about a year) and pop-ups, the family now aims to brighten the neighborhood next to the Hotel Cecil (now Stay on Main) while staying true to the home-cooked recipes they learned from their mother. Gumbo Boys is open Monday–Saturday, noon–9 p.m." - Matthew Kang