randol's

We ate at Randols on a recent trip to Lafayette, on the recommendation of a friend and we were not disappointed. The Crawfish Etouffe with Blackened Catfish was exceptional.

On our overnight visit to Lafayette, we went to Randol's after supper to hear some music. It is very much a family place with an acadian band. Lots of dancing and joy. We had a cocktail and the service was very nice. I can't say a thing about the food there, but the atmosphere is over the top Cajun and your life will be more fun if you go there :O)

We arrived in Lafayette on a Sunday evening and asked our concierge for a recommendation for a local restaurant. We were warned that because it was a Sunday, most restaurants were either closed or closed early. So Randol's it was. While we greatly enjoyed the music and watching the dancing, the decor did not match the prices on the menu. $18 for shrimp etouffee. No bread, no salad, just the etouffee. And not very good etouffee at that. Our bill for a family of 4 was over $100. Ridiculous for cajun bar food that was not very good. Hubby spent the next day sick in bed with what we can only surmise was food poisoning. Randol's was the death of our LA vacation.

I was shocked when I entered this place and not in a good way. I was here years ago in the late 80’s. Then we ate dinner and listened to great Cajun music and watched the dancers. We had a seat at the edge of the dance floor with a great view of the band and dancers. We had a great time. In fact it was a highlight of that trip.This time to my shock upon entering Randol’s 2014 I saw that they had erected this barrier between the band/dancers and the people who were eating dinner. This created two distinct atmospheres. One for the music people and one for people eating. Before it seemed to me all the customers were in one big group together. Now we have separation. I don’t think one group cares about the group. I asked for a seat where we could see and hear the band. We were told all the tables were good. Not so!. From where I was sitting I could not see the band in its entirety, I could only see one member. Then as the place got crowded with big groups I could not see anything because the people sitting in front all stood up to watch. At first, with effort, you could hear the music. But as the dinner crowd got larger and noisier I could not hear the band at all.. To make matters worse they had a large screen TV playing a tape of another band at same the same time the live band was playing. What's with that?The food was OK not great but not bad either. The Boudin and the gumbo I would rate a 4 or 5, Very good. The main course maybe a 3.possibly a 4- The beer was fairly priced but no draft. The meal itself was overpriced considering the quality, but that would not have been a problem if you could hear the music and watch the dancers. I am willing to pay higher prices on the food and drink for the entertainment. Here I got the higher priced food but no entertainment I could hear or see.The service was fine, no problems.The partition is made of glass or plastic. There are a couple of brick pillars holding it up. The pillars blocked the view at our table. The glass or plastic.. I don’t know what to say about that. It is just bad.We planned to spend a couple of hours there eating and drinking some of the libations. We left in less than an hour, Mainly because we could not see through the standing people and the glass partitions and the brick columns. And because we could not hear over the crowd noise.I think they have the partition there so charge the dancers a fee. I am sure they can another way to do this without that partition.I would not recommend this place to anyone who wants to eat while listening to Cajun music and watching Cajun dancers. If they tear down that partition I may change my mind. But I am not coming back until that wall is gone. Instead of being a highlight like the 1980’s it was a purely disastrous night for 2014.

My husband and I were looking forward to an evening out with good food and Cajun music. The crawfish and Thai snapper were excellent. The waitress, Michelle, was a dud. Unfriendly, reluctantly took a picture for us, and had the check on the table before my husband had finished, without asking if we wanted another glass of wine, etc. we were going to the bar and into the dance room, but were turned off by such service.

Always enjoy this place they have a great menu selection along with live local music. And they have some of the best crawfish in town.

Whether or not you're a listener of Louisiana music, this place is a real cultural experience. You'll be hard pressed to find more authentic Cajun music, and it's played most every night of the week. The food looks good, and although we came for drinks and music, we sampled a few a la carte items. While the small portion of shrimp jambalaya was cold and barely a spoonful in a little dish, the smaller dish of corn, potatoes, and sausage was well worth it. Cold beers, nice dance floor- overalll one of the neatest places I've seen in a long time. Make sure to stop by of you're near Lafayette.

This is my first visit to Louisiana, and Randol's is exactly what I envisioned the deep South to be like. Great cajun food, fun dancing, a wonderful environment in which to spend a warm summer evening. The wait staff was fantastic. I had the chicekn and sausage gumbo, BBQ shrimp and of course, bread pudding for dessert. I highly recommend!

On our first night in Lafayette we wanted something authentic Louisiana with music. The hotel desk clerk recommended Randol's. It's certainly different but really, lots of fun. If you're looking for refined, romantic or classy, this isn't it. But if you want a rollicking down-home Cajun experience, this is the place for you. Good meal (and we didn't even get seafood), great service, fun and lively environment. We loved the rustic Cajun decor. We had a great time and were very glad we didn't let the unique appearance put us off.

The fried seafood was expensive and bland. The French fries were cold and hard. The fries sitting under the lamp at Burger King taste better.I will never return! Prejean's or Pat's is where I should have gone!!!!

Checked to see where a good place to go was and am so happy we found Randols. Gator bites were awesome. All the food was great. Service was perfect! Watching the dancing was fun. Only drawback would be it was loud and somewhat hard to talk, but not totally irritating like some places. Next road trip it will surely be on the list of places to return to.

This is a dance hall and a restaurant, with the dance area separated from the restaurant by a glass wall. While eating, you can see the dancing and hear the music just fine. Oddly, there were a couple of TVs showing a band and dancing, but who knows where that was because it wasn't what was going on at the restaurant. I had boiled shrimp which was nicely seasoned and came with corn on the cob (kinda old and starchy), and boudin (very tasty). I also tried the alligator appetizer, which was bits of alligator meat breaded and fried. Yep, tasted kinda like chicken! I had wanted to get the boiled crawfish, but orders come in 3# or 5# sizes and both seemed too much. I saw that it is served in a big rectangular container that is piled high with the crawfish, and they bring a receptacle for you to put the shells in. There is some sort of wood-burning barbecue going on because you can smell it when you walk in, which is kind of nice. However, my clothes later smelled as if I'd been at a campfire.

While visiting Lafayette recently someone recommended Randol's and we were not disappointed. The service was prompt and friendly, and the Cajun dishes were tasty. Maybe best of all was the zydeco band on stage and the crowded dance floor – crowded enough to try a Cajun 2-step without worrying about missteps!

Fantastic restaurant with lots of locals and great bands for dancing ...someone may even take pity on you and give you a cajun 2 step lesson, like they did us!

Atmosphere-ACrawfish bisque-A+All other food. -DBoiled crawfis. -F