Kevin Landry, proprietor of Café Lola, joins Discover Lafayette in special partnership with Eat Lafayette and Lafayette Travel. Eat Lafayette is a yearlong celebration of Lafayette’s locally owned restaurants.

Café Lola was opened at 1155 Coolidge in the Oil Center in April 2002 by Mark and Jill Balser. Their focus was on fresh, wholesome, colorful, and delicious ingredients sourced locally. They offered a simple menu that worked through repeated trial and errors as they found out what the customers consistently liked. Kevin took over the helm of Café Lola in February 2021.

Café Lola is open for lunch, 10:30 AM – 2 PM. They can seat about 60 patrons at any time and about 70% of customers are dine-in and pick up. Door Dash is a popular option. They have a huge clientele of pharmaceutical/medical/business customers who order for meetings. Call ahead one day for these items.

It is a great gig for single moms who need to drop off their children for school in the morning and then pick them up after school. Kevin is proud of his staff and depends on them for their understanding of customers’ needs as they order meals daily. “The menu is a guide but you can substitute anything to ge what you really want.” He trusts them and stays out of their way.

“Our food is fresh. We make our bread daily. My motto is, ‘Fresh ingredients, fast service, and friendly faces. We are not fast food. Our menu is a guide but you can substitute anything.”

In the ensuring years since opening, the restaurant earned and maintained a popular reputation for its great lunch time menu selection of sandwiches, soups, and salads. Even today, you know you are always going to have plenty of delicious options for high-quality, fresh food with great service.

While Kevin shares that prices on the menu went up against his instincts, it was done to meet the inflationary impact on the cost of fresh lettuce and other produce. At one point, romaine lettuce soared in price from $29 to $80 per order. “We held on as long as we could to raise prices. It’s bad that we are not the gas pump and have the flexibility to raise and lower prices quickly. We have no choice but to wait it out and adjust accordingly.”

Fan favorites are the TLC Sandwich, composed of Turkey, Lettuce, Provolone cheese, sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes, and avocado, as well as the Shrimp wrap. “People like wraps,” says Kevin.

At a point early on during the pandemic, the original owners, the Balsers, were empty nesters and found themselves ready to retire and live at their second home in Park City, Utah. Kevin took over the helm of Café Lola in February 2021 when he and his wife were looking to buy a sustainable business venture; the opportunity fell in his lap and was the right fit. He secured financing and used his business acumen to maintain what was already a successful business.

Soups are a popular option. Pictured is Café Lola’s Seafood bisque. Man people wait for the daily soup specials, which include Potato Soup on Wednesday, Broccoli and Cheese on Thursday, and Seafood Bisque on Fridays. ” We enter the Eat Lafayette soup competition all the time and usually win. One time we came in second.”

Kevin hasn’t changed a thing on the menu since he purchased the restaurant and shares how when he talked to customers and polled people about Café Lola, saying he couldn’t “find a hole in the restaurant. Everything worked from an investment standpoint as well as the quality of food and service that Café Lola offered day in and day out.” The only downside he found was that people might have forgotten the restaurant was there in the Oil Center. That could be fixed.

One of Kevin’s favorite meals is the Cobb Salad. He is an intermittent faster who eats around 10:30 to 11:00 am every day. “I’ll walk into the restaurant and tell everyone ‘I’m fixing my salad.” He’ll shake it up with different options such as olives and other tasty ingredients.

With a unique blend of eclectic flavors and a cozy atmosphere offering nostaligic touches such as red and black tiles originally installed by Radio Shack, the original tenant, Café Lola has become a staple in the local dining scene, drawing in both longtime residents and visitors alike.

“Some people say you need to be in the right place in the right time. I say, ‘No, you’ve got to be in the right place all the time.” Kevin Landry showed up prepared to take over Café Lola’s ownership as an experienced business person and a guy who had worked with his dad running a Mr. Gatti’s franchise in Abbeville in his teen and college years. He knew management, sales, food, and was steeped in the “As a service model” focused on the customer. Kevin currently has a day job as Director of Business Development for LineOne, a cloud-based business phone system.

Café Lola offers a diverse menu that reflects Lafayette’s love of good food, featuring both local Louisiana-inspired dishes and a variety of international flavors. Customers rave about the gourmet sandwiches, artisan salads, and hearty soups that rotate with the seasons. Known for using fresh ingredients, the café provides something for everyone, when you’re in the mood for a casual lunch.

Café Lola isn’t just about food; it’s also about the experience. With comfortable seating and tasteful, clean décor, the space offers a welcoming environment that encourages guests to linger. But interestingly, Kevin shared that most patrons work in the Oil Center and have a 30-minute lunch break….they come in, pick up, and eat at their desk.

Kevin Landry has been careful to maintain Café Lola’s original, distinctive vibe, balancing a relaxed charm with excellent service. His ability to remain true to the café’s roots has helped it thrive through changing times, making it a cherished part of Lafayette’s culinary landscape.

To find out more, please visit https://www.cafelolalafayette.com/.

Discover Lafayette would like to thank Eat Lafayette for its continuing partnership as we showcase local success stories in the locally-owned restaurant business!