New restaurant coming to the Enterprise Boulevard Economic Development District

LAKE CHARLES, La. (KPLC) - Burley Thompson calls it a passion project.

“The restaurant comes from something we did when I was a kid," Thompson said. "We had an outhouse my dad would cook in, all the family would come over. It got nicknamed the Hobeaux Den, but we had some great times out there. It was one of the things that stuck with me as time passed and I worked years and years until I said what do I want to do? What’s a passion I have and it was this. This stuck in my mind and I said I want to do this.”

Thompson has been working on the idea for the last 6 years and says it’s a tribute to his dad and a partnership with his son.

“Purchasing equipment and things like that, building barbecue pits, preparing myself for the day that I can retire and do this,” Thompson said.

So when the time came to choose a location, Thompson says the choice was easy.

“It’s just sometimes you want to go back and invest in your community," Thompson said. “I grew up in that area, went to high school right there so that area is dear for me.”

The Hobeaux Den, a BBQ joint, will sit at the corner of Broad and Boston, right next to the recently announced multi-million dollar Acadian Ambulance project. Mayor Nic Hunter says it is going to be a busy year development-wise for the city of Lake Charles, with more announcements down the road.

“2020 we have the Acadian Project, we got the lakefront going on," Hunter said. "We are going to be breaking ground on a lot in 2020. There are some projects in the works that are not public yet, but that we believe are close, and so again, it is only the beginning”

Thompson says they are looking to start construction this spring.

Copyright 2020 KPLC. All rights reserved.