A well-known Acadiana restauranteur plans to be back in the business soon - and in a well-known Acadiana restaurant location.
Frank Randol, longtime owner of Randol’s Restaurant and Seafood Processing in Lafayette, has acquired the former Mulate’s/Pont Breaux property located in Breaux Bridge. The cash sale is expected to close next month, a release states.
Located at 325 W. West Mills Avenue, the land is large enough to accommodate all of Randol’s operations, including a restaurant, dancehall and processing plant. The new restaurant will be called “Randol’s.”
Jimmy LaGrange of Cecilia will be general manager of Randol’s new location. LaGrange has a long restaurant history including 12 years with Randol’s in Lafayette and 25 years with Mulate’s in Breaux Bridge.
Randol has a long history in the seafood and restaurant business. In 1971, he launched a seafood processing facility in Henderson. Those operations moved to Randol family property at 2320 Kaliste Saloom Road in Lafayette in 1980. That same year, he opened Randol’s Restaurant and Dancehall at this location. Randol prides himself on promoting Louisiana tourism.
After celebrating 50 years, Randol’s Lafayette restaurant closed in November 2021 when the south Lafayette site was sold to the owners of Superior Grill. The Mexican restaurant is a fixture in Baton Rouge, and began construction on its Lafayette site in January.
“We feel that we may have a longer role to play in the recovery of tourism post-COVID,” Randol said of his new endeavor. “Reopening the site in Breaux Bridge may be the symbolic spark that helps rekindle the flame.”
“We are excited to learn of Frank Randol’s new endeavor,” said Ben Berthelot, President & CEO of the Lafayette Convention and Visitors Commission. “For fifty years, Randol’s welcomed visitors from around the world, giving them an opportunity to become immersed in and fall in love with our culture. There is no question Frank can pull off a similar experience at the new historic location and we look forward to the positive impact this will have for the tourism industry.”
Details on the new restaurant are pending, the release states.
