Prejean's Restarant is a delightful cajun seafood place. You can enjoy seafood and non-seafood dishes. Reservations are taken only from 1830-1930 (military time). So, do it asap. The wait is long, but worth it. On weekends there is a live cajun band for the crowd to enjoy.

Located in the heart of French Louisiana, Prejean's Restaurant captures the hearts of all who visit. A delight to all "six" senses, Prejean’s Restaurant satisfied diners with some of the best cuisine available in the south. In a culture famous for delicious flavors, Prejean’s leads the way.


The staff serves up, not only the fine hospitality expected in the south, but also serves up the succulent seafood dishes which have made Prejean's so famous. Juicy steaks, wild game dishes and world famous gumbos twist from the ordinary into memorable.
Traditional music fills the air with the sounds of live Cajun bands entertaining nightly. Prejean’s showcases the rich culture of our Cajun French heritage. Antique relics grace the walls and rafters.
"Big Al," the fourteen foot alligator once a native of the Louisiana’s Grand Chenier swamp, sits in the middle of the dining room guarding the culinary medals, earned by Prejean's chefs in various culinary competitions held locally, nationally and internationally.


IN THE BEGINNING -
In 1980, Robert Guilbeau ("Bob" to some, "Biker-Bob" to others) and his friends built Prejean’s Restaurant on farmland passed down to him from his grandparents, Walter and Inez Prejean. The idea for what would become the world’s first Cajun-themed restaurant began back when Bob was working in the steam fields of California. A much younger Bob Guilbeau visited several Mexican Restaurants where more than just Mexican food was served. These establishments had captured the wonders of their culture with a magical combination of food, traditional live music and dancing, and, of course, lots of laughter.

With a dream in his heart and a longing for the traditions of his own homeland, Guilbeau returned to Lafayette with a vision for a way to combine the joie de vivre of south Louisiana with the comforts of his grandparents’ kitchen. Long before "Cajun" would become a household word, Prejean’s was serving those delicious boiled shellfish, gumbos, ettouffees and sauce piquante’s the world would come to know and love.

"Great eaters and great sleepers are incapable of anything else that is great." ~Henry IV of France

Prejean's Restaurant is an award-winning Cajun restaurant. Designed to feel like a nautical lover's paradise, lunch is a minimum of like $20, and dinner is $30. There is Tee Al, a cute live alligator in the restaurant from Intercoastal City; and Big Al, a fake alligator that guards the trophies and awards won by the "Commander's Palace of Lafayette".

The nautical design is very charming, especially the stained glass windows of a ship. There is also a book store with cookbooks, magnets, and the Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes. The tables have crayfish designs on the striped red and white tablecloths, and paper towels are in Bruce's canned yams bin.

There was an array of salads, poultry meals, sandwiches, seafood meals, and oysters. The whimsical food exceptionally topped the quaint atmosphere.

Ranking in a tie for first place with Café Vermilionville as my favorite Lafayette restaurant is Prejean’s. This large restaurant on the north side of town near Evangeline Downs takes traditional Cajun cooking to new heights. Most of the restaurant’s menu is focused on local seafood, including crawfish, Gulf shrimp, crabs, oysters, catfish, and red snapper. You’ll also find regional delicacies such as alligator and frog legs, and wild game selections including Colorado elk, deer, and buffalo. Everything is freshly prepared and almost sinfully delicious. In fact, the food here is so good that I know people in my hometown in southeast Texas who have made the 3-hour drive to Lafayette on a Saturday afternoon just to eat dinner at Prejean’s and then turn around and drive home! You know a restaurant has to be great for people to be willing to spend six hours in the car roundtrip just to go eat dinner.

My favorite entrée at Prejean’s is the Alligator Grand Chenier, a tender white meat filet of alligator tail meat wrapped around a stuffing of shrimp and crabmeat. The whole thing is seasoned, grilled to perfection, and then topped with a generous serving of Prejean’s renowned crawfish etouffee. As with most other entrées, the dish is served with a baked potato, dirty rice, and corn macque choux, a mixture of corn, jalapeno, tomatoes, and seasonings. If you’ve never tried alligator before, this is by far the best alligator dish I’ve ever had anywhere. Alligator meat can be on the tough side, but not at Prejean’s, where it is extremely tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Other favorites of mine on the menu include the seafood platters, good if you’re very hungry and won’t to try a sample of a variety of dishes; Catfish Catahoula, catfish stuffed with shrimp, crab, and crawfish; Red Snapper Pontchartrain (a filet of Gulf red snapper topped with a crawfish sauce); and the Crawfish Half and Half, a combination of crawfish etouffee and fried crawfish tails. Due to seasonal availability, some menu items are occasionally not available; I’ve particularly found this to be true with crawfish dishes in late July and early August when crawfish are not in season and supplies from the previous season are running low. And, if you’re not full from the large portions of delicious food, a nice selection of desserts is available, including regional favorites like Acadian bread pudding; bourbon pecan pie; and Gateau Sirop, a Cajun spice cake.

Complimenting the outstanding food at Prejean’s is the fun and lively atmosphere. Diners are greeted at the front door by a huge stuffed alligator with his jaws wide open, and the walls are adorned with other game. A live band plays Cajun and Zydeco music nightly, and there is a dance floor if you want to get up and work off some of the calories you’ve just consumed. A large bar area with a full selection is also available.

• Prejean's website.