Don's Seafood Hut

With seven total locations spread across South Louisiana, Don's Seafood Hut is a highly-respected regional chain.  But quality has most certainly not been lost in the chain's expansion; each dish is prepared with fresh ingredients and seafood caught right here in the Gulf of Mexico, and will taste just as delicious regardless of the location.

Here in Lafayette, Don's is especially famous for its seafood platter, an all-inclusive dish containing stuffed crab, fried shrimp, stuffed shrimp, fried catfish, fried oysters, and shrimp étouffée.

But what Lafayette rages about most is Don's gumbo--Don's Seafood Hut was rated number 1 by the Times of Acadiana for best gumbo this year!  Of course, every dish at Don's is absolutely sinful.  Don's is actually one of my team's personal favorite local Cajun seafood restaurants.

Did you know that Don's Seafood Hut has a secret menu?  It's not uncommon to see another customer eating a dish you've never seen before.  That's because Don's is open to the creativity of customers or employees who want to design their own meal.  Some secret menu items are even old menu items that have been removed to make room for new specials.  But if a customer wants an old menu item, Don's will happily comply.

"'No' isn't in our vocabulary for customers," says Dawn Landry LaBorde, a partner in the restaurant.  LaBorde claims that it's hard to keep track of all the off-menu items customers have ordered.  In fact, some off-menu items have even been given their own names due to their popularity.  For example, the Spicy Cat is an entree of spicy, fried catfish topped with shrimp and crab meat etouffee; and the hamburger Pontchartrain features grilled vegetables and a spicy Don's sauce.  Other secret menu items that are yet to be named are gumbo fried rice, steak étouffée, and homemade hamburgers and cheeseburgers.

The fact that Don's accepts orders from the secret menu shows that customers are their highest priority.  "It kind of makes you feel good because you know people love your food,"  LaBorde says.  And how could we not?

So the next time you visit Don's Seafood Hut, order off of the standard menu, the secret menu, or make up a dish of your own!  Either way, you're sure to leave with a happy stomach!

Click the Don's Seafood Hut logo to visit Don's website and explore their menu.

Originally posted at: Lafayette Real Estate News