In a place of legends, Billy's boudin is becoming one as well.
Krotz Springs (population 1,200) was an unlikely cultural crossroads. That’s “was,” as in past tense.

The famous Diesi’s Little Capitol Restaurant nestled alongside the once-mighty four-lane of U.S. 190 Highway and the wild Atchafalaya River was the main roadside attraction between Opelousas and Baton Rouge. 

With a menu consisting of fried seafood entrees, fat, juicy cheeseburgers, cherry Cokes for the kids at the long diner counter and adult activities in the separate bar, the Little Capitol was the requisite pit stop for LSU game day travelers from the western and northern parts of the state.

And every state legislator west of the Atchafalaya River was practically obligated to make at least a cursory appearance at the Little Capitol as he traveled from Caddo and Calcasieu to East Baton Rouge. Who knows what kinds of deals were cut in the smoke-filled backrooms of the fiefdom that was St. Landry Parish? If you wanted to get to the big Capitol in Baton Rouge, you paid homage at the Little Capitol in Krotz Springs.

The Interstate highway system changed all that. Motorists from Lake Charles to Lafayette flooded Interstate 10 after the 40-mile stretch over the Atchafalaya swamp was completed in 1974. I-49 continued to siphon travelers away from U.S. 190 when that north-south artery opened in the nineteen-nineties.

By the time a late night gas leak explosion blew up the Little Capitol the once grand thoroughfare had already evolved into little more than a lonesome road. Twenty years later, Krotz Spring residents are still awestruck at the memory of the powerful sonic boom that traveled for miles up and down the river.

But the boudin and cracklins of Billy’s Mini Mart (located next to the concrete slab of the exploded Little Capitol) provides the reason—a culinary diversion, to change one’s travel plans and make a hunger run to the tiny river town.

The restaurant is not much to look at—it really is a gas station—but for folks looking for a quality snack or something more substantial, Billy’s Mini Mart is the place.

Only in Louisiana will you find boudin, a Cajun delicacy that would be considered exotic anywhere else. And in a state where boudin is king, Billy’s Mini Mart boudin, especially the easy-to-eat-while-driving deep-fried boudin balls, is among the crème de la crème. And that’s saying a lot. In a former life I operated my family’s Cajun meat-market in Henderson and we made our own mighty-fine boudin. I bow to the mastery that is Billy’s boudin.

Brittany Butler, Billy’s Mini Mart morning clerk, revealed owner Billy and Patsy Frey’s boudin-making secret. “Every batch of boudin is made with love,” Butler said. The Frey’s home kitchen is in Opelousas, where they have another mini mart on the eastbound lane of U.S. 190.
Butler professed to not know how many boudin links, five-pound ready-to-go boxes or boudin balls are sold daily, but it’s a lot. The shop sold more than a hundred pounds of the rice-and-pork sausage during a two-hour Sunday morning stretch.

What if you run out? “We never run out,” Butler said. “We just call Opelousas and they bring us some more.”

That’s a whole lot of love.

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