- Hurricane Katrina pushed co-owner Lee Franklin to Omaha, where he says starting over became “a blessing in disguise.”
- What began as a food truck in 2013 grew into a Benson restaurant serving authentic New Orleans flavors.
- Franklin says sharing his family’s recipes gave him a fresh start and Omaha a taste of home-cooked Creole comfort.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
At 60th and Maple sits A Taste of New Orleans—a Benson staple many locals know and love. But what some may not realize is that Hurricane Katrina shaped the journey of this restaurant opening in Omaha.
The restaurant serves the full range of flavors you’d expect to find in the heart of New Orleans. Customers describe it as more than just a place to eat.
“People love coming here and once you come here you're like family… you my family,” said Montoya Johnson.
Owners Montoya Johnson and Lee Franklin are the faces behind A Taste of New Orleans. For Franklin, the road here wasn’t easy.
“New Orleans is one of a kind place, you can’t find no where else,” Franklin said.
He was in prison in Mississippi when Hurricane Katrina hit his hometown. Watching the devastation unfold in real time, he knew that once released, going back wasn’t an option.
“It was very tough for a lot of people in there… not knowing if your family was alive or dead,” Franklin recalled.
His first call with his mother revealed she was inside the Superdome. Days later, she was flown to Omaha.
“The image I had was like no… there were just cornfields… and nobody that looked like me,” Franklin said of his first impression of Nebraska.
Still, once he arrived and tried a popular local restaurant, he felt something was missing—New Orleans flavor and culture.
“I wanna start a food truck out here… because they ain’t got no New Orleans food,” Franklin remembered saying.
That food truck launched in 2013, eventually growing into a storefront in Benson. The business opened during the pandemic as carry-out only, but soon expanded into the full restaurant that stands today.
“I remember we had a line out the door… we couldn’t even keep up,” Franklin said.
While Franklin admits Katrina was devastating, he also calls it a turning point.
“To me it was a blessing in disguise… because it got me out… it made me change my way and change my direction,” Franklin said.
The move to Omaha not only gave him a new life, but also a new way to share his family’s recipes.
And after trying a plate myself—it really did taste like home-cooked comfort.
For now, in North Omaha—I'm Melissa Wright.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
