Few Acadiana restaurants are as steeped in local lore as Poor Boy’s Riverside Inn, located in Broussard just off of U.S. 90.
It’s thought to be the oldest restaurant in Lafayette Parish, opened by Hulo “Poor Boy” Landry in 1932 in downtown Lafayette. He started the eatery as a sno-ball stand, selling icy treats to local businessmen — and quickly began doing a brisk business proffering the po-boys that he packed every day as his own lunch.
According to third-generation owner Lori Hurst, the huge sandwiches were a novelty in Acadiana at that time. Landry had learned to make them while working at the Roosevelt in New Orleans — not for guests, but for family meals during time off with the rest of the kitchen staff. The po-boys were enough of a hit with the Lafayette crowd that Landry’s customers (including a young Kaliste Saloom, who would go on to become a Lafayette City Court judge) urged him to open a sit-down restaurant…