There’s no recession in Lafayette’s restaurantarama. by Mary Tutwiler photos by Robin May
Mid-fall the drilling moratorium was still firmly capping production in the Gulf and the fear of job losses rippled through Acadiana. It seemed a shaky climate in which to start a new business. But either there is a lot more confidence in the local economy than the doom and gloom predictors admit, or Cajuns just love to eat. Whichever the reason, nearly a dozen restaurants have opened their doors (or will open within the month) since The Ind’s Restaurant Guide came out in October, with all sorts of offerings from signature sushi to tacos al pastor and just about every other cuisine in between.
Dozo Sushi 4702 Johnston St. 993-9850 Open daily: Dinner
Restaurateur Alan Yen, who has run Shangri-La since 2000, opened the hibachi half of his swanky new Asian restaurant Dozo in mid-summer. A complex interior construction slowed the sushi side down, but it was worth the wait: The restaurant is a stunner. And I’m not even talking about the food. Yet. Yen had a yen for a modern Asian look. He spent a year traveling before settling on a look that is literally new wave. Working with Houston architect Si Dang of Andria Design and Lafayette interior designer Cheri Roane, Yen created a totally unique restaurant. Ceiling beams undulate above pods of light that illuminate individual tables. The soft salmon and wheat fabrics warm the cool granite top of the sushi bar. There are intimate booths and tables as well, but if you want a one-on-one with your dinner, the sushi bar is the place to discuss the inventive offerings with chef Peter Liang.
Dozo’s approach to sushi is as new wave as his décor. “Mixing things up,” says Yen. “We’re using different ingredients,
Dazzling interior design at Dozo; Asian tapas: Lobster Mango Ceviche (at bottom)
different methods. It’s not old school, traditional Japanese sushi.”
Start with the small plates. The soft shell crab appetizer is a piled-high plate of halved buster crabs, nearly bite size and fried really crispy. There are all sorts of fusion dishes, edamame hummus, salmon tacos, tunacolada tartar, kabuki meatballs and a spicy tuna Napoleon.
Then move on to some of the best dishes in the house, the Asian Tapas. I loved the Hamachi Jalapeño, buttery yellow tail with a wasabi yuzu sauce that was so good I hung on to the empty plate and dipped everything else in it, too. The salmon capriccio paired unctuous sashimi salmon with wasabi aioli and truffle oil. Completely unexpected and astonishing. The lobster mango ceviche with its bright citrus notes is another lovely dish, both to look at and to eat.
For those who are still hungry after a raw fish interlude, Dozo offers some he-man steaks, braised short ribs and a Shanghai duck that comes with a duck spring roll.
There are all sorts of martinis and mixed drinks, but when it comes to sushi, I drink traditional. While I do love warm saké, Dozo has a nice cold saké list including Zipang, sparkling saké that pairs perfectly with the razzle dazzle of the sushi. Dozo’s grand opening will take place Dec. 9.
Paul Gibson and his chips-topped Bazooka Burger at The Mess Hall
The Mess Hall 924 Kaliste Saloom Road 456-6031 Mon.- Fri: Lunch
Eleven years cooking in the army will do one of two things to you. Either you’ll get kicked out on your butt for jungle cooking (hey, let’s dump some Tabasco in here and make it Cajun!) or you wind up a disciplined chef. Paul Gibson was recognized as a distinguished field baker, and his cooking team ultimately won third internationally with the Philip A. Connely Award for the best dining facility in the military. Honorably discharged in 1997, he went on to marry Bonnie Bell and they opened Bonnie Bell’s Bistro. That’s his fancy restaurant. One late night after service, he was drinking with his buddy Mike Norris (namesake of the high steaks Mike Norris burger at Bonnie Bell’s), when they came up with an Army-themed restaurant.
The Mess Hall features daily plate lunches, poboys, platters and burgers. I’m a huge fan of the Bazooka Burger, with its jalapeño-seasoned patty, melted pepper jack cheese, tart dill pickles and a heap of potato chips piled on top. Gibson’s fried shrimp poboy with poblano-dijon mustard has the unfortunate nomer of Mustard Gas Shrimp Poboy. Dare you to order that one. There’s standard military issue jackets on the walls, boots over the cash register, canteens, flack jackets and the Patriot, a foot-long corn dog with chili cheese and onions on French bread. No Scuds here.
China Wok 2429 Congress St. 269-6097 Daily: Lunch and Dinner
China Wok is such a new restaurant that the day I went there was still a hand-lettered sign proclaiming the opening. It’s tucked into the strip mall at the intersection of Congress and Bertrand, right down from the AT&T store. The menu’s Chinese, but there’s no buffet here; every dish is cooked to order for a mostly take-out crowd. There are only four small tables, all occupied by people waiting for their orders. While you won’t find anything out of the ordinary on the menu, what is fresh and new about China Wok is the absolute freshness of the food. I’m a sucker for Moo Shu Pork, and they did a good job, as well as with the Hot and Spicy Beef and another fave, Salt and Pepper Shrimp. Portions are large, and the staff is friendly. Best to call in your order, as things get a bit stacked up at lunch.
CT Grill and Seafood 803 Pinhook Road 456-1192 Daily: Lunch and Dinner
The CT Grill and Seafood is located in what was an old flower pot shop on Pinhook, right along restaurant row, between University and the Vermilion River. The fare is really all frying: shrimp, catfish, oysters, chicken (including livers and gizzards), eggrolls, cheese sticks and even donuts. The batter is Chinese, as are some of the offerings: lo mein, fried rice and the crab and cream cheese stuffed crab rangoon. There’s gumbo and burgers to round it off. Best bet is to come from the river side; a left on Pinhook any time of the day is deadly.
Taco Mama Irene Carreno and daughter Elena Wilkerson
Taco Mama Johnston Street in the parking lot of the old La Promenade Mall 212-3439 Monday-Saturday: Lunch and Dinner
Finally, a taco truck in Lafayette! Drive up, park at random, order from the window and eat sitting on your tailgate. Irene Carreno, taco mama, makes all the authentic fillings and sauces. The Pastor (pork) is the standout. We liked our corn tacos soft, as well as crispy house fried. Flautas, burritos, tostadas, quesadillas and tamales (red and green) round out the south of the border menu. Her daughter Elena Wilkerson, wife of bar magnate Shannon, is part of the venture. Monday nights after 10 p.m. the truck trundles up to The Bulldog, where else, to help sober up the dollar night regulars.
Golden Wok 1809 Pinhook Road 593-8222 Daily: Lunch and Dinner
Since Golden Wok opened its doors at the new Pinhook location, the parking lot has been jammed all day long. The buffet is clearly a hit, with dishes like Black Pepper Pork, Butter Shrimp, Pepper Steak, Ma Po Tofu, a selection of sushi, and standards like fried rice and lo mein. Dine in prices crest below $10, but it is the takeout, $3.50 per pound at lunch, $3.85 per pound of buffet food at dinner, that makes Golden Wok the best deal in town.
Athena 413 Jefferson St. 234-8955 Monday-Saturday: Lunch and Dinner
We loved the Middle Eastern food when Athena opened in a gas station on Kaliste Saloom. We loved it just as much when owner Joe Yousef opened a sit down restaurant in Ambassador Row. But the drive from downtown is a killer at noon. So it’s a pleasure to say that the new Athena opened Tuesday, November 30 in the former Zeus location on Jefferson Street.
Monday special: Red beans and rice with a side of fried chicken at Rivals Sports Grill
Rivals Sports Grill 1020 Jefferson St. 534-4495 Daily: Lunch and Dinner
The balconied brick building on the corner of Jefferson and Johnston streets has gone through so many transformations no one remembers what it was last. But Gil and Lori Guillory may have found the solution to dispel the cursed corner: a lively sports bar with fluttering banners outside and seven big screens showing everything from NFL football to Major League Soccer and championship boxing. The menu focuses on plate lunches, with daily specials like red beans and rice with a fried chicken side, smothered chicken and shrimp stew. There are burgers, wings, crab cakes and gator bites, and the Sunday barbecue is old school, cooked on a pit outside. Rivals is rapidly becoming the place to watch the Saints; last week there was standing room only for the Saints-Seahawks game.
Trynd 116 E. Vermilion St.
Restaurateur Nidal Balbeisi has been hard at work renovating the former Stan’s, nee Masonic temple, into a white tablecloth restaurant. The swanky bar upstairs opened in July, and the restaurant is slated to be open by New Year’s Eve. The menu will be both traditional Italian and what Balbeisi characterizes as fusion, playful culinary twists on the Italian theme.
Panda House 1812 Pinhook Road
Located in the same new strip mall on Pinhook that houses Little Caesar’s Pizza and Saigon (which I thought for a brief shining moment was a Vietnamese restaurant; it’s a nail salon), Panda House will be a Chinese Restaurant. Slated for a December opening.
Pie Works 5423 Johnston St.
Pie Works will occupy the former Phoenician Grill in the Time Plaza shopping center on Johnston Street. Founded by Shreveport entrepreneur Marc Able, the Lafayette location will be the seventh Louisiana franchise location for the chain. Pie Works specializes in pizza with lots of speciality pies and design your own pizzas. Scheduled to open soon.
[Writer’s Note: While I try to be comprehensive, restaurants open faster than I can eat my way around town. If I have overlooked a new, locally owned eatery, please email me at
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
; I’ll be glad to help get the word out. MT]
... written by Eat Prey Kill , December 01, 2010 - 05:21 pm
"There’s no recession in Lafayette’s restaurantarama"
Tell that to Sage, Serrano's, Backyard Burger, Shanghai Moon, Phoenician Grill, oh, sorry not enough space.
... written by Northern Cynic , December 01, 2010 - 06:12 pm
If you own a restaurant in Lafayette, the food has to be great and consistant. Its too easy to mark a place off your list and go to the next one, after one bad meal. So much GOOD FOOD!
... written by Clint Reno , December 01, 2010 - 06:13 pm
Location, menue, and quality could have something to do with that.
... written by Knowledge is Power , December 02, 2010 - 12:36 pm
Eat Prey Kill....if you go onto urbanspoon.com, you can see alot of reviews of local restaurants. I use it all the time and I can tell you, one of the main reasons that Sage, Serrano's and Shanghai Moon didn't last is because of inconsistent food quality and/or bad service. I never went to Sage or Shanghai Moon because most of what I heard from friends and read online about both of these establishments was BAD. I actually went to Serrano's a couple of times and the food was nothing special....I could get better, cheaper elsewhere. Lafayette is a picky town; we love our food and we know what good food is. There are too many choices in town to bother with bad food and/or lousy service.
Restaurants need to manage the quality of the food that comes out of their kitchen. They also need to take the time to train their staff on the items on their menu and how to do their jobs. Too many restaurants have young people on staff who have no real idea of what is on the menu and too many of them spend most of their time "hanging out" with their co-workers and ignoring their customers. You can tell the restaurants that take the time to train their staff. It shows in the workers' attitudes and the quality of their service!
... written by Dave in Broussard , December 02, 2010 - 02:10 pm
I seem to remember a similar article in The Ind a while back, profiling a few young restauranteurs - there was a quote from someone to the effect of (I'll paraphrase from memory) "any new restaurant in Lafayette can succeed for the first year - curiosity will take care of that - it's the second year (and beyond) that makes or breaks it." Wasn't it Macaroni Grill that won The Times' Readers' Poll's "Best New Restaurant" (or something similar) and closed in the same year?
I grew up here, then moved to Colorado for ten years, returning six years ago. I spent the last ten years traveling extensively throughout the U.S. as an IT consultant. I enjoyed that travel because it allowed me to find tons of interesting places to eat. I've just begun working from home, and I must say the current Lafayette restaurant scene excites me. While we've always had world class Cajun food and seafood, we've lacked variety for a while. Sure, there's been a history of good Middle Eastern fare, and we've always had Chinese and Italian places (name me a place that doesn't), and then there was the curious Sushi explosion a while back. I'm hoping some of these places stick around, and have my fingers selfishly crossed for a southeast Asian explosion soon - more Thai and Indian food please!
At any rate, we're moving steadily away from a story I'll never forget that happened to me around 1996. I had returned to LA for a visit, and, being that crawfish were in season, met some friends and family at a local seafood boilery. When the waitress came around for drink orders, I, being a spoiled Colorado resident at the time, reflexively asked what was on tap. The answer of "Bud Light, Miller Lite..." snapped me back to reality, so I countered with "Do you have any imports?" which was met with "What's that, an import? We got Miller Genuine Draft, that's kinda different." I accepted the MGD (and defeat?) and enjoyed every sip along with the excellent crawfish.
... written by Southsider , December 03, 2010 - 03:23 am
Say it ain't so! NOT a taco truck! Do we really want to be the next Houston, with those tacquerias(sp) everywhere? Good idea for the Dept. of Homeland Security to setup to catch the illegals. Whats next? MORE used car lots?
... written by Gad About Gaddis , December 03, 2010 - 03:41 am
I had lunch at Mel's Diner on the first day it opened. I had Deduct Eggs with SOS. I'm a breakfast fiend and today I again had Deduct Eggs with SOS at Mel's. Old habits are so hard to break, and some things never change, Mel's has the whitest grits in town without the little black flakes as in the other eaterys in Lafayette, there is another reason I eat at Mel's, and that reason is that my cup of coffee never smells eggy like it wasn't well washed. Don't you just hate it, when you lift your cup to sip that first hot sip, and the cup smells "Eggy. "Oh, by the way TUT TUT, your GC for "DEDUCT EGGS is being hand delivered, hang up your stocking.
... written by Morrow , December 03, 2010 - 10:20 am
My restaurant dollars are more precious right now, so when I go out to eat, I eat the restaurants I can count on. If I want good fried catfish, I "can find them now" & that's where I go. If I want fried shrimp & a good stuffed potato, DON'S DOWNTOWN is the rest. from childhood that I can count on to be consistent!, along with a heck of a crab au gratin. There is a great boiling place, Gator Cove, that I love to go to for casual dining, but I've had big problems trying to give them dollars if I want something other than crabs or crawfish. The deserts there are special, so if the food wasn't up to par, I can justify the calories of the desert. Consistency - the cook has to know more than how to say it.... My dollars are just too tight right now for me to waste them on crappy food cause the cook is having a bad night.
... written by Eat Prey Kill , December 09, 2010 - 03:28 am
written by Southsider "Say it ain't so! NOT a taco truck! -----------------------
Where, where? I could use a good barbacoa taco.
... written by levis rilassato , May 13, 2011 - 12:32 am
along with a heck of levis rilassato a crab au gratin. There is a great boiling place, Gator Cove, that I love to go to for casual dining, but I've had big problems trying to give them dollars if I want something other levis delle donne than crabs or crawfish. The deserts there are special, so if the food wasn't up to par, I can justify the calories of the desert. Consistency - the cook has to know more than how to levis fidanzato say it.... My dollars are just too tight right now for me to levis ragazzi waste them on crappy food cause the cook is having levis giacche a bad night.
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MAY 17 Here's a column from James Gill, this time in the Advocate. Gill, who has jumped ship from the Picayune, writes about the absurdity of dueling polls in this post. The numbers are so wildly different, it is obvious that both sides are "cooking the books," he writes. In particular, he looks at Sen. Mary Landrieu, and how her recent actions in DC have been received by those polled. Gill's acerbic, amusing prose is a welcome addition to a paper so conservative as to be occasionally lacking in personality.
MAY 17 Blogger Tom Aswell continues delivering bombshells about the state education department and Gov. Jindal's education "reform" efforts. In this post, he reports that students in the Shreveport area have been signed up for a charter school without their knowledge or consent. Most interesting to Aswell is how this Texas-based charter (with ties to GOP types) got the personal student information it has, if the students didn't give it.
MAY 17 This post by JR Ball in the Baton Rouge Business Report is an interesting tongue-in-cheek look at recent Baton Rouge economic development efforts. Among the items he examines is the idea that gaining a Costco makes BR a "world-class city." (Really? All you need is a different brand of Sam's? MK!) This effort, and other recent ones, are all built on the taxpayer's back, with tax zones, tax incentives and tax rebates, Ball writes.
MAY 17 Blogger CB Forgotston is critical of the legislature's reliance on a revenue-estimating committee's decision to include projected tax amnesty income in this year's forecast. That's a problem, CB posts, because the deadline for these people to pay their taxes is June 30, 2014. So when do you think these people who haven't paid taxes in years are going to pay their taxes? Surely not before June 30, and that means the money won't be there for this year's budget, he argues.
MAY 17 Here's an interesting blog out of California by a Hollywood writer, attorney and academic named Brian Alan Lane. He blogs about higher ed, and was a whistle-blower in a scandal over false credentials. In this post, he takes aim at LSU's new top dog, King Alexander. It's convoluted and a little confusing, but it sure makes Alexander a lot more interesting than he was yesterday.
MAY 17 Blogger Robert Mann writes about the LSU Board's refusal to allow Dr. Fred Cerise to testify before the legislature about Gov. Jindal's plan to close down all the state's charity hospitals and dump the poor on the private system. It's hard to imagine anyone more qualified than Cerise to testify about that, so why would anyone try to prevent him doing so? Mann thinks it is because the powers that be aren't interested in hearing any truth about the plan.
MAY 17 This post on the Louisiana Sinkhole Bugle, a blog that notes developments in the Bayou Corne and Jefferson Island salt domes, talks about a proposed expansion of the salt dome storage under Lake Peigneur in Iberia Parish. Residents are working against it for several reasons, including two biggies: the sinkhole disaster in Bayou Corne and the continuing, unexplained bubbling on the surface of the Lake.
MAY 17 NOLA police arrested more people Thursday accused of either being involved in the Mother's Day shooting or hiding the suspect afterward, this Gambit story reports. The NOLA police chief said he suspects the whole thing was gang-related and throws out a challenge to the gangs: he's got informants now, he says, and he knows a lot more than the gangs want him to know. The people who live in the neighborhoods terrorized by gangs are ready to talk, he says.
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Wednesday, December 1, 2010
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Tell that to Sage, Serrano's, Backyard Burger, Shanghai Moon, Phoenician Grill, oh, sorry not enough space.