PRAIRIEVILLE, La. (BRPROUD) — Saying the name Pedigo’s, a lot of people’s minds go straight to steak.

The Pedigo family once had five restaurants across our area. Now, the son of the founder oversees just one, Café Pedigo’s.

Donald Pedigo, the owner of Café Pedigo, plans to make this one the best because for the past four decades has had food follow him.

“People would see me out and the first thing they would say, ‘Donald Ray when are you going to open up another restaurant?’” Pedigo recalled.

It runs in the family. His dad, Don Pedigo, had a bar in 1987, and one of the customers asked him one day for a steak. From there, Pedigo’s steaks were known.

”My dad’s saying was if we have to put steak sauce on a Pedigo steak, then we didn’t cook it right,” says Pedigo.

His wife works side by side with him and has done so for the past nine years.

”We bicker, we have our days. That’s just part of it. I usually run the place by myself some days. I don’t care, that’s how much I love it.”

The new location is in Prairieville, right on the Amite River. Pedigo likes to be involved and interact with his customers and having one location allows him to do so. This location is paying off after a rough few years with the pandemic and Hurricane Ida.

”I came here and my whole life changed. Been doing what I love to do, and my prayer is every day is just give me a chance,” Pedigo says.

Although his dad came up with the way the steaks are made, Donald switched it up for those health-conscious eaters.

”He was a big butter person back in the day. I’m getting more into the olive oil state of it. To me, it’s a little bit healthier, but it doesn’t lose its flavor, which is the main thing.”

Don Pedigo passed away three years ago, but the legacy of the Pedigo steak lives on with his son.

”I got big shoes to fill, to keep doing what my dad started. I’m very proud to be in this position now to be able to keep doing this,” Pedigo says.