ROUSES_JanFeb2020_Magazine_Pages

Departments & Products We started out in 1960 with a 7,000-square- foot store and have grown to 64 locations across South Louisiana, Mississippi and Lower Alabama. Wine, Spirits & Beer We have the Gulf Coast’s premier wine department, with wines at every price point, for both everyday and special occasions. We offer a range of bottle sizes of popular spirits, and an impressive selection of high-end and small-batch spirits and liqueurs, including gift-worthy bottles. And we get top honors for our craft beer selection, which includes cans, bottles and kegs from all over the Gulf Coast and the nation, plus import labels from around the world. Family Recipe Fried Chicken Besides king cake, what’s the most popular Carnival food? If you don’t know the answer, you’ve never been on the parade route early on Mardi Gras morning, when dozens of people in the waiting crowd are eating fried chicken for breakfast. We double-bread our chicken: It’s coated with a flour mixture, then a seasoned milk-based liquid, then coated again, so you get that nice crunch. Our chicken is fried in-store, all day, every day, in small batches. Please place large Mardi Gras orders in the deli. Our local produce roots run more than 90 years deep. J.P. Rouse founded the City Produce Company in 1923, bringing fruits and vegetables from local, independent farms to the rest of the state and eventually to stores around the country. When his son, Anthony J. Rouse, Sr., opened his first grocery store in 1960, he made supporting his farmer neighbors a priority. Generations later, we are more committed than ever to our local farmers and to bringing you the very best this region has to offer. Local Seafood Our Specialty! We can all agree that the best seafood in the world comes from right here on the Gulf Coast. We buy our Gulf fish, shrimp, crabs, crawfish and our wide range of oysters from dedicated, local fishermen with whom we have close personal and professional relationships. During crawfish season you can get our famous Louisiana crawfish hot from the pot, 11am to 7pm, every day. Helping the Gulf Coast Grow

Pizza Party by Ali Rouse Royster, 3 rd Generation I’m proud of how varied my kids’ palates are, most of the time. They’ll try most things, sometimes with just a little coercion, and they each eat things that aren’t normal “kid” foods. My oldest loves sushi and soup; my middle used to eat chicken breast and green beans twice a day; and my youngest eats fruits like they’re going out of style — if you look in my search history from the last few months you’ll find me asking if a toddler can have too many bananas in a day, plus some inquiries about blueberries that I won’t go into here. But as with all kids, they’ve gone through picky phases too, when they’ll only eat what my friends and I refer to as “the tan diet”: bread, peanut butter, chicken nuggets and the archnemesis of all moms trying to get their children to eat nutritious foods, French fries. My darling middle child is going through this right now — she sometimes has peanut butter on toast for both lunch and supper when she’s having a particularly threenager-y day. The one food that isn’t completely tan — and therefore throws my whole cute-name scheme off balance — is pizza. My children have never rebelled against pizza. Why would they? It’s delicious. We always have the following items on hand for “uh-oh we have nothing to feed the children” nights: packs of ready-to-bake Mama Mary’s Pizza Crusts in the 7-inch personal pan size, jars of Rouses Italian Marinara Sauce, Hormel Turkey Pepperoni (they don’t know the differ- ence!) and Kraft Pizza Blend shredded cheese. The kids love helping to “make” the pizzas; they don’t realize most of the work’s already been done. My husband taught them to prep the pizza crusts with olive oil using a basting brush (it’s like painting!) and to spread the marinara with the back of a spoon; I usually like to start with a letter shape and let them mess it up from there. Then they pick their toppings, which are usually very tame—mostly just cheese or pepperoni, but we’re trying to broaden their little minds to consider other options, too. Bell peppers and mushrooms are on my horizon! I know, I know, mushrooms are in the “tan” family, but as long as it’s not chicken nuggets, this mama is happy.

An Old-Fashioned Butcher Shop

We have full-service butcher shops in our stores, and trusted butchers available to answer your questions about cuts, grades and cooking techniques. Every steak is still cut by hand. Choose from steakhouse-quality USDA Prime beef and USDA Choice beef, or more affordable options. Most of our stores also have a dry-aged beef locker, in which the beef is aged at least 25 days. Authentic Cajun Specialties We’re proud to continue the South Louisiana tradition of crafting our own Cajun specialties and real Cajun food. Our authentic boudin, spicy andouille, sausages, hogshead cheese and stuffed meats are made with Rouse Family Recipes that go back three generations. Cooking and heating instructions are available at www.rouses.com. delicious on our line. Depending on your location, you might find barbecue, pizzas or a Mongolian grill. All of our stores feature grab-and-go meals, including $5 daily deals, fresh sandwiches and salads, and heat-and- eat dinners. Soup & Salad Bars Our make-your-own salad bars feature an ever-changing selection of prepared salads and fresh-cut vegetables and fruits. Our hot soup menu changes daily, though you’ll always find our famous gumbo — it’s a favorite year-round. Prepared Foods You’ll always find something hot and

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JANUARY•FEBRUARY 2020