Chuck-Stuffed with Enjoyable: Visiting Lake Charles

The final time my husband, Mark, and I had been in Lake Charles was earlier than COVID-19 lockdowns, and boy, has so much modified in six years. It has been a protracted street to restoration from a number of

pure disasters, together with Hurricanes Laura and Delta in 2020 and flooding and tornadoes in 2021, leaving Lake Charles’ residents reeling. The metropolis’s comeback speaks to the group’s fortitude. My long-overdue return go to to The Chuck left me impressed by the progress and with a “fun things to do list” that outlasted my keep.

For this journey, we traveled with our kitty, Mac, who doesn’t love automotive rides however is down for exploring a lodge room. L’Auberge Casino Resort could be his new house for a couple of days. (Note to these touring with fur household: The lodge has a $150, nonrefundable pet charge.) Our room was within the tower, and the view of Contraband Bayou from a wall of floor-to-ceiling home windows was supreme. Mac was endlessly entertained by fowl’s eye birdwatching. With Mac settled in and occupied, we got down to discover downtown, which is a 12-minute drive from the on line casino.

The Downtown panorama continues to be as charming as ever, with an abundance of early- to mid-1900s red-brick business buildings now interspersed with newer mixed-use retail and residential buildings. We ducked out and in of retailers and galleries and meandered over to the Charpentier Historic District to ogle the quaint neighborhood’s Italian Renaissance, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival properties. There are fairly a couple of meals choices downtown, however one in all our favourite stops years in the past was Luna Bar & Grill, so make sure you add it to your listing of locations to eat whilst you’re there.

Also downtown is the hanging Historic City Hall Arts & Cultural Center, designed within the Spanish Baroque fashion. Catch touring exhibitions from Tuesday by way of Saturday, 10 a.m. to six p.m. and on Saturdays, go early to discover the Charlestown Farmers Market from 8 a.m. to midday. Get extra tradition about three miles away on the lakefront on the metropolis’s new Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Nature and Science Center Port Wonder and the Children’s Museum of Southwest Louisiana, which opened within the spring of 2025. Craft beer lovers (and hungry of us) will probably be happy to find Crying Eagle Brewing Company’s second location on the Lakefront (which opened in October of 2025), a couple of steps away from Port Wonder. Ahh, a marvel certainly. Be positive to incorporate time to go to the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu. The museum’s former location was destroyed by Hurricane Laura in 2020. Its new, bigger, immersive museum is about three miles east of Port Wonder and boasts the world’s largest show of Mardi Gras costumes. Prepare for historical past, pageantry and a lot razzle-dazzle.

   

In the summer time of 2025, Chef Dave Evans debuted Augustine within the area that had been occupied for practically a decade by 1910. Augustine, situated on Ryan Street throughout from Historic City Hall, is known as in honor of Evans’ late mom, restaurateur and Nonancourt, France-native Rose Lucienne Augustine Guincestre (generally known as Mrs. Pat). We had heard nice issues in regards to the new restaurant by the identical founders as Luna and had been notably excited to strive it. I’m thrilled to report that it was the spotlight of our journey.

At Augustine, darkish, wood-paneled partitions dominate the eating room, with curved partitions and arched home windows overlooking City Hall on one aspect and the historic Calcasieu Parish Courthouse on the opposite. A bar is nestled towards the wall on the left as you enter. Contemporary wood-top tables and midcentury-style carved-wood chairs with black-upholstered seats and curved backs belie the Jazz Era vibes (and music). That night time was a busy night time in Lake Charles; the eating room and bar had been full of life with all the things from promenade children and pre-comedy present ticket holders to birthday teams and concertgoers, making up the varied diners. We loved delectable bread and garlic herb butter and crab claws to start out, then I tucked into the award-winning beef bourguignon, which was so wealthy and flavorful I practically wept, whereas Mark opted for the filet mignon and fries. We ended our meal by indulging in a fruit-topped crème brûlée, with many satisfying cracks of the dessert’s signature blowtorched caramelized sugar.

Another culinary agenda merchandise on my listing was a go to to The Bekery. Not removed from Shell Beach Drive, and simply shy of three miles from downtown, the French-inspired bakery is Instagrammable and meals is scrumptious. The mild, ethereal eatery options pastries, reminiscent of croissants and quiche, in addition to omelettes and different extra conventional breakfast fare. The solely disadvantage is that it’s practically unimaginable to decide on, as a result of all the things appears to be like, smells and sounds so good. 

We had a substantial variety of outside actions deliberate for our journey, however alas, a number of bouts of rain all through our keep thwarted them. We opted for the Pintail Wildlife Drive to at the very least get somewhat nature. If the climate gods are in your aspect nevertheless, take into account the close by Creole Nature Trail, Holly Beach or Sabine National Wildlife Refuge.

Two guarantees got here from our go to: We received’t wait so lengthy subsequent time, and our dinner was so unimaginable, we vowed to return quickly even when it was solely to expertise Chef Dave Evans’ menu once more.

LOCATION | Lake Charles

75

Lake Charles hosts greater than 75 festivals yearly. From the family-friendly Mardi Gras celebration to its Louisiana Pirate Festival, that’s a whole lot of partying for a metropolis its measurement.

$73.3M

According to a 2025 report from CDC Gaming, the Lake Charles district is the main generator of gaming income in Louisiana, pulling in $73.3 million in a single month (June 2025) alone.

79,679

Lake Charles’ inhabitants peaked in 2020 at round 84,879, however dropped by over 5,200 individuals between 2020 and 2023. This is a direct reflection of the displacement brought on by Hurricanes Laura and Delta and the 2021 pure disasters.