Sal's Gumbo Shack

🇺🇸 UNITED STATES (Louisiana)
📍 6148 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, Harbor
🅿️ Street Parking
🥤 No Alcohol

With the recent opening of a second location in Bixby Knolls, it was time to revisit the original Long Beach Blvd. Sal's Gumbo Shack, which is now 11 years old. The corner spot got an exterior facelift in 2017, but the delicious Louisiana cooking coming out of the kitchen has remained top notch. While prices have risen quite a bit like most of the industry, dishes from The Big Easy and its wider area are still worth coming here for, especially the namesake gumbo and jambalaya.

Depending on when you come in for a meal, the small dining room is usually not too busy. The phone keeps ringing though, and orders come in through the internet, so the kitchen is constantly in motion even when only one person is operating everything. No matter how many things are being juggled at once, the mood is always good and the kind heart and hospitality translate to the food.

A lot of the menu here holds up well for pickup and delivery, but one particular New Orleans dish should be eaten here immediately if possible. Sometimes referred to as the "poutine of the South" by writers not from Louisiana, boo fries ($14.99, below) have a long history all their own. Some of the same concepts are there in theory, but the dish feels quite different from the Canadian staple.

Rather than a corn starch-thickened gravy, the fries here are smothered with a rich layer of roast beef and its juices. Cheese curds would get a weird look so far south, so they are omitted in favor of shredded cheese applied right before serving. This starts to melt pretty fast and makes each bite have a nice gooey strand left connected to the rest of the bowl.

But of course you came to Sal's for gumbo, the roast beef and cheese is just a warm up to the main event born in southern Lousiana and now the official dish of the entire state. Its home is even in the title of the dish on the menu; Louisiana gumbo ($22.99 medium, below) is a thick seafood and rice stew that has the essence of the coast of the gulf in each bite. In addition to crab and shrimp, a generous amount of chopped sausages are thrown in.

There is usually celery, bell pepper, and onion in a gumbo, but any vegetables used in this version have been thoroughly cooked down in the meat stock. Two crab legs stick out of any order, with shrimp submerged with the rice and other meats. The tastes are so bold and concentrated that you can safely add water when reheating at home if you want to thin the stew.

The other shining star of the restaurant is jambalaya ($13.99 small, above), which is even more reliant on rice. In this preparation, the rice is cooked in a tomato and pepper broth until the liquids have reduced, when sauteed shrimp, andouille sausage, and chicken are added. It comes in three portion sizes, and you will be sad there is not more if you make the same mistake as shown here with a small order.

Po'boys are like pizza and even enjoyable when forgettable, but know that these Louisiana specialties are obviously not the priority at Sal's. A shrimp po'boy ($14.99, below) is simple with battered and deep-fried pieces of the crustacean placed on a soft baguette and drizzled with mayo. Po'boys come with a side of fries, which are slightly under-cooked but tasty with a dusting of herbs.

You can also get crab and/or shrimp boils here at Sal's Gumbo Shack, cooked traditionally and served in plastic bags with or without corn, potatoes, sausage. A half pound shrimp boil ($13.99, below) was purchased on this occasion and enjoyed, a chance to get your hands dirty and dig in as you would at one of many riverfront restaurants in southern Louisiana.

As the seafood in New Orleans and Louisiana is always guaranteed to be fresh from the morning's catch, a place like this can excel in Los Angeles simply because of the quality of the ingredients available from the sea. Long Beach is a long way from The Pelican State, but Sal's is definitely a piece of home for families that have moved from the bayou and a treat for everyone else that loves the food.

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