Flavor Coup

Can the restaurant kitchen staff prepare a good gumbo? At T-Doug’s, the answer to that question is decided from the moment the warm bowl of goodness is placed in front of the food lover…yes they can!

Doug Schysm is a chef and restaurant owner you want to know about.

First and foremost, he is a Louisiana man, albeit, with truly mixed north and south origins.

Schysm’s daddy is from Ragley which is an unincorporated area in Beauregard Parish where U.S. 190 passes through going east and west. His momma is from Morgan City in St. Mary Parish. Yes, his blood lines are north and south of Interstate 10.

Schysm grew up deep in the bayou area of Acadiana. He moved to Calcasieu Parish and went to DeQuincy High School…the accent and all things Cajun stood out in him.

“I thought the people there in DeQuincy talked funny,” he said.

As he grew up, the man had the desire to cook. Eventually, he opened a food truck in Ragley with his wife. The calling for the restaurant was strong in the two of them and they developed T-Doug’s Cajun Cuisine and Catering and opened the doors Labor Day weekend in 2022. The Schysms built their restaurant on U.S. 171 in Ragley.

(Right) Chef Schysm has a reverence for bayou Cajun cooking. He decided to move into Beauregard Parish to share culinary creations he loves to prepare. T-Doug’s is located on United States Highway 171 inside of Ragley. Foodies visit from all over Louisiana and Texas.

Ok, that is the back story.

The real delicious morsels in this culinary adventure can be found in the cumulative cultural and culinary traditions in what was No-Man’s Land where the restaurant is located.

T-Doug’s recipes are a collaborative effort involving Schysm and his head kitchen queen Denise Brown. With their cooking, the duo pay homage to Cajun, Creole, Redbone, Native American, Colonial Spanish, cowboy, rancher, forestry industry, Protestant, Catholic and Northern American influences that fused together after the Louisiana Purchase in western Louisiana.

Heck, Brown’s son D.J. Bynog, works the grill station and is from Anacoco. You can see deep West Louisiana traits in his eyes. By the way, the young man makes a delicious ribeye.

“I like to cook and feed people,” Schysm said. “Cajun is all I know, and I brought it with me up here.”

T-Doug’s is developing a reputation for quality menu offerings, but one dish is becoming a calling card: the crawfish étouffée.

Brown’s recipe is spot-on! Her version is creamy, subtly spicy and the smothered crawfish are tender.

The crawfish etouffee alone is astounding, but Chef Schysm decided to place it over grilled fish. On the menu, the dish is called Atchafalaya. Both the smothered crawfish and fish top a bed of rice…stupendous.

T-Doug’s crawfish has won the 2023 Breaux Bridge Crawfish Festival Étouffée Cook-off and snatched a winner’s trophy at the 2022 Crawfish Étouffée Cook-off in Eunice.

Another favorite of patrons is the Cowboy Burger which is a half-pound homemade hamburger patty that is topped with bacon, grilled jalapeños, fried onion rings, BBQ sauce and served on a soft sourdough bun.

In keeping with the tradition of SWLA and Acadiana foodways, T-Doug’s offers a daily plate lunch. Brown’s pork roast with rice and gravy, black-eyed peas, corn and a roll enrich the soul. The pork roast is tender, and the gravy created naturally from cooking the meat is light and seasoned.

T-Doug’s is purposely off the beaten path, but the folks realize they are a talented flavor-inspiring crew who have started a flavor coup on the Louisiana restaurant scene.

T-Doug’s Cajun Cuisine and Catering
14088 Highway 171
Ragley
337-725-4536
tdougs.com

(Top right) The kitchen staff inside of T-Doug’s follows the lead of Doug Schysm and head kitchen queen Denise Brown who combine their skills to share cooking styles from West Louisiana and the Atchafalaya region. Gravies, fried food, steak and seafood figure prominently on the menu.

TRY THIS

1 | Gumbo

Anyone who starts a Cajun/Creole-style restaurant has to understand their reputation will be determined on how their gumbo tastes. Survey says…T-Doug’s chicken and sausage gumbo will remind you of some old-fashioned Acadiana cook’s dark roux-based concoction. Darn, these people can cook.

2 | Chicken Fried Steak

This is for the cowboys and ranchers in West Louisiana. Eight ounces of beef cutlet is battered, fried and served with a white gravy that will have you kickin’ your boots doing a happy dance.

3 | Bread Pudding

Brown created the recipe. When a member of the waitstaff places this bowl of carnal pleasure in front of you, first you see the warm pudding topped with a velvety cream sauce, then you smell the aroma. Licking the bowl afterwards is allowed.