Taking a Quick Look at Stelly’s

When I interviewed Bill & Janice Cheek about their crawfish farm, it was done on location at Stelly’s Restaurant in Lebeau, Louisiana. (It’s confusing to me, Janice Person to write about another Janice, but I’m slowly getting the hang of it.) Stelly’s is definitely memorable!

I was glad Bill mentioned that Janice’s family started the cafe, store and gas station when we talked by phone. See I arrived ahead of them and went on in. Gotta say the gators on the wall grabbed my attention! However when the Cheeks arrived, getting their attention was tough… seemed everyone who crossed their paths wanted to catch up!

We met inside the restaurant, the grocery store was next door. And we actually took a seat alongside what I later learned was Janice’s family dinner table when she was growing up. Her family was a big one and the table made room for all the siblings. I couldn’t help but grab a photo of it along with the wall of deer hunting trophies, cooking supplies, pots and pans, etc. There are even photos of the original owners — Janice’s grandparents!

The family’s farming side was also represented as a crawfish trap hung from the ceiling!

There was a steady stream of people coming in, many coming in from a morning of deer hunting. People took time to say hello, study up on the menu, etc. I decided to go with the shrimp po-boy and have to tell you I loved it!

Although I have to say that Stelly’s is really unique, the sense of community there is amazingly familiar as so many small towns around the United States have cafes that offer a homebase of sorts for locals. Finding that as I travel is always something I enjoy too!