Hi y'all,

If anyone can help with this urgent request, i'd be most appreciative. My husband and i are in Lafayette for Memorial Day wknd. We're recent transplants to NOLA from NYC, and this is our first trip to Acadiana. Trying to find someplace to have dinner tonight, Sunday. Seems to be slim pickins as most places are closed. Our only options appear to be Don's in downtown Lafayette, which we hear isn't exciting but is reliable; Pat's Waterfront, which looks a little scary and touristy from the website, but i hear is good for the shrimp & okra gumbo. There's also Prejean's, but that looks like a tourist trap. Am i wrong about any of these? Any other options of which i'm unaware? We're open to ideas and don't care how casual or divey the place. We just want good, authentic Cajun food!

Thanks in advance,
Elizabeth

It's probably not the sandwich at Butcher that you'd think would be stellar, given their focus on all things pork, but their turkey sandwich is -- I kid you not -- out of this world. It's probably the healthiest choice on the sandwich menu, which is what prompted me to order it the first time, and now my husband insists that one of us order it every time we go to Butcher, so we can split it. Whole grain toast, an avocado spread, sprouts -- all of the best variety, but the turkey that makes it outstanding. It is moist and flavorful in a way that no turkey I've had in a sandwich has ever been. I don't know what they do to those birds -- I'm assuming brining the hell out of them is involved, and possibly something unholy related to bacon -- but it works. If you're headed to Butcher and you want something a little light, I highly recommend (obviously).

I would add in a vote for the gumbo at K-Paul's. It's definitely on the richer, heavier side, but a bowl of that and a beer while sitting at their bar is not a bad way to spend an hour.