SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - Shreveport’s very own BBQ restaurant, The Magnolia Pit will be featured on America’s Best Restaurants.
On January 17, 2025, the Shreveport BBQ restaurant The Magnolia Pit will host a visit from America’s Best Restaurants (ABR). ABR is a national media and marketing company that focuses on bringing attention to local and independently-owned restaurants.
The Magnolia Pit’s popular dishes will be highlighted and on-camera interviews with the restaurant’s owner John Strand will be recorded. The episode will be aired on social media channels at a later date.
Strand speaks to ArkLaTex Artistry’s Brittney Hazelton to discuss the upcoming feature, northwest Louisiana food, and Louisiana BBQ.
How did he find out?
“Initiually, I received an email to our business email address notifying me that we had been nominated and that we were under consideration for America’s Best Restaurants,” explains Strand.
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The restaurant was nominated to be on the Roadshow by Lisa Jones, who raved about the food from the brisket to the ribs, which are top sellers. Additionally, she noted side dishes listed on the menu.
“The baked beans are made with brisket,” Jones wrote. “The coleslaw is made with a honey mustard. The cheddar beer bread is crunchy and flavorful.”
They went through an evaluation and several interviews and by the end of it, The Magnolia Pit was selected. The date was eventually set for filming, which happened Jan. 17.
Chef John Strand
How did he feel after they were selected?
“Both excited and humbled at the same time that the hard work and the things we do every day were drawing enough attention to be recognized,” explains Strand.
John Strand is no stranger to competitions, he always made the finals in the Golden Fork and has always in the top five of chefs in the Ultimate Ends.
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When it comes to his employees, Strand sees it as they are working together in the same space, not that he is their boss.
“I control and rule no one. I provide an environment for them to develop. That’s kinda how I see it,” explains Stand. “I may pay them a wage, but that’s really irrelevant, its really a benefit of the atmosphere that is created. Wage is really just a monetary reward for the effort they put in.
Having just opened in 2024, Strand has planned to blend BBQ with Louisiana flavors. With the tagline ‘Savor the Soul of Louisiana BBQ’, The Magnolia Pit has a rustic interior with wood shiplap and blue-and-white checkered tablecloths. The restaurant serves up a variety of appetizers, plate specials, sandwiches, sides, and meats by the pound. Ribs and Briskets are likely to be featured in the episode. Additionally, Louisiana dishes such as cochon de lait (roasted suckling pig) sandwich, burnt ends dirty rice, and bananas foster pudding may make an appearance.
They have all the quintessential items of a BBQ place but they do something differently.
“We do offer the beef burnt ends, that no one else offers and we offer beef ribs, which no body in this area offers,” explains Strand. “I am the only person, until you get into Texas, that offers beef ribs.”
Not only that, but they also offer, what Strand refers to as “set-ups”, which are housemade cracklins as a complementary item for diners that eat inside.
There are four major styles of BBQ out there Strand explains, but he is often been baffled why Louisiana doesn’t.
“Louisiana is the only state that has a cuisine that is indigenous to itself, that being Cajun and Creole. Every other state may have dishes they are known for but they are usually things that have been extracted from other cultures,” explains Strand. “Cajun and Creole are considered as cuisine styles, as much as Italian cuisines, French cuisines, etc. No other state has that claim”
“It’s always kinda puzzled me that they don’t have a recognized BBQ style. In my explanation, it should, because the rustic nature of cajun cuisine,” explains Strand. “And, it tends to work, in a culinary perspective, hand in hand with BBQ.”
“BBQ is a rudimentary style of food preparation. Open flame, open smoke and heat and things like that. And, so the two really work hand-in-hand,” says Strand. “ And, I’ve never fully understood why, because of that, BBQ hasn’t been more recognized in Louisiana.”
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“Shreveport and our area, we are kinda in this perfect spot between Texas and the Cajun influence below us. We are kinda in this perfect spot where someone like you (Chef Strand) can come in and help develop that style for our state. Help define what is Louisiana-style BBQ,” Brittney Hazelton, of ArkLaTex Artistry, tells Chef Strand.
“That is literally has been my quote, unquote mission. That is to literally put a Louisiana BBQ style on the map,” explains Strand. “Can I do that single-handedly, I don’t know, someone has to start it.”
How does he feel about north Louisiana’s food?
“I think we have, I personally know and have worked with on occasion, and interacted with routinely, a great many talented chefs that are in the Shreveport-Bossier area,” says Strand, defending north Louisiana’s food culture. “We have some very good eateries. The problem is we are overwhelmed with chain restaurants. This is not in any way disparaging to the cultural food.”
Strand explains we have too many of the same types of restaurants in the area, and chain restaurants, which he says have the lowest-quality bars set.
“You suddenly taint the opinion of the outsider,” Strand says, explaining the negative of having too many restaurants of the same type.
Because of the amount chain restaurants, you have to search a little harder to find the actual cultural places in north Louisiana. The locals know the good cultural food here, but the outsiders would need to dig a little deeper to discover the true local places to really gauge our flavor.
For more information or to see the menu for The Magnolia Pit, visit https://www.themagnoliapit.com/.
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