If you end up near the intersection of Earhart and Carrollton, there is a place that is offering up awesome smoked meats in a variety of dishes. That place is LA Smokehouse and those dishes range from sandwiches to salads and BBQ plates to overloaded baked potatoes and their signature Grillade Bowls. Owners Daniel and Aubin Wender have created an inviting and unpretentious spot that serves up portions that are sure to make you and you tummy happy, happy, happy.

Choice is a big part of the menu at LA Smokehouse not unlike many BBQ restaurants. If you want a traditional BBQ plate you can do that for sure. The meats available are pulled pork, brisket, smoked sausage, pork boudin, spare ribs, chicken, beef short ribs and barbecue shrimp. Pick two or three meats and two sides and you will have a real BBQ feast on your hands. LA Smokehouse also offers up another really unique way to enjoy those smoked meats with a Louisiana flair. Their Grillade Bowls truly are a meal in a bowl. LA Smokehouse takes a generous portion of their own stone ground grits and top it with your choice of meat and then served it in four flavor variations like Traditional, Southern, Southwestern and Abita BBQ. We tried the Southern Grillade Bowl with pulled pork. This bowl starts with the cheddar infused stone-ground grits then is topped with a generous helping of pulled pork and then finished with house BBQ sauce, crispy onion straws and fried okra. The flavors are bold. The BBQ sauce really works with the pulled pork. I loved getting the onion straws mixed into the cheddar grits. The fried okra was an obvious southern touch.

The Wenders stuck to the pulled pork for one of their sandwich creations. Daniel served up their BBQ sandwich which featured that awesome pulled pork dressed with sugarcane mayo, sweet heat pickles, house-made BBQ sauce and sliced onions on an “everything” brioche bun. This is a straight-up BBQ pork sandwich. The sugarcane mayo is awesome. It really works great with the house-made BBQ sauce. The pulled pork is tender and piled high. The sweet heat pickles and raw onion slices add the perfect zip to this sandwich. It tastes great.

Any place that does smoked meats needs sides that will compliment those smokey, savory meats. LA Smokehouse delivers those tasty sides in spades. There are ten sides that range from fried to baked to cool and creamy too. We had fried okra, sidewinder fries (think part steak fry part potato jojo) and a LA Smokehouse specialty Maque Choux Macaroni and Cheese. All the sides were great. I would highly recommend trying both the Burnt End Black Eyed Peas with the Maque Choux Mac and Cheese for the real LA Smokehouse experience. No matter what you choose, you will certainly be pleased by straight-up BBQ at LA Smokehouse.