Prepare yourself for a feast of the senses. Navigate through Lafayette's traditions and tastes by selecting from the different "Food Ways". Each Food Way will lead you to a multimedia experience of the many restaurants that practice these traditions. Watch video interviews with the chefs and owners and get to know the place a little before you indulge. Bon Appetite!

Acadiana Mornings
As the sun rises in Acadiana, Lafayette wakes up to the smell of fresh coffee brewing in kitchens and eateries across town. While many locals take their first meal of the day at home over the morning newspaper and sounds of Cajun music streaming in from KRVS, the public radio station that features Cajun and Zydeco music daily beginning at 5:00 am, others prefer to eat on the road or on their way to work or school. They may stop and pick up a pastry or doughnut at a bakery or sit down with a cup of coffee and a full meal at a diner for early morning socializing in breakfast circles. More >>

Fine Food Adaptations
Since the 1980s, Acadiana has seen the development of "Cajun Fusion" restaurants--diverse menus join traditional Cajun ingredients with tastes and textures from outside the region. More>>

Crawfish Experience
Few foods are as emblematic of Acadiana as crawfish. Once found only at the bottom of the bayou, the little lobster-like crustaceans appear everywhere now, dressed up on the dinner plates of fine food restaurants as well as in backyard boiling pots. If you're here and they're in season, then you'll want to sample what has become one of the most distinctive food experiences Louisiana has to offer. More >>

French Food Markets
Many local grocery stores in the Acadiana region serve two functions. First, they operate as regular grocery stores where locals can find anything they need to cook, especially those ingredients most prized in local dishes that perhaps the larger chain stores are less likely to stock. Second, many markets in Acadiana offer food to go or dine-in during lunch. The fare varies from store to store, but it's not unusual to find fresh cracklings and boudin in addition to the more typical plate lunches. Visitors should also be sure to listen for a variety of Louisiana French being spoken since a lot of local business, especially about food, is still conducted in French in Acadiana. More >>

Mediterranean Connection
Naturally, as the name Acadiana indicates, the cultural identity of this region has been shaped predominantly by the influence of Acadian settlers who arrived here in the late 18th century. But it's important to bear in mind that they were not the only immigrants who've contributed to our local character, especially in Lafayette. One of the more interesting and unexpected influences at work in Acadiana comes from the Eastern Mediterranean through a variety of peoples collectively (and often imprecisely) grouped together under the heading of "Lebanese."  More>>

Meat Plus Three. Quick Lunch. Blue Plate Special. In Acadiana, it's a plate lunch. No matter where you are or what you call it, it's food served up at lunchtime that represents the home-cooking and cultural foodways of the local folks. More >>