“We’re trying to be here for them so that they don’t have to leave their neighborhoods and their community,” said Ryan Legaux, the third generation of the Legaux family that has owned Harold & Belle’s since its inception. “You can have special moments here, and it feels more like home.”

New Orleans meets LA

When the restaurant opened 54 years ago, the family’s vision was to import a piece of the South to Jefferson Boulevard and all of South LA. Today, it’s one of the oldest Black-owned restaurants in the city, and for years, it existed in a food desert as the only sit-down restaurant for miles. 

“It’s a little better now, but throughout my whole life, there haven’t really been too many restaurant options in this neighborhood. And the ones that have been here have kind of come and gone,” Legaux said.

Harold Legaux Sr., along with his wife Mary Belle, opened a spot where family and friends from their former home could gather. They served po’boy sandwiches, red beans and rice and a filé gumbo special that was only available on Fridays.

“What they really wanted was a place to gather like they did in New Orleans. They wanted to be able to play cards and drink and bet on horses, that kind of thing,” Legaux said. “It wasn’t really a restaurant atmosphere — the food was kind of an afterthought.”

The restaurant has come a long way since then. Harold Sr. died prematurely when he was struck with a pool cue trying to break up a bar fight. Ryan Legaux’s parents became the successors, and Harold & Belle’s transformed into a fine-dining restaurant under their hold.

“In light of what happened to my grandfather, the first thing they did was get rid of the pool tables, get rid of the jukebox, the go-go dancers, and start to clean it up and make it more of a restaurant than a bar,” Legaux said.

As third-generation owners, he and his wife, Jessica Legaux, have made their own changes. The white tablecloths are gone, and the restaurant feels more casual.

“There are still … plenty of people here that want to go out and eat at a nice spot,” Legaux said. “They don’t want to go out of the neighborhood, whether it’s Westside or Hollywood or somewhere else.”

Feeding the community

Harold & Belle’s sits on a boulevard known for housing the historical migration of New Orleans residents, and the restaurant has become a true landmark of the neighborhood. On June 17, two days before Juneteenth, Los Angeles renamed the mile of Jefferson Boulevard from the restaurant to Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church “New Orleans Corridor.” 

“The city did a big event … that tells you right there how many New Orleanians and Creole folks were living in this neighborhood way back then. My grandparents were part of that group,” Legaux said. “Think about the South in those periods as it relates to colored folks. This was the land of opportunity out here in California.”

(Jessica Castro/Special To SFGATE)
(Jessica Castro/Special To SFGATE)

Over the years, the menu has transitioned, too. Fried catfish, filé gumbo and crawfish étouffée remain the bestsellers, but during the second generation of Harold & Belle’s ownership, Legaux’s parents added pasta as a substitute guests could make for rice on the shrimp and crawfish étouffée, made with tails smothered in a spicy gravy. They also offer vegan options, like fried oyster mushrooms, jambalaya and okra gumbo.

The food at Harold & Belle’s tastes like someone’s home — made with love and recipes passed down for generations. Growing up in a Creole household, the gumbo was kin to recipes from my own family, with a perfect balance of flavors. The smell alone will have you ready to dig into this hearty stew.

The catfish was seasoned and fried to perfection. And although every family has their recipe for red beans and rice and a “secret ingredient,” proper texture and seasoning take a lifetime to master. Harold & Belle’s has the upper hand using a recipe that traces back three generations. 

“Having the family involved creates that sense of continuity, consistency which we always talk about in the restaurant business. But therein lies one of the biggest challenges also. Changing times, changing people, changing vendors — stuff naturally changes over time,” Legaux said. “So it’s always a challenge to keep it as close to what has made it successful but at the same time adapt to what’s going on right now.”

Protecting a legacy

Harold & Belle’s has survived several hard moments in its more than half-century in business. The restaurant made it through the Great Recession in the late 2000s, but Legaux’s father, Harold Jr., passed away soon after in 2011. To endure the COVID-19 pandemic, the key was a combination of adapting and staying true to what keeps customers coming back.

Ryan and Jessica took on a massive remodel that ended in 2016, adding a private dining room, a bigger bar and modernizing the space. They also pursued other avenues like a food trailer, opening Harold & Belle’s To Geaux on Santa Monica Boulevard in West LA and packaging their signature Creole seasoning. They’re currently evaluating whether to open a second location.

When asked why he wants to continue to honor his family’s legacy with the restaurant, Legaux points to all the people who make up the Harold & Belle’s community and have done so for decades.

“It’s not just me and Jessica and my family. We have longtime customers, longtime employees, longtime vendors, you name it,” Legaux said. “That part is what’s important and really why we’re still here.”