A single lunch can change a city’s palate, and that’s exactly where this story starts. We’re at Poor Boy's Riverside Inn with Richard and Lori Hurst, chasing the real origin of a Lafayette restaurant that feels stitched into Acadiana itself. From a grandfather selling snowballs downtown in the 1930s to a po-boy that made customers stop and ask “what is that,” the early years are pure Louisiana hustle, built on big breakfasts, bigger workdays, and a stubborn belief that people will follow quality.
We walk through the pivotal moves, including the St John Street beginning and the Pinhook years where a drawbridge and the river shaped daily life. Then we get into the kind of local history you don’t find on a menu: floods that force hard decisions, the moment Riverside becomes the first air conditioned restaurant in Acadiana, and how that comfort turned the dining room into a gathering place for students and regulars. Along the way, we talk New Orleans inspired classics like Crab Imperial and Oysters Rockefeller, plus the family rule that consistency is everything.
And yes, we go straight at the legend: redfish. Back when many Lafayette diners saw it as “trash fish,” Larry Hearst found a way to sell it, win people over, and help redefine what Gulf seafood could be here. We also tease the blackening story, swap memories about growing up inside the restaurant, and share the unexpected George Rodrigue connection that still lives on through Riverside’s kids’ menu art.
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The podcast was made possible through partnerships with Rouses Supermarket, Logic Refrigeration HVAC, Ounce of Hope, Cajun Table, Vermilionville, Soul Haus Kitchen, Chris Logan Media, and Sunday Soda Fountain – proving that when a community rallies around celebrating local food culture, amazing things happen. Subscribe now to join this delicious adventure and become part of the movement that's transforming Lafayette's food scene one bite at a time!
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