The long legacy of Laura’s II plate lunches

(Daily Advertiser)- The odd orders tell Madonna Broussard a lot. Broussard, 50, is the third generation to run Laura’s II, which her grandmother opened inside a house on Voorhies Street in 1968. On Sunday mornings, college kids will ask for nothing but rice drowned in the dark gravy from the steaming pan where bubbles break languidly across the surface. No turkey, chicken, greens or beans. Broussard knows those kids were drinking the night before.

When people are surprised that Laura’s II serves red beans on Wednesdays, she knows they’re from New Orleans where that dish is a Monday staple.

The ones who expect cornbread with their greens must be from a part of the South outside Louisiana.

The customer who wanted butter, and not gravy, on her rice certainly doesn’t live anywhere in the South.

That woman who called asking for Keto dishes, well, she’s better off eating somewhere else.

A popular order is turkey wings stuffed with a crimson paste of minced garlic and spices then cooked until it falls apart at the joint.

When someone unfamiliar comes into Laura’s II, eyes the line of steam trays with metal lids on the other side of the plexiglass divider, and wants a turkey wing, rice dressing, green beans and potato salad, they’re probably a fan of Anthony Bourdain. That’s what Bourdain ate at Laura’s II. His fans will ask where Bourdain sat in the dark dining room decorated like more like a house than a business, so they can sit there too.

For the full article and more on Anthony Bourdain’s visit to this local fan favorite, visit the Daily Advertiser.