If you’re driving along New Iberia’s E. St. Peter Street, you’ll likely spot a simple block building splashed with a brightly-colored Cajun mural. It looks unassuming, but looks are deceiving. Inside is a dining spot housing the best overstuffed seafood poboys you’ll ever try – along with thick, perfectly-seasoned fries. This is the home of Bon Creole, owned since 1995 by Randall Montegut.

Like the restaurant’s exterior, owner Randall Montegut’s casual Cajun demeanor is misleading. This man is an impressive seafood expert. He has a degree in fishery biology from LSU and a master’s degree to boot. He also worked in LSU’s Louisiana Sea Grant program for several years, until he launched Bon Creole in 1982.

Bon Creole originally opened as a processing plant, first for crawfish and crab and eventually for bowfin caviar – a delicacy derived from choupique, a primitive bony fish. Montegut bought the building behind his house to process the caviar, and before long Bon Creole was exporting the product worldwide, from New York City to Russia. But, because caviar season lasts only two months, he decided to do something that lasted longer: a restaurant serving overstuffed seafood poboys. “A friend of mine had a place in New Orleans that did overstuffed poboys, and they were jam-packed in there,” Montegut recalls. “And so I kind of modeled for that, and said, ‘I’m going to do something simple and just give them a lot of food.’”

Being in the seafood business, Montegut buys his shrimp – only Louisiana Gulf – directly from the best source in Cypremort Point. “I’m very particular on whom I get it from, and I want to make sure it doesn’t have a lot of phosphates,” he explains. “I buy only from a good source that I can depend on to give me a very good quality shrimp.”

Bon Creole started its chapter as a restaurant by serving weekday lunches only, offering plate lunches: red beans and rice with sausage or fried pork chop on Monday; pork roast or meatloaf with mashed potatoes on Tuesday; round steak or shrimp stew with homemade potato salad on Wednesday; spaghetti and meatballs or baked chicken with rice dressing on Thursdays, and crawfish etouffée or catfish stuffed with shrimp and crab meat over angel hair pasta with Alfredo sauce on Friday. “I grew up eating home-cooked food, and I can’t eat a fried food lunch every day of my life,” Montegut explains. “So we cook regular homemade, home-cooked plate lunches and dinners because we like that kind of food.”

As word of mouth spread, the dining spot expanded its hours from weekday lunch service to seven days a week, all day long. “We never had a sign up front for the first 15 years,” Montegut boasts. His daughter, Renée Louviere, began barbequing chicken, brisket, sausage, ribs, pork steaks and pork chops on Sundays – that is, before she became an assistant district attorney. So, Montegut, along with head cook Debbie Duplantis (a Bon Creole fixture for over 30 years) do the cooking.

Not surprisingly, whenever Montegut does something, he does it big. Out of his two trailers, he caters crawfish boils and barbeques for events ranging from corporate events to backyard gatherings. “Years back we did 2,000 pounds of crawfish one Friday at the Port for noon, and did 6,000 pounds for a hospital that evening,” Montegut says. “Then we left at 10 am, drove to Birmingham and boiled 17,000 pounds the next Saturday. We’re used to doing volume. We work good under pressure, but I don’t want to do that anymore.”

Now, a third generation is joining the business: Montegut’s grandson Christopher Louviere. A college graduate with a degree in engineering, the 26-year-old is in training to take over the business one day, that is, if his grandfather ever slows down. “We’re going to bring him home, because I’m 70 and hopefully I’ll want to back off and work a little less, you know,” Montegut says with a smile.

In the meantime Bon Creole continues to draw crowds. In fact recently the restaurant ran out of lunch specials by 1 pm. The reason? “I think we put out really good food,” Montegut says simply. “Not only do we put out good food, we are very consistent. We just pay a lot of attention to detail and try to put out a good product, be fair on the portions, be generous, and try to make sure you get your money’s worth.”

Grandson Christopher has another theory that gives his grandfather the credit. “I think a lot of the success is because of how involved he is in the business,” he shares.

Adds Montegut, “I like work; I don’t mind. I like being here. It’s kind of hard not to be here.”

MUST-TRY ITEMS

Gumbo-dacious

Start off your meal at Bon Creole with a serving of its famous gumbo. The seafood gumbo is bursting with fresh shrimp and crabmeat in every bite. On the spicy and savory side is the chicken and sausage (Savoie’s). If you can’t decide, try a cup of each!

Stuff Your Face

You won’t believe the size of Bon Temps’ overstuffed seafood poboys. Served with your choice of shrimp, crawfish, oyster or fish, the enormous sandwiches, served on Langlinais Baking Company’s bread, are mounds of pure seafood heaven. We counted 25 to 30 shrimp – on just one half!

Mile-High Meringue

Bon Creole’s bread pudding is truly unique. Instead of topping it with rum sauce, like most restaurants do, Bon Creole crowns its bread pudding with an airy-light meringue. Order early – it runs out quickly!