Frank Beaullieu Randol is passionate about seafood, especially about sustaining our Gulf Seafood industry and keeping our Cajun culture alive for generations to come.

In this Discover Lafayette podcast, you'll have the pleasure of hearing Frank discuss what it has taken to keep his restaurant, Randol's, going for almost five decades, how he worked to introduce authentic Cajun music and dancing to states across the U. S. in the 1980s, and how migrant workers are an indispensable component of the seafood processing business as well as many other labor-intensive industries in America.

Frank Randol is just as passionate about sharing his love of Cajun food and culture as he was thirty years ago when he took his "Cajun Fest" on the road across the U. S. The World's Fair held in New Orleans in 1984 ignited an interest in all things Cajun and Frank Randol ensured that accurate information on its heritage was shared. Frank was glowingly written up by the Chicago Tribune on October 25, 1989, where he joked he had earned his "masters in crabology"

An iconic figure in Lafayette, Frank Randol is celebrating his 49th year in the restaurant and seafood processing business. Randol's Cajun Dance Hall is internationally famous for its authentic old-time dance hall feel and is a destination for tourists. Approximately 60% of visitors are from out of town with many being European and French-speaking. The floor has taken a beating over the years with untold numbers of dancers stomping away; Frank notes with pride that they're now on their fourth dance floor with the first having been constructed from pine and the past three out of oak. "Crowbar parties" were used to replace each of the floors, with dancers using crowbars to remove the planks over three nights while they kept on dancing," according to Frank. As they say, "Laissez les bons temps rouler" or let the good times roll!

Randol's traditional Cajun dance hall (salle de danse) remains a popular place for locals and tourists. Frank Randol is proud to report that at times there will be four generations of a family on the dance floor passing a good time to the Cajun music performed by such bands as Terry Huval and the Jambalaya Cajun Band. There is no cover charge for enjoying the music and dancing at Randol's.

Randol’s has been open at its Kaliste Saloom location for 40 years, and Frank had a facility for 9 years before that in Henderson, LA.  Many people may not realize that Frank’s restaurant sits on property formerly owned by his ancestors, the Billeaud family, known as the Long Plantation, one of the area's largest working plantations which encompassed 600 acres in the Kaliste Saloom and Ambassador Caffery corridor in Lafayette. His restaurant and seafood processing plant take up about 5 acres, and he also has property near Our Lady of Lourdes which was also carved out of the 200 acre tract inherited by Della Marie Billeaud Beaullieu, his grandmother. (Comeaux High School was built on 30 acres donated by the Billeaud heirs and River Ranch also sits on this land.)

Photos of former Long Plantation developed by the Martial Billeaud family, ancestors of Frank Beaullieu Randol, which originally encompassed 600 acres and was one of the largest working plantations in the area.

When Frank chose the Kaliste Saloom site for his restaurant 40 years ago, people thought he might be a bit crazy as it was on an isolated two-lane road with very little commercial activity. Yet through the years, the wisdom of his decision has become apparent as Lafayette's growth has headed south and his restaurant is on one of the busiest streets in Lafayette. His reputation among his peers is exceptional, as affirmed by George Graham, below:

"There’s only one place in Acadiana that I’ll eat boiled...