Feed Your Soul: A little bit of lagniappe

WEST MONROE, La. (KNOE) - When you think of comfort food, you probably think of a family dinner. You can find that same atmosphere at Belle’s Ole South Diner in West Monroe.

The window even welcomes you and lets you know you are family the first time you walk in. That feeling is why customers such as Becki Connor keep coming back.

“Might as well come to a place when we act like family to be treated like family,” said Connor.

The original location was started nearby the current location in 2008 by owners Wayne and Lori Pitts.

Ten years later, a fire destroyed the restaurant.

That’s when Pitts said regulars came to the rescue.

“A lot of our people actually helped us to open up here. They would tell me that we need a good place to eat,” said Pitts.

Once you try the food, you’ll understand why people were so generous.

“The food is always good,” said Connor. “It’s always better than what you expect. It’s just a really good taste to the food, really good flavor, seasoned well.”

When you go there, choosing what to order could be difficult. It all just seems too good! I was debating over the chicken fried chicken and the beef tips, so they gave me a side of the beef tips with my chicken fried chicken.

Each dish on the menu at Belle’s Ole South Diner is crafted with care, and everything I ate tasted fresh and flavorful.

“We cook everything fresh,” said Pitts. “We spend a lot of time and we put a lot of love into our food,” said Pitts.

Most of the recipes come from his wife Lori who went to chef school in Baton Rouge.

“She’s a certified trained chef. She’s better than I am. I’m good, but she’s better than I am,” explained Pitts.

Lori learned to cook alongside Louisiana greats like Paul Prudhomme.

Wayne’s love of cooking comes from his Memaw. He would visit and be put to work in the kitchen.

“She wants you to help,“ said Pitts. ”So, we begin to help her cook and roll out biscuits, cook eggs and meat.”

One tradition he still keeps today comes from South Louisiana.

“Whenever you do something, you always give a little bit of lagniappe to people who may have just a little bit extra to somebody just pushes it so much further when you do,” said Pitts.

If I had known what lagniappe was, I would have been trying to get some earlier.

So, head to Belle’s Ole South Diner in West Monroe to be treated like family with a down-home meal and a little bit of lagniappe to feed your soul.

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