I’ve lived in Shreveport-Bossier since 1998, and attended Centenary College of Louisiana – which is located just across Kings Highway from the original location of Strawn’s Eat Shop – for four of those years. During my college years, I crossed the street to eat breakfast at Strawn’s countless times. After all of that time eating two-egg breakfasts with bacon, biscuits and hash browns, I felt that I understood what Strawn’s breakfast had to offer. I was wrong.

Recently, someone made me aware of the fact that Strawn’s Eat Shop will dunk your hash browns in the deep fryer upon request. Honestly, I couldn’t believe what a difference it made. The hash browns come out of the pile on the griddle and go for a brief dip in the fryer, emerging crispy-edged, golden brown, and kind of molten on the inside.

In my personal opinion – and bear with me, fellow Strawn’s Eat Shop fans – this fixes the one thing that I’d have changed about their breakfast. Without being dunked in the fryer, Strawn’s chunky, home fries-style hash browns – which are usually cooked and then kept warm on the griddle – can be kind of mushy and bland. After a quick dip in the fryer, they’re just a completely different thing. They have more character. They have crisp exteriors. In my opinion, they’re way, way better.

Butter
Gone are the days of butter on the counter at Strawn’s Eat Shop. Screengrab from the @strawnsbutter Instagram account.

While we’re talking Strawn’s Eat Shop, I’d also like to take a moment to mourn the passing of my old friend, the gigantic slab of butter that could always be spotted on the classic diner’s counter. Apparently, a tourist passing through town took offense to the fact that the butter was just hanging out on the counter and filed a complaint with the Health Department. The butter was so popular that it actually had its own Instagram account, @strawnsbutter, which has gone silent since the butter disappeared from the counter.

I’ll reminisce on the good ol’ days of big butter blocks just hanging out on the counter, unjudged by interlopers, whenever I sit down to a plate of delicious, griddled-then-deep fried hash browns in the future.

Like Strawn’s Eat Shop on Facebook.     
If you enjoy this kind of writing about local food, download the all-new fourth edition of Eat Here: A Food Lover’s Guide to Shreveport-Bossier.

Share this: