Lake Charles, Louisiana, Has A New Pirate Food Trail With Prizes

KNGT | Lake Charles, LA — You never know who you're gonna run into around Southwest Louisiana. I stopped to grab my morning loaded tea the other day and ended up learning about something pretty cool happening right here in Lake Charles. It's called the Pirate Food Trail, and not only does it help you discover locally owned restaurants, but you can even win a gift card just for eating at them! Now that's my kinda treasure hunt!

Every morning, I stop by 1:16 Nutrition to grab my loaded tea before getting my day going. Well, I just so happened to meet Mrs. Lori Fitkin, and we got to talking. Come to find out, Lori and her husband, Brad Fitkin of Lake Charles, are the founders of the Pirate Food Trail.

As she started telling me about it, I thought, man, this is a pretty neat idea! They're taking something we already love doing in Southwest Louisiana, going out to eat, and turning it into a fun way to support our locally owned restaurants. And let's face it, if there's one thing we know how to do around here, it's eat!

What Is The Pirate Food Trail In Lake Charles?

The Pirate Food Trail is a food adventure that encourages folks to get out and try locally owned restaurants around Lake Charles. Think of it like a treasure hunt, except instead of looking for buried gold, you're looking for burgers, fried chicken, and some good old-fashioned Louisiana cooking.

Brad and Lori created the Pirate Food Trail to help shine a light on the small, family-owned restaurants that make our community special. You know the places I'm talking about. Those little restaurants that might not have a big advertising budget, but when you walk through the door, you know you're about to get something good to eat.

The places where the owners know their regular customers by name. And sometimes those are the places we forget about when we're trying to figure out where to eat. Well, the Pirate Food Trail is trying to change that.

How Does The Pirate Food Trail Work?

Now here's where things get really fun. You can pick up a Pirate Food Trail Passport at Bux Kajun Korner in Lake Charles or at any participating restaurant along the trail. That passport is your ticket to the adventure. Each restaurant on the trail has its own special stamp. When you visit one of the participating restaurants, you can get your passport stamped.

But here's the part I really like. You can also enter for a chance to win a gift card! All you have to do is visit a participating restaurant, get your passport stamped, and tag both the Pirate Food Trail and the restaurant on social media. At the beginning of every month, there's a gift card giveaway!

So not only are you getting something good to eat, but you've also got a chance to win something while helping support local businesses. I don't know about y'all, but that sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

Which Lake Charles Restaurants Are On The Pirate Food Trail?

The adventure includes some familiar names around Lake Charles. Places like Bux Kajun Korner, Cotten's Downtown, and Ball's Famous Fried Chick-n are part of the trail. And the list is expected to keep growing as more locally owned restaurants join in. I think this would be a fun thing to do with the family. Grab a passport, pick a restaurant, and let the kids help decide where you're gonna eat. Heck, make it a goal to see how many stamps you can collect.

You might find a burger you've never tried, some fried chicken that'll make you wanna come back the next day, or a little restaurant you've driven past a hundred times and never stopped at. And who knows, you might even find your new favorite place to eat.

One thing I really liked about my conversation with Lori was the reason she and Brad started the Pirate Food Trail. They wanted to help locally owned restaurants get the attention they deserve. And I think that's something we can all get behind. We all know somebody who owns a small business around here. Maybe it's a family member, a neighbor, or somebody you went to high school with.

These folks work their tails off. They get up early, stay late, work weekends, and do whatever it takes to keep their doors open. Every time you choose to eat at one of these restaurants, you're helping somebody right here in our community. And that's what makes this whole thing special. It's not just about collecting stamps or winning gift cards. It's about keeping our local restaurants going and introducing more people to the great food we have right here in Southwest Louisiana.

The Pirate Food Trail is still growing, and Brad and Lori are working to bring even more local restaurants into the adventure. And I sure hope this thing takes off. We've got so many great places to eat around Southwest Louisiana, and some of them just don't get the attention they deserve. To think, I learned about all of this just because I stopped to get my morning loaded tea and struck up a conversation with Mrs. Lori.

So the next time you're trying to figure out where to eat, grab yourself a Pirate Food Trail Passport at Bux Kajun Korner or any participating restaurant. Get your stamp, tag the restaurant and the Pirate Food Trail on social media, and enter for a chance to win a gift card at the beginning of the month. And while you're at it, tell those local restaurant owners you appreciate what they're doing.

Now I wanna hear from y'all. What's one locally owned restaurant in Southwest Louisiana that you think deserves a spot on the Pirate Food Trail? Because I guarantee there are some good ones out there that folks still need to discover!