Doe's Eat Place - Baton Rouge
It all began with a hot tamale recipe. When Mamie Signa received it from a friend, her husband, Dominick “Doe” Signa, started serving them in the back of his Greenville, Mississippi, grocery store that was a honky tonk for Black customers. That was 1941.
When one of the local doctors used to stop by regularly for meals, Doe upgraded the offerings and served steak with all the fixings. The doctor brought his friends, and that was when Doe decided to open a full-on restaurant.
Today, the original location still stands – and you still must enter the dining room through the kitchen from what was once the honky tonk. In 2007, it was named to the James Beard Foundation's list of "America's Classics, and in 2012, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. In addition to the Baton Rouge outpost, there are several locations in Arkansas.
The Delta-style hot beef tamales are still made from the original recipe and arrive with a cup of homemade chili. Steaks here are cut fresh daily from whole beef loins and aged for at least 21 days. They’re all broiled, and availability of cuts vary. Offerings include the signature porterhouse, T-bone, and filet mignon. For seafood entrées, there’s a seared Ahi tuna steak and broiled shrimp pasta.
