Toups' Meatery

Toups', as the name implies, isn't geared to vegetarians. But if you're a serious meat eater and housemade charcuterie gets your pulse racing, then run don't walk to this Mid-City eatery, where reservations are a must. Owned by chef Isaac Toups and his wife Amanda, Toups' serves contemporary Cajun cuisine, dishes like Gulf shrimp stew, double cut pork chops with dirty rice, boudin balls and cracklins'. The chef, who worked for Emeril for a decade before opening Toups' in 2012, describes his menu as what happens when a Cajun boy spends 10 years in fine dining. Toups comes by his Cajun flare honestly - he hails from Rayne, Louisiana, "the frog capital of the world." The chef branched out with Toups South, his ode to Southern cuisine adjacent to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum.