Oct 2, 2023 - Food and Drink

This week's best New Orleans gumbo: Heard Dat Kitchen

Chelsea Brasted

A table is set with a styrofoam bowls of gumbo and potato salad, and a grilled cheese sandwich on a piece of aluminum foil. The sandwich has had a bite taken out of it. — Heard Dat Kitchen's gumbo combo includes a grilled cheese sandwich and a side of potato salad. Photo: Chelsea Brasted/Axios

Though I grew up in New Orleans public schools, I don't remember grilled cheese being served with our gumbo in the cafeterias, but fellow local writer Megan Braden-Perry sure does.

And now, after trying her suggestion for Bon Appétit to pick up the combo at Heard Dat Kitchen, I'll never forget it.

My order: The gumbo combo ($14), which comes with a bowl of filé gumbo, a toasty and buttery grilled cheese sandwich and a scoop of potato salad.

The gumbo is spicy and chock-full of shrimp, chicken and sausage. I dipped every bite of the grilled cheese right into it, and then the same thing with every spoonful of potato salad — and you should, too.

Worth noting: Heard Dat Kitchen has just one tiny table for two inside its building, but plenty of picnic tables are available out front. Just remember to plan ahead if the weather isn't holding up on the day you visit.

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This week's best New Orleans gumbo: Heard Dat Kitchen

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