Louisiana Town ‘Top 10′ for Best Small Town Food Scene

What's the difference between a Louisiana town and a Louisiana city? For example, is Abbeville, Louisiana a city or a town? What about Arnaudville, Louisiana? And where does Cankton, Louisiana fit into this discussion? Sure, we're discussing the Best Small Town Food Scenes in America according to USA Today but this is Louisiana.

And in Louisiana, we are very serious about our food and we're pretty darn obnoxious when it comes to defending our hometowns too. Now, just for the record a city in Louisiana is a municipality that has more than 5,000 residents. A town is a municipality that has between 1,000 and 5,000 residents. A municipality that has less than 1,000 residents, is called a village. So in answer to our questions from above, Abbeville is a city, Arnaudville is a town, and Cankton is a village.

What is Louisiana's Best Small Town Food Scene?

Oddly enough none of the towns we've mentioned so far made USA Today's list of Top 10 Best Small Town Food Scenes. I am sure it's because none of the reporters from McPaper bothered to go try Shucks in Abbeville or The Little Big Cup in Arnaudville or even the Cankton Cafe. If they did the answers they arrived at might be totally different.

And to be fair to USA Today, their list isn't really from "small towns" Most of the locations that were honored by the listing are in places that most of us would call a city. Or they are places that many of us would consider a suburb to a much larger community. So the idea that USA Today visited a lot of "hole in the wall " places isn't exactly on point. 

For example, the number four entry on the USA Today list is Oxford Mississippi. Oxford isn't a huge city but it's not really a small town either. It's home to Ole Miss but don't hold that against the folks, they can't help it that not every place is Starkville. A city that USA Today has bestowed an even more impressive honor upon. 

What Louisiana Town Earned a Spot for USA Today's Best Small Town Food Scene?

That would be the New Orleans suburb of Covington, Louisiana. I don't think of Covington as a "small town" but according to USA Today it is and they like the food. Covington was number five on the USA Today list. They were situated between Oxford at number four and Mount Dora Florida at number six.

The USA Today description of Covington suggests the town offers "a sizzling riverside food scene". I didn't know there was a river that ran through Covington, but there is. I will say that Covington does have an eclectic mix of eating establishments. You can find home cooking, soul food, upscale, gourmet, and of course plenty of Cajun and Creole choices too.

For the rest of the USA Today list you can click here. If I had to guess, I would say you probably agree with their choice at number seven. Especially if you love seafood and the beach and don't mind bumper-to-bumper traffic. Yeah, we're talking Orange Beach, Alabama.