First time visitor to Lafayette

[DocCajun]

A good Cajun experience is Prejean's with Cajun food, a Cajun band at night, and a 16ft alligator. My favorite, Old Time Grocery; the shrimp po boy is awesome. Deano's is one of the top pizza places in the US, try the Jacque Boudreaux pizza; you won't find something like this anywhere else.

Yes Deano's is very close to the ball park and has excellent pizza and good beer selection. Would be a great post Friday game spot.

Prejean's is good but in my opinion, the best seafood is just west of Lafayette (10 - 15 minute drive on i-10 - Fezzo's in Scott and the best restaurant I have ever been to period - Chef Roy's in Rayne.

Safe travels in

[BayouRichard]

Dwyers Cafe in Jefferson st is good for any meal. Jefferson St has lot of bars. Other than Dwyers, eat at the other suggested places.

[CajunAmos]

I had posted this when we were hosting the softball regionals/super-regionals, so I'll just cut/paste without worrying about duplicates maybe listed above.

We love our food in Lafayette Louisiana (as our waistlines can attest). I'll cover just the places in Lafayette rather than the whole surrounding area which would be too large a list to provide. I tried to stay with places fairly close to the park. I also try to avoid chain type places as you can eat there at home.

Breakfast -Dwyer's (old style diner downtown) https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dwyer...15495858476468
-The French Press (Breakfast/Brunch downtown) http://www.thefrenchpresslafayette.com/
-Meche's Donut King (have great unique donuts as well
as King Cakes, 402 Guilbeau Road location is closest)
-Another Broken Egg (chain) River Ranch area of town

Poboy's -Old Tyme Grocery (short drive from the park) http://www.oldetymegrocery.com/
-Johnson's Boucaniere (plate lunches/sandwiches) http://www.johnsonsboucaniere.com/

Burger's -Judice Inn (hamburgers – try the fried egg on top) http://www.judiceinn.com/
-Fat Pat's (two locations in town) http://www.fatpatsbarandgrill.com/
-There's a Five Guys for those who don't have one

Pizza -Deano's (short drive from park) http://www.deanospizza.com/index.php?id=120

Sushi -Tsunami Sushi (downtown) http://www.servingsushi.com/
-Fuji Sushi https://www.facebook.com/FujiSushiHouse

Thai -Bangkok Thai https://www.facebook.com/BangkokThaiLafayette

Mexican Agave Grill (one near park, one downtown) http://agavelafayette.com/

Taco's -Taco Sisters (close to park – limited hours) http://tacosisters.com/

Tapas -Pamplona Tapas Bar (downtown) http://www.pamplonatapas.com/

Cuban Café Hanana City (Bertrand Dr. close to park) no website available

Cajun -Blue Dog Café http://www.bluedogcafe.com/
-Café Vermilionville http://www.cafev.com/

Cajun (A couple of spots with a little drive involved)
-Prejean's (Cajun music with food, nice for tourists, http://prejeans.com/
some very good food (duck/Andouille gumbo, pepper
jack shrimp, catfish enchiladas & Catahoula)
-Poboy's Riverside Inn http://www.poorboysriversideinn.com/
-Charley-G's http://charleygs.com

Boiled Crawfish
-Dwight's http://www.dwights.us/

Ice Cream -Borden's Ice Cream (old time parlor – it's worth the stop)\
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Borde...59213304093786

[Bigbuf]

Don't forget about Charlie G's. Olde Tyme is flat out the best po-boy you'll ever get. Get the whole shrimp or any other. A bit off the beaten path is Nash's in Broussard. Cafe Vermilion Ville for white table cloth dinning. Ruffino's on the River. Oh...and Jolie's....seriously if you can't find good food in Lafayette you just aren't trying. You could easily spend four days here and eat all three meals at a different places each day and never get a bad meal.

[Turbine]

Boiled CrawFish

Dwights.us

[cajundiehard]

If you are looking for a place to stay with plenty of shops/restaurants in walking distance I would suggest looking at the Carriage House Hotel... http://www.cityclubatriverranch.com/...d=280254&vnf=1 or http://www.cityclubatriverranch.com and follow the links. I think you get included use of the City Club fitness area with your stay. There area also plenty of good restaurants/bars and coffee shops within walking distance or very short drive. There is also a nearby Marriott SpringHill Suites Lafayette South at River Ranch at 321 Settlers Trace Boulevard which might be worth checking out. This area would be about a 10 minute drive from "The Tigue."

You've got to try a poboy (preferably fried shrimp or oyster) from Olde Tyme Grocery on the UL campus.

Deano's Pizza is unique and has a location near the ballpark as well as on Kaliste Saloom near River Ranch.

Judice Inn on Johnston St. has GREAT Burgers - (but no fries and they pride themselves in that)...

Parking around the baseball field is free and plenty. Not an issue. More parking than seats - unfortunately.

FWIW: There are many Cajun fans who will not be able to get tickets because all tickets will be scooped up by season ticket holders and RCAF. I'm not even sure all RCAF gets tickets. The stadium is almost sold out - just on season tickets.

As far as a place to watch the Louisiana games and get good food/drinks - I like Walk-Ons (a short drive from River Ranch).

[Scuttlebutt6]

There's only like 300 restaurants & 150 bars on this town. Be ready to drive because the city is spread out.

The parking is the best of any college venue you'll ever see.
Have a good weekend.

You can USUALLY park for free right outside of the Stadium (if you look on google earth, it is to the West of the Football Stadium and North of the Baseball Stadium). I emphasize the word USUALLY, because the Cajun Heartland State Fair is going on in the Cajundome parking lot as well. Parking might be slightly modified this weekend.

Your best bet for Restaurants or Bars is to ask around while tailgating. People love to give their opinion on the best place to eat or drink around Lafayette, and the Great part is very few of them are wrong. You won't find many bad places to eat or drink.

[billbeck451]

Petes on johnson or lebanese on pinhook vwry near campus

[Cajun90]

Maybe a point to be made. When people visit Lafayette they expect all the food to be "Cajun". In reality the food offerings are extremely varied. People in this area know good food no matter the culinary region it originates from and you won't last long serving bad food.

CajunAmos has a good list noted above. I will add that the FrenchPress mentioned by many is a restaurant that was nominated for a James Beard award last year.

[cajundiehard]

Ruffino's is located in River Ranch and there is also a new (very good) Agave Mexican just across Kaliste Saloom from River Ranch...

[DoubleDawg]

Some of your fans are frankly unbearable and acting very arrogant (which apparently can get people banned for saying that). ...
Like I said, I've been disappointed with some of the MSU fans because of the fact I myself have an Grandfather, Aunt, Uncle, and 3 cousins who are State alum, and the way some have portrayed themselves online is vastly different than the State fans I know in person and it's incredibly disheartening.

I agree with all this. Honestly, the frequenters of the two main "free" boards, Sixpackspeak and EliteDawgs, are basically daily competitions to see who can be the biggest a-hole. I guess that's how you get your point across and become "six pack cool."

[TravlnCajun]

Olde Tyme's poboys virtues have been covered by several, but one thing that may not have been mentioned is its proximty to the academic campus, only one block away.