Tucked into a quaint residential section of Old Metairie, Radosta’s is a small Italian-American grocery and deli filled with walls of booze, bags of chips, and taxidermied animals. Come lunchtime, you can find regulars digging into decadent roast beef po’ boys, plates of gargantuan onion rings, and steaming bowls of gumbo, over checkered tablecloths with rolls of paper towels within reach.

The walls are covered in newspaper clippings, photos, and light-up beer signs. There’s a wedding photo on the wall of a customer who comes in every day at 11 a.m. to order a cup of gumbo, a grilled cheese, and cold roast beef. "He even came in at 11 a.m. the day after his wedding," owners Don and Joan Radosta told me.

Don and Joan have run the restaurant with Don’s two brothers, Wayne and Mark, for 44 years. "Some families get along and some don’t," Don says. His gets along.

Their seafood gumbo is old-school—thick and aromatic—and just the kind you hope to eat at someone’s family home. Don says he learned the recipe "over the phone, more than 25 years ago" from an employee at De Lerno’s restaurant, a longtime fixture that closed in the 1980s after more than 50 years in business. "When you went to De Lerno’s back in the day, it was like going to [award-winning New Orleans fine-dining institution] Commander’s Palace."

I asked Don why De Lerno’s was so generous with their gumbo recipe. He explained that they were all friends. Besides, Don told me, he in turn gives his recipes to people all day long, but finds that it’s really difficult to make anything just the way he does. He believes it’s the same with De Lerno’s: He started with their recipe, but it quickly became his own.

Radosta’s seafood gumbo begins with a caramel roux that gives the gumbo a complex flavor without overwhelming the sweetness of the shrimp. Most people think filé should only go in the pot at the very last second, or at the table. But Don says, "Chefs think you’re nuts, but that’s all hogwash." He puts his in just after he finishes the roux, which he believes gives the stew more body and an earthier flavor. Then he adds diced tomatoes and stirs until it’s thick and stewy.

House-made chicken stock, shrimp stock, some water go in next, and Don simmers the gumbo for a little over an hour, until it’s time for the trinity, garlic, and parsley. After this, he adds the okra, which he grills first to prevent them from developing a slimy texture. At the end, Don adds medium shrimp and a slew of spices (thyme, oregano, garlic powder, Creole seasoning, and a little cayenne pepper). The oregano is his own addition to the De Lerno’s recipe.

Radosta’s is as authentic as restaurants come, built not out of a need to impress anyone with anything other than the food and the hospitality. It’s the real-deal: food for locals, many of whom know how to make a damn fine gumbo of their own.

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