theadvocate.com — It’s difficult to calculate just how many people of Lebanese descent live in Acadiana today, but the cultural impact of this population is apparent everywhere. Generations of Acadiana residents remember shopping at Abdalla’s, Brother’s on the Boulevard, or Boustany’s Department Store. Local institutions such as Evangeline Maid and Evangeline Downs were concerns of prominent Lafayette businessman Frem Boustany. And when you drive down Kaliste Saloom Road, visit the major retail and medical centers of South Lafayette, or eat at restaurants such as Tabouleh Lebanese Cuisine, you’re participating in slices of Acadiana life that only exist thanks to waves of immigration from the modern-day country of Lebanon.

The first families began arriving in South Louisiana in the 19th century, bringing names that are still well-known today — like Saloom. Other Lebanese family names include Boustany, Azar, John, Ashy, Antoine, Abdalla, Hannie, Mahtook, and Haik — a short list of dozens that have descendants in South Louisiana. The Salooms were some of the earliest arrivals from the region that was then a province of Syria. According to Lafayette City Judge Judge Doug Saloom, his great-uncle Racheed was the first Saloom in the area, after arriving in Ellis Island and working his way down from New York. “He was so exhausted when he got to New York, he fell asleep and he was robbed,” says Doug Saloom. “They took his passports, money, everything. He walked and hitched rides down to Louisiana.”

Racheed was likely attracted to South Louisiana for the same reason other Lebanese (often recorded as Syrian) immigrants were — they were Catholic, and heard that both French and English were spoken here. Individuals and families seized opportunities to emigrate as turmoil associated with late-stage Ottoman rule brought economic, political, and religious conflict to the region. Saloom says, “Racheed was a peddler. He’d take a horse and ride down to Vermilion Parish and make a list of the things people needed. He and his wife would load the cart up and he’d bring it back down next month.”

From these humble beginnings, Racheed Saloom built his business and was able to bring over his nephew, the first Kaliste Saloom. “When my grandfather came to stay with his uncle, he was a young man,” says Doug Saloom. “Racheed ended up shipping him back to Lebanon to marry, and that’s where he met my grandmother, Asma Boustany. They ended up coming back around the turn of the century and established their family here.” That’s the origin story of Kaliste Saloom Road, which Asma named for her husband after his death. She was able to buy property with money he left her and named the road that would later become a major thoroughfare in South Lafayette. “It was nothing more than a dirt road when I was in high school,” says Dr. Francis Boustany, Jr., whose father emigrated to the United States in 1920 along with his brother Frem.

They followed their eldest sister Asma in immigrating to Lafayette, and a number of Saloom/Boustany family members found success as businessmen, public servants, and philanthropists — such as Frem Boustany, who bought into Evangeline Maid and later sold it to Flour Industries in the 1980s. He also played a key role in bringing Evangeline Downs to the area, and was the First Chairman of the Heymann Municipal Auditorium. “This older generation were really something special,” says Boustany. “When I was a kid I would stand in the driveway before going to church at Cathedral and listen to them all talk. They would talk about everything — oil speculation, buying property. There was a wealth of knowledge there, and I was just a fly on the wall. It was so fun listening to their stories.” Rae Saloom Gremillion, a granddaughter of Asma, agrees that her parent’s and grandparent’s generation were particularly active in investing in Lafayette. In particular, they bought much of the acreage where major businesses are now developed along Kaliste Saloom Road. “When I was young we had horses and cows at Kaliste Saloom and Ambassador Caffery,” says Gremillion. “I can remember the crop dusting planes coming across rice fields. We had property, Dwight Andrus had property on the other side, and there was nothing in between. We had no idea Kaliste Saloom would grow to be a major road.” “It’s amazing to see how successful [the Lebanese immigrant community] has been, and they have given back. My grandmother donated land for the fire station on Kaliste Saloom Road. I think that every member of the community in Lafayette always tries to make the community better.”

Gremillion says that Tuesdays at Tabouleh Lebanese Cuisine is a popular meeting place for Lebanese families, where people gather to enjoy the meals that usually can’t be found outside the home. Matthew Mikhael started the restaurant in 2020, alongside the construction business he’s owned for more than 20 years. Mikhael emigrated to Lafayette from Lebanon in the 1980s. “I use my grandmother’s and my mother’s recipes, which have been passed down generation to generation. And everything is made fresh daily,” he says, speaking of the kibbeh, grape leaves, cabbage rolls, fattoush salad, and other dishes that form the core of Lebanese cuisine. “Everyone came here to establish and build a new life,” Mikhael says. “It’s been over 100 years of people coming here. It worked because they’re a very friendly, business-like, close-knit community. I wanted to do something for the community that would be like a Lebanese home.”