T'Coons
For the next month we'll be exploring Lafayette's plate lunch scene. This week we we're visiting with the owner of T'Coon's, David Billeaud. Disclaimer: We are not responsible for any cravings that may occur while viewing this story.

At T-Coon's, the opportunity to grab a plate lunch stretches back beyond the traditional lunch time hours into the early morning. In addition to the standard breakfast of eggs, bacon, and grits, the menu includes omelets stuffed with pork roast, beef brisket, and homemade Louisiana smoked sausage. But the standout is the crawfish �touff�e-filled omelet. The silkiness of the smothered crawfish dish tangles with the whipped eggs to form a creamy, butter-laden mishmash.

T'Coon's

Billeaud, who jokingly describes himself as the owner, manager, cook, and dishwasher of T-Coon's, prides himself on the homegrown nature of his enterprise. His surname is "as Cajun as you can get," as is the name on the outside of the building. The restaurant is named for his father, who earned the nickname, in his younger years, for being as mischievous as a raccoon. "Ti" or "T," a shortening of petit, translates to "small" or "childlike" in Cajun French. Billeaud is as rascally as his father. He can often be found in the dining room, jumping from table to table, shaking hands and slapping backs, while sharing jokes and fishing stories. A prizewinning hunter and fisherman, Billeaud's trophies and big-catch photographies line the walls of the restaurant.

T'Coons

His menu proudly advertises that everything is homemade, including the fresh-baked toast at breakfast and each side item, the stewed beans and greens, featured on the lunchtime spread. The owner himself catches the catfish that stock the courtbouillon - a thick seafood stew featured on Fridays - with bamboo poles from a freshwater bayou, located not an hour's drive south of the restaurant. Likewise, the rice that fills each plate is sourced from local producers, thus making the plate lunch unequivocally local in nature.









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