Photo: Café Camellia is already known and loved throughout the region for selling beignets at the Shreveport Farmers Market. Photo used courtesy of Cindy Gleason Johnson.
Pop UP: Downtown Shreveport, a project of the Downtown Shreveport Development Corporation/Downtown Development Authority, is a creative, ambitious program that will bring a variety of retail businesses and restaurants to downtown Shreveport’s Red River Entertainment District, May 12-23. As the name implies, “pop up” shops are short-term retail spaces that have become trendy around the world. In addition to jewelry, furniture, clothing and original art, Pop UP: Downtown Shreveport will feature a pretty great selection of local eats.
You can see a complete list of restaurants and retailers here – the DDA have done a great job of compiling loads of useful info like menus from each restaurant in one easy-to-find spot. Here are the three pop-up restaurants that will be open daily, and a few words on why I’m excited to see them downtown:
Café Camellia (Facebook link)
Cindy Gleason Johnson’s famous beignets and locally-roasted Camellia Coffee will be served all day, and a variety of lunch options will be served, 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Monday-Saturday. I’m particularly eager to try Johnson’s take on the crawfish pistolette (she’ll be serving them for lunch on Fridays). Pistolettes are bread rolls that have been hollowed out, stuffed with crawfish, blue crab or other tasty things, and deep fried or baked. View the full Café Camellia menu here.
Greenhouse Food Truck (Facebook link)
I’ve loved seeing Shreveport-Bossier’s mobile food vendor scene explode lately. New food trucks and mobile food vendors like The Missing Link (gourmet hot dogs) and Grill of the Dead (concept-driven burgers) have definitely shaken things up. However, one aspect that is still missing from Shreveport-Bossier’s food truck offerings is healthy dining. The Greenhouse Food Truck folks have posted a menu for the Pop UP: Downtown Shreveport dates, and shared this message on their Facebook page:
“We will be opening Monday, May 12, thru Saturday, May 24. Monday-Wednesday 10am-4pm and Thursday-Saturday 10am-10pm. We will be on the patio of CoHab. We are doing a soft launch Thursday, May 8 from 5pm-7pm.”
Sherry’s Diner (20×49 review) (Facebook link)
If you read 20×49.com regularly, you may already know about the triumph of human achievement that is the banana pudding from Sherry’s Diner. This thick, custard-style pudding made with sweetened condensed milk may be my favorite dessert anywhere in Shreveport-Bossier. Also on the menu are old school country cooking staples including fried catfish, neck bones and smothered pork chops. Here’s the entire menu that Sherry’s will be serving, along with hours of operation.
If you can’t find something that you like among these options, consider patronizing Fully Stacked (a new burger joint in the Red River Entertainment District) or Nicky’s Mexican Restaurant, also located in the district.
Look for reviews of Pop UP: Downtown Shreveport restaurants here at 20×49.com, May 12-23.
