Restaurants in Lafayette

With the amount of fresh and boiled seafood required to meet the needs of their catering requests, dine in and carryout orders, and deli shoppers, it would take two Randy Montalbanos to properly run Randy Montalbano's Seafood & Catering. Luckily, that's exactly what they've got. The restaurant was built on the collaboration between Randy Montalbano, Sr. and his son, Randy Montalbano, Jr., as the crown jewel of the family's three generations in the food-service industry. Above the checkerboard floors of the eatery, display cases show off fresh shrimp, crab, and fish. Patrons can snag live seafood to cook at home, order boiled crab and shrimp to dine in or tote in tidy to-go lunch boxes, or order large platters to cater a football tailgate or a Little Mermaid-watching party.

Flames soar from the surface of griddles built into the middle of Ginza Sushi & Japanese Steakhouse's tables, as chefs drum out a steady rhythm against the heated metal surfaces with their knives. Beneath the flashy blade-work, delicious proteins – such as filet mignon, scallops, grouper, and chicken – soaked in Japanese style sauces divide into bite-sized cubes of flavor. Meanwhile, sushi chefs perform equally deft, if less often observed, tricks with their knives, dicing rolled conglomerations of rice, seaweed, and raw fish into even morsels. They prepare such treats at the super dragon roll, featuring snow crab and avocado topped with barbecued eel, or the cherry blossom roll, with tempura shellfish beneath a blanket of lobster salad. Mixologists wash the seameats down with concoctions of their own, brewed to order at the full bar.

Cafe Delphi Greek and Lebanese Restaurant's proprietor, Mir Hassan, and expert chefs take taste buds on culinary tours of the cradle of humanity with an extensive menu of delicious Mediterranean delights. Paying homage to the ancient Greek tradition of filling up on breadsticks, appetizers prelude Near Eastern feastings with tantalizing dishes such as the fried-cheese or grilled-eggplant musaka. On main plates, juicy kebabs skewer tender cuts of chicken or beef, and Mediterranean samplers unite cabbage rolls, kibbeh, and a choice of chicken shawarma or gyros with meat tastefully dressed in a cape of grape leaves. In addition to tasty terrestrial meats, tongues swoon over sea specialties and vegetable entrees such as the Delphi’s fish topped with special pasta sauce and served with hummus and rice, or the vegetarian plate, a tasty mélange of hummus, musaka, spinach pie, and feta salad.

At Wasaki Asian Fusion Sushi & Hibachi, chefs perform acrobatic fiery feats at tableside hibachi grills, carefully wrap sushi rolls, and skillfully throw spices on noodles and pan-Asian dishes using their nondominant hands. In the dining area, the tableside hibachi grills showcase the skills of staffers as they flip and sizzle meat and veggies in front of mesmerized eaters. Though many of the eatery's dishes contain meat, the menu also houses an array of entrees with tofu and vegetables, perfect for assembling colorful dioramas of the rainforest.

Taste the face-melting guitar solos a single sushi on Ace's menu can pull off with one grain of rice tied behind its back. Octopus nigiri ($3.50), scallop sashimi ($8.50), and chicken teriykai skewers ($7.80) crescendo appetites into the main course. Try Ace's signature mango lobster specialty roll with cilantro, spicy mayo, and macadamia nuts ($9). Creative rolls such as the Scorpion (crunchy rock shrimp, scallop, and caramelized pecans wrapped with mango and avocado, $11.50) and the Ozzy (tempura shrimp wrapped with crab, avocado, jalapenos, tobiko, and spicy mayo, $12.50) along with more traditional tastes such as a California roll ($5.25) and dragon roll ($13.50) satisfy any sushi ace.

Sarita's Mexican Grill & Cantina owner Rudi Gomez owes his restaurant’s panoply of authentic fajitas, enchiladas, and tacos to his mother’s time-tested catalog of Mexican specialties. The steam rising from bowls of chicken tortilla soup and sizzling shrimp fajitas caught the eye of WAFB Channel 9's Culinary Corner hosts, who recently invited Rudi into their studios to share some of his recipes and tortilla-tossing techniques. When not evoking desert sunsets with their multicolored arrangements of rice, salsas, and crisp tomatoes, Rudi and his fellow chefs stray across the border to cook up local favorites such as hand-patted burgers and po boys. Signature margaritas entrance taste buds in a medley of flavor infusions, and frothy brews douse the lingering fires of hot salsa. Outdoor tables invite warm-weather lounging with free WiFi and bottles of sour cream to lather on in lieu of sunscreen.