Denham Springs has a new reason to grab a plate and go back for seconds. The Jambalaya Shoppe on Magnolia Beach Road has added a buffet, and the Livingston Parish Chamber of Commerce is throwing it a ribbon cutting next week.

The celebration

The ribbon cutting is Tuesday, Oct. 27, at 11 a.m. at the restaurant, 7755 Magnolia Beach Road, Suite E. The chamber is inviting the public to come support a local business, meet the owner and stay for lunch afterward. The chamber notes the Denham Springs shop has been under new ownership for the past two years and is one of its newest members.

Where the jambalaya comes from

The Jambalaya Shoppe started in Gonzales in the early 1990s. Stefan and Cheryl Fontenot were raising five boys, had lost a business and their savings, and had no restaurant experience. Cheryl decided to open a place serving home-cooked food anyway. Within two weeks of finding a vacant spot in Gonzales, the first shop was open. Today there are locations from Port Allen to Prairieville.

The core dishes are still cooked fresh every day in big cast iron pots over an open fire. Jambalaya is the headliner, and the menu notes that true Louisiana jambalaya is gluten-free. Pastalaya swaps the rice for pasta, with chicken and smoked pork sausage. There's also chicken and sausage or seafood gumbo, red or white beans with smoked sausage, and Smokehouse boudin.

Lunch on a schedule

The Denham Springs lunch specials come with two sides and a roll: red or white beans and rice on Monday, pork roast and gravy Tuesday, chicken stew Wednesday, shrimp fettuccine Thursday and fried fish with crawfish étouffée Friday. Catering is available, with a 25-serving minimum.

The restaurant is open 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. Call 225-243-7001. Come hungry on the 27th, and don't be shy about that second trip to the line.

Photo courtesy of The Jambalaya Shoppe.