By DAVID ERSOFF, Journal Contributor
A common theme on YouTube and TikTok regarding the food in Louisiana is the quality of gas station food. People that have never been to Louisiana have trouble with that concept, but once they visit, they begin to understand what all those videos are talking about.
While Bossier City’s Bestie’s Treatz and Eatz, at 7305 East Texas Street, isn’t exactly a “gas station restaurant” it is in the same building as a filling station, so I am choosing to count it as one. The food is definitely good enough to qualify.
Bestie’s is the dream of Monica Stillwell and Amy Brown, who have been best friends since 1984. The name is a tribute to the bond that they have had for over 40 years. They had their opening on March 3; their official ribbon cutting is scheduled for June 22. I do think the word is already out.
I do love good “treatz.” However, today we are old going to be talking about the good “eatz,” and there are plenty of those to go around.
I was not able to eat in the dining room as I was bringing the food I ordered to my daughter’s house for a little family lunch.
I ordered the Club Sandwich. It has so many ingredients that it can be a good barometer as to the quality of the items used overall. The sandwich was huge, and when I say huge, I mean if you eat it all at lunch, there will be a nap coming soon. This sandwich can easily be shared by two grown men. The quality of the sandwich matched its size. That is clearly the best club I have had in years.
Beastie’s has specialties that I’d count as their signature items. There are four of them, and you have the choice of having them over a baked potato, fries, nachos, or Mac N’ Cheese.
We ended up getting the Razorback, over a baked potato, and also one over Mac N’ Cheese. The Razorback comes with pulled pork, ham, Down Home Sausage from Stonewall, and bacon.
I did try both. They have distinct tastes with the different base items; both were very good. The pulled pork and Down Home Sausage stood out as the must haves. My daughter agreed on the pulled pork; she considered the ham as the next best meat. Others put the bacon on top. These dishes are as huge as the club sandwich was.
My next trip to Bestie’s I will be trying the Swamp Bottom, probably over the Mac N’ Cheese. The Swamp Bottom comes with shrimp, crawfish, and boudin, something I’ve been thinking about since I tried Bestie’s last week. The other two specialties come with your choice of four or six meats.
I did look over all the “Treatz” and I feel lucky that my kids aren’t young anymore. If they were, I’d be going there every time my kids deserved a special treat. All of the menu items looked so good. Somewhere on their website I read that the calories don’t count there. Yes, I went back and looked to find that claim was debunked — darn!!
Contact David at dersoff@bellsouth.net
