Tobasco Factory and Visitor's Center, Hot sauce factory and museum on Avery Island, Louisiana, United States
The factory sits on a quiet island surrounded by greenery and water, where the air carries the warm scent of peppers and spices being made into hot sauce.
The McIlhenny family started making their pepper sauce here in 1868, using peppers from Latin America and salt from the island to create a recipe that became popular worldwide.
Visitors can taste different flavors of the sauce for free at the tasting bar and learn how Louisiana cooks use it to add heat and flavor to local dishes like gumbo and crawfish.
The center is open daily from 9 AM to 4 PM, and you can tour the factory, see the barrels where the sauce ages, and stop by the gift shop for bottles and souvenirs.
Workers use a small red stick called the petite baton rouge to check when the peppers turn the right shade of red and are ready to be picked for making the sauce.
Location: Iberia Parish
Operator: McIlhenny Company
Address: 32 Wisteria Rd, Avery Island, LA 70513, USA
Opening Hours: Monday-Sunday 09:00-16:00
Phone: +13373736139
Website: http://tabasco.com/visit-avery-island/tabasco-tour
GPS coordinates: 29.90965,-91.90265
Latest update: December 3, 2025 10:41
Louisiana blends old neighborhoods, plantation houses, and diverse natural landscapes. The French Quarter of New Orleans keeps its 18th-century Spanish colonial architecture, with wrought-iron balconies and lively streets where jazz and the sounds of passersby fill the air. In Baton Rouge, the USS Kidd remembers World War II, while in Lafayette, the Vermilionville Museum celebrates the lives of early Acadian settlers with demonstrations of traditional crafts and cooking. Plantations like Laura or Rosedown open their doors to tell the rich story of the South, with restored outbuildings and gardens where time seems to stand still. Along the Gulf of Mexico, Holly Beach attracts families who come to swim, fish, or collect shells. Everywhere, Louisiana culture is part of daily life, seen in festivals like Mardi Gras with its parades filling the streets, in spicy dishes served in local restaurants, and in the music that accompanies every moment of the day.
Louisiana can be explored far from the usual routes. Next to the bayous and New Orleans, the state hides cemeteries where voodoo priestesses rest, chapels filled with ex-votos, plantations known for their ghosts, and even an abandoned amusement park from Hurricane Katrina. Some places remember the Civil War, others tell stories of industrial accidents that turned a lake into a giant whirlpool. You can also find museums full of thousands of found objects, a replica of the Eiffel Tower made from pieces sent from Paris, or an oak tree with chimes that make music when the wind blows. In Laplace, the Frenier cemetery recalls a voodoo priestess's prophecy before the storm of 1915. Near Erath, Lake Peigneur still bears scars from a 1980 drilling accident that created a whirlpool swallowing barges and platforms. In St. Francisville, the Grace Church tells how Union and Confederate soldiers paused their fighting to hold Masonic funerals. These places talk about local traditions, forgotten stories, and daily life in Louisiana, well beyond the usual jazz and gumbo clichés. They show a state where the past stays alive, where every place has an extraordinary story.
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