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Catahoula's here in Lafayette is closed...it's now an "Events" arena.

Jolie's is supposed to be owned by the same group as Blue Dog. If that's the case, I'll stay clear of the place.

Charley G's is not half as good as it THINKS it is.

Cafe V's menu has hardly changed...and that's a BAD thing? Neither has Galatoire's.

Have not been to Pamplona...will wait until it's no longer the "camp" place to be. May try to get into Tsunami now that their reign as the camp place to be is over.

Riverside is good for lunch, sorry it's not one of your choices. Their amuse bouche soups are usually better than the main course. But be VERY thankful the Prejean's is not a choice as well. There is Don's Seafood Hut on Johnston but I only go there during oyster season. And I like their seafood/okra gumbo. If you want Mexican, there's El Portillo on Moss Street...pretty authentic.

Used to LOVE Best Stop...no more. Last time I went they had fruit on display with longer hair than I have and colors that fruit does not come in. If they keep their "fresh" fruit in that condition, I don't want to eat anything that comes out of there. Don's on I-10 (same exit) is a better bet.

Kev, you lived here once didn't you? Little has changed.....

Tchoupitoulas wrote:
Kev, you lived here once didn't you? Little has changed.....

Sure did. 4.5 years for college and then almost another two years suffering through my early professional career there before I moved back to NOLA. I was a financial advisor and my girlfriend (for a while) was a CPA, so I traveled on the usual circuit...

T-Coon's for the smothered rabbit special or Edie's for great biscuits and fried chicken and a slew of hot sorority waitresses during lunch. On Fridays it was La Fonda for a "see and be seen" lunch of margaritas and enchiladas, then either back to La Fonda for happy hour or Downtown Alive followed by drinks and dancing at Antler's. Plenty of plate lunches at Dwyer's and Po' Boys at Old Time Grocery and always at Riverside Inn or Prejeans when family came to town.

I guess there's something to be said for a lack of change. When I lived in NOLA, I dated our former (UL) homecoming queen and we went back to Lafayette for a couple of days to visit. After lunch at Charley G's and a bit of driving around, we found ourselves bored to death and checking out World Market. Nothing new, and that was a couple years ago. It'll make it easy to check out a lot of the sites and drive around, but I hear that downtown has really blown up.

We're staying at a B&B and It'll give me the opportunity to show my wife where I went to college and where I drank too many margaritas. If nothing else, it will be a nostalgic look into my past that got me to where I am today.

-Kevin

P.S. Tchoup, I am sure you know where I can get the best Jack and Coke in town, right?

Last I talked to you, you were still single. Life must be good in Florida....congratulations!

Don't forget to take her by the St. John oak downtown....that really impressed me. It's SUPPOSED to be the oldest oak in Louisiana.

And yes, I do happen to know of one, mayyyybe two places that serve a mean Jack and Coke.

Just wanted to jump back on here and post a quick trip report for our Lafayette excursion in early August. We ended up at Charley G's for lunch and Cafe Vermillionville for dinner and in between we squeezed in a few drinks at the Blue Dog Cafe.

Lunch was outstanding. I started off with a couple of bloody marys, which were better than I had remembered. My wife and I shared an order of the duck spring rolls and then we split two entrees. The first was a cheese ravioli with a crawfish, mushroom and calvados cream sauce that was absolutely amazing. We also ordered the lunch special of the day, a wood-grilled fish fillet with grilled tomatoes and asparagus, topped with baby sauteed shrimp and micro greens. Fish was perfectly cooked with just enough flavor of the wood grill. We also had a couple of glasses of King Estate Pinot Gris, one of our favorite wines to pair with Southern food and seafood. We finished with this 3 or 4 layer chocolate tower which my wife described as "one of the best things she's ever eaten." 'nuff said.

Cafe V was a bit of a disappointment. As mentioned above, the menu hasn't really changed since the place opened. While Galatoire's can get away with it, Cafe V cannot. It was a pretty uninspired menu and decent cooking, but it didn't blow us away. I had a duck breast that was good and my wife had the filet mignon topped with all kinds of Cajun stuff (crawfish, crab, etc.) and we also had a pretty good appetizer, the crawfish beignets. Dessert was bread pudding. Oh, and it looks as if Alex Patoit is no longer there. The waitress was kind of hush-hush about it and avoided the topic. Sounds like it wasn't a good departure. Overall, a pretty forgettable meal.

If I could do it all over again, I would have had lunch AND dinner at Charley G's. It was fantastic.

Oh, and we had breakfast at the B and B the next morning, but before heading back we stopped off at Best Stop for some boudin and cracklin's! We looked a bit out of place in Scott at 10am in the morning, pulling up in a white Mercedes Benz (borrowed) to get boudin. I was taking a picture of the place on our way out and some locals got a kick out of it and asked where we were from. Too tough to explain... Good stuff ;-)

-Kevin

All in all sounds like you had a good trip. And your wife got to delve a little deeper into LA. Good for you. I used to enjoy going to Charlie G's in Metry.

Tell me about the B & B. We might take a little getaway to Lafayette.

Also, if you are so inclined, tell us what food agenda you have planned for Portland. I go every year for a couple of weeks & for the folks I'm with food takes a big backseat. Wait, it's not even in the car. I did have one outstanding meal at a little Greek joint. Been in the family for ages.
This is beyond not fancy, it's in a Greek grocery store. Nevertheless, I was a very happy camper. Literally.

Hey Isabella,

We're headed to Portland in a couple of weeks so I will be sure to post a trip report. I may actually start a thread on here to see if anyone has any recs. We've done a lot of research and have some places picked out, but we had the NOLA trip just a couple of weeks ago, are headed to Charleston tomorrow morning for a quick culinary getaway, and my business has been booming lately, which leaves little time for writing.

The B&B we went to was called T'Frere's. The owner's are super nice and the breakfast was outstanding and the house was very nice. Only complaint is that now that Lafayette has built up so much, the house finds itself right on a busy street. Just make sure to request a room that is not facing the street ;-)

http://www.tfreres.com/

-Kevin

Thanks Kevin, T'Frere's looks like fun.

Looking forward to your Portland agenda.
Glad to hear your biz is so good!!

I love that you are doing what you love instead of sitting in
a suit in a stuffy bank!