Frontier Flavors

Pull up a seat at one of two new restaurants opening in Leesville this spring. Joe’s Italian, a Texas favorite, is arriving in the Town Plaza Shopping Center. With a customer-oriented mentality, owner Ilir Gjoka opened the first Joe’s Italian in Livingston, Texas, and is dedicated to delivering a robust Italian menu and quality service, too. Now Gjoka and his close-knit team are bringing his Italian delicacies to Leesville with plans to open in March. The restaurant will serve an amplitude of Italian classics ranging from pizza, seafood, and family-recipe specials. Come for the creamy, flavorful pastas, and stay for the excellent service. 

Another new dining destination is veteran-owned Southern Seasons. Recently launched in Leesville, Southern Seasons delivers Southern flavor by the plateful—think wings, signature potatoes, and memorable seafood dishes. Creative dishes like “swamp fries” (a playful plate of tilapia, crab meat, and shrimp over a bed of French fries) stand beside more traditional Southern dishes like boudin and dirty rice. Tricolored and cinnamon-spiced sweet potato fries compliment a large selection of wings, with flavors ranging from “Voodoo Hot,” “Caribbean Jerk” and “Twisted Spicy Chili.” Whether you come for lunch or to pick up a catering package, Southern Seasons’ thoughtful approach to Louisiana soul food is garnering praise from locals and visitors alike. 

Celebrating its first-year anniversary this spring is Louisiana Moonshine Company, the first moonshine distillery in Louisiana. In 2022, Thomas Fleming opened Louisiana Moonshine Co in a former daiquiri drive-thru. Fleming explained that, like many a moonshiner, he learned his craft while making the spirit “under the shine of the moon” in his backyard, but decided to trail-blaze into uncharted territory by becoming a legal distillery. Curious about moonshine? Fleming possesses a wealth of knowledge about the distilling process, and explains what sets moonshine apart from other spirits while leading tours of the distillery. Visitors to Louisiana Moonshine Company’s tasting room get to sample flavors like “Bayou-rita,” “Aged Corn Whiskey,” and “Sweet Tea,” or savor one of the Sipping Creams for a boozy, afternoon treat. louisianamoonshine.com