Cuisine, Culture, & Community – Gus Garden Shares his Passion for Food and Friendship with Southwest Louisiana

by Angie Kay Dilmore

On any visit to Area 337, patrons will likely see a familiar figure milling around the front house, chatting with diners, a perpetual smile on his face. While always in full command of the kitchen, Gus Garden is also intentional about getting to know his customers. “I want to become friends with people, I want to engage in their celebrations, I want to be part of their family gatherings and be present in the community,” he says.

Garden was initially lured to Southwest Louisiana by the petro-chemical industries in 2016. But while laid off in 2020, he hatched a plan to establish a restaurant with authentic Latin cuisine – something different from anything the locals had experienced before. He successfully achieved that goal when he opened Area 337 in 2021. With influences of Puerto Rico, Columbia and Venezuela, Garden and his staff offered the down-home cooking he grew up with in his native Dominican Republic, such as his popular stew chicken. Garden’s food was an instant hit! The community warmly embraced him and his little restaurant on Kirkman St.

Unfortunately, momentum for Area 337 came to a halt in 2023 when a fire closed the restaurant for seven months. Soon after the fire, Eric Avery, owner of Crying Eagle Brewing, organized a recovery fundraiser for Area 337. Gus was so moved by the gesture and the outpouring of love from the community, he knew he’d found kindred spirits when he moved to Southwest Louisiana. Garden shares this region’s culture of lending a hand, helping neighbors, and being a friend. He often prepares and donates food to area schools, churches, and organizations. He volunteers at community events, saying “It’s part of what I want to accomplish, part of who I am.”

In the few years since arriving in Lake Charles, Garden has established himself as an integral part of the local culinary scene. Recently, there have been some exciting changes to his brand and business model. To say he’s been busy this past year is an understatement. As Area 337 was making a remarkable comeback after the fire, Garden knew he needed to expand his business to better serve the community. He wanted to open a second location; something a bit different than Area 337, but with the same high quality his clientele had come to expect.

Enter Encanto Daiquiris and More. Garden found the perfect location for his second restaurant in South Lake Charles. He was just getting ready to open Encanto for business in June when he was unexpectedly offered an opportunity he couldn’t refuse. The James 710 was closing, and local restaurateur Ben Herrera asked Garden if he’d like to move Area 337 to that location. “I couldn’t say no,” Garden says. “This is what the brand needed.”

For several weeks, Garden was pulled between opening Encanto on Country Club Road and moving Area 337 to Dr. Michael DeBakey Dr. But he persevered and now both establishments are humming with activity.

Nothing about Area 337 has changed with the move, Garden says. The menu offers the same delicious Latin fare and fabulous cocktails. Even his prices are the same. But the new location benefits his customers in several ways. “This restaurant is larger, so I can take care of more people in less time. There’s more parking. Being downtown, I’m accessible to more people. And I can more readily accommodate groups. We can watch a game together on the patio.”

Regarding restaurant styles, Garden says Area 337 is his heart. It represents his heritage. But Encanto is his dream. “Encanto is who I am, it’s what I am capable of, and what I want to offer to the community.” Meaning enchanted in Spanish, Encanto is more upscale casual, the menu items more sophisticated.

“My calling is not about running two restaurants,” says Garden. “Food is the vehicle I use to reach out to people. Feeding people is my way of saying thank you to the community for their rapport.”