Restaurants in Hammond

The family-owned and operated Slidell eatery offers a seasonal menu of fresh Cajun and Creole cuisine to brighten bored palates. Start with a “colossal” lump-crab-meat salad with fresh veggies and a garlic-cocktail vinaigrette ($18) before moving on to one of Joyce and Darnell's signature entrees. The seared maple-leaf duck breast ($17) recalls the breeze over Caribbean waters, dressed atop a hammock of tropical couscous with a port-wine demi-glace. The seafood pasta (sautéed shrimp, crawfish, scallops, and crab meat tossed with veggies in an asiago cream over orchiette, $18) and succulent grilled filet mignon (with au-gratin potatoes and a crab-and-brie cream, $24) will tempt seafood-eating land mammals and land-loving mermaids alike. Make any meal or choral performance end on a happy note with praline bread pudding swimming in crème anglaise ($6) or a spiced Guinness cake with cranberry compote and a glistening mound of vanilla-bean ice cream ($6). Nestled in a handsome house adorned with wreathes and trees, the breezy eatery offers an upscale and comfortable dining experience, which makes it an ideal setting for your next marriage proposal or dramatic interruption of a marriage proposal in progress. Call ahead for a reservation.

The only full-menu vegetarian restaurant in andouille-stuffed New Orleans, Café Bamboo features a playfully eclectic menu of Thai-, Latin-, and Cajun-inspired dishes. The gloriously alliterative caramelized cauliflower crustini ($5) tops crunchy french bread with a sweet browned-onion and cauliflower salad, which pairs wonderfully alongside a coconut-blended tomato-anise soup ($4 cup/$6 bowl) with assorted vegetables. The sampler rice bowl ($13) is a veritable United Nations of flavor, featuring Creole tofu in tomato and pepper sauce, peanuty West African mafe, green Thai curry, and vindaloo over a bowl of white or brown rice. Veggie and meat eaters alike can get a taste of southern soul food with the Sol Chik'n Dinner ($13), savory fried soy "chicken" served with Sol bell-pepper relish, cornbread, and mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, just like your alternate-universe vegetarian grandma used to make. Night owls will enjoy the late-night menu's selection of fingerfuls of fried favorites such as mozzarella sticks (4 for $5/6 for $6), Chik'n nuggets ($6), and mini egg rolls (4 for $5/6 for $6).

Summon the senses out of bed with the efficiency of a rooster with an alarm clock with Oceana's kicky menu of morning tastes. Try the Cajun omelette ($12.50), with spicy seasonings, mushrooms, and onions, or maw maw's Cajun breakfast ($12), packed with bacon, ham, shrimp, eggs, and rice. Crêpes ($15–$18) call out to lovers of foldable fare with the St. Marie (spinach, cheddar, chicken, and hollandaise) and the St. James (shrimp, crabmeat, onions, red peppers, and cheese). Midday grub includes fried-catfish po’ boys ($9.50), classic cheeseburgers ($9.50), and crab-cake burgers ($9.50). Louisiana-style dinner entrees such as the grilled ahi-tuna "la boheme" topped with barbecued shrimp and served with sautéed veggies ($20) and smoked duck sided with potatoes and vegetables ($21) take care of heartier appetites.

The chefs at Cucos Mexican Cafe plate up Louisiana-Mex lunch and dinner fare to feed hungry dining duos any time of day. On weekdays until 3 p.m., the lunch value menu sports selections such as three tamales, two spinach enchiladas, or two tacos, each accompanied by a cavalry of black beans, mexican rice, mexican corn, or fries. Among the half-dozen hefty 2-pound burritos, the Burrito Gigante holds both beef and chicken, along with chili, beans, rice, and cheese, while the fajita burrito emits advice when held against the ear like a seashell. The chimichanga, one of Cucos’ classico combos, fills a lightly fried tortilla with seasoned beef or ranchero chicken, and the honorable El Presidente platter bursts with two chimipoquitos, a beef taco, two enchiladas, and a side of guacamole molded into the likeness of Felipe Calderón sipping a margarita.

The basic pizza needs no introduction, but Pompeii's menu discloses the secrets of even the most elusive species of pie. Order a large E's Special with barbecue sauce, chicken, pineapple, bacon, jalapeños, and extra cheese (16", $17.95), or go for the large Big Round (chicken, bacon, pepperoni, and extra cheese with a side of ranch, $17.95). Pizza heretics can rejoice with a stromboli (pepperoni, ham, Genoa salami, and cheese inside a doughy cocoon, $7.95), Philly cheesesteak ($7.95), or a huge order of 20 Buffalo wings ($16.95, also available in barbecue flavor). You can also order small, not exactly small, and bigger-than-your-head pies with any of 19 toppings, including black or green olives, anchovies, and shrimp (one-topping 8", $4.50; 12", $9.95; and 16", $13.45; additional charge for premium-topping chicken or shrimp). Wash any solid foods down with a half-liter bottle of Coca-Cola or Dr. Pepper soft drinks ($1.25).

Commence your weekend with starter such as crawfish-and-artichoke dip ($12) or a bacon-chocked steakhouse salad with green-peppercorn buttermilk dressing ($7). Entree salads include larger, decadent options like the McIlhenny, masa-fried oysters over greens with homemade buttermilk dressing and McIlhenny tabasco chipotle ($11), or a Southern fried-chicken salad with a Jack Daniel's mustard vinaigrette ($10.50). Get back on the meatwagon with the steakhouse bacon cheeseburger ($9.50) or the blackened prime rib, served with roasted-pepper and portobello-mushroom salad ($24), or dive below the surface of the plate for barbecue shrimp smothered in Abita Amber sauce ($16.50).