Baton Rouge

Heading to Baton Rouge on Wednesday for a Thursday morning meeting. There's surprisingly little information here (or elsewhere) on where to eat in or around Baton Rouge. Looking for dinner on Wednesday and lunch on Thursday. If anyone has any suggestions in Baton Rouge, or between New Orleans and Baton Rouge, they would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

Josh -- what are you looking for in terms of dinner? More upscale/fine dining or GNR-types of places? While I have not lived in Baton Rouge for a long while, it is the place of my birth and I make a couple of trips down there a year on account of my folks living there now. Let me know what you are looking for, and I can give you some recommendations.

Doesn't really matter. Just looking for a range of options.

My neice's husband grew up in Baton Rouge. I posed the question to her. Here is her response:

Depending on what you're into... For more authentic cajun food, Boutin's is good. Its best known for its atmosphere; it often has cajun bands playing, plenty of local artwork, and has a hidden pond in the back where you can feed the turtles. For some of the most tasty cajun food, there is Tony's Seafood. Its a seafood market with a small "to-go" counter inside. Not a sit-down dinner, but great boudin balls, etc. If cajun isn't desired, Tsunami is a fantastic sushi restaurant in downtown Baton Rouge. Its a rooftop restaurant overlooking the Mississippi River. There's also a great deal of Lebanese restaurants (Roman's is our favorite) in the Baton Rouge area.

In terms of upscale dining with more local fare, Juban's is pretty widely considered to be tops in Baton Rouge. I have never actually dined in there, but have been to events catered by Juban's and everything was very good. Do not let the location (in a strip mall) throw you.

Juban's
3739 Perkins Road
225-346-8422
http://www.jubans.com/

Moving to more everyday options, Sammy's is a pretty popular seafood place (fried dishes, fresh seafood preps, boiled crawfish and crabs in season -- in a pretty laid-back setting), and I have had a number of very good meals there. I believe Donald Link (Herbsaint, Cochon) got his start cooking there when in college at LSU. Pretty expansive menu can lead to a little hit-and-miss, but the servers usually can steer you to good options.

Sammy's Grill
8635 Highland Road (2 other locations as well)
225-766-9600
http://www.sammysgrillonline.com/

I have written about George's here. Really good poboys, plus rotating specials that are worth checking out. Good place for a few cold ones and some Louisiana-style bar fare. Never you mind the right-wing bumper stickers and signage (nothing horribly offensive, as far as I can recall).

George's
2943 Perkins Road
225-343-2363
http://www.georgesbr.com/ORIGINAL/

For an interesting (and to my taste, very good) style of pizza (not that you would necessarily be inclined to go for pizza in Baton Rouge), in a dive of a cocktail bar, Fleur-de-Lis pizza is a one-of-a-kind place. Wright Thompson waxed poetically on it recently over at Grantland.

Fleur-de-Lis Cocktail Lounge
5655 Government St
225-924-2904
www.fleurdelispizza.com

Together with Juban's, Mansur's on the Boulevard is another one in the more upscale dining category. Some local specials plus steakhouse fare (although with Louisiana touches). Pretty good wine list too.

Mansur's on the Boulevard
5720 Corporate Blvd #A
225-923-3366
mansursontheboulevard.com

In the aftermath of Katrina, a handful of New Orleans restaurants opened locations in Baton Rouge. There used to be an outpost of Galatoire's in Baton Rouge, but I believe it is relocating and is closed. There is an Acme Oyster House on Perkins Road in Baton Rouge, but I've not been there (based on location and what the building looks like -- i.e., would not be out of place in the corner of a mall parking lot -- I suspect anyone going looking for a recreation of the New Orleans experience might be disappointed, but I would guess the product is probably as good as that in N.O.).

In terms of the drive back to New Orleans, try to make a stop at Wayne Jacob's/WJ's Smokehouse in La Place if you get a chance.

[Edited to correct a couple of typos]

Fantastic...thank you both!

Did Sammy's Grill for dinner tonight and it was fantastic. Excellent crab bisque, with a good amount of fresh crab, followed by a HUGE platter of boiled crawfish. Perfectly salty, spicy, and just generally awesome with a cold Abita. Great recommendation!

Josh -- glad to hear you enjoyed Sammy's. Not sure which location you went to, but the main (Highland Road) location is close by my folks' house, and we usually try to make it there once per visit, especially during the crawfish and crab seasons.

What I love about Louisiana is that there is just a boatload of these places that should be run-of-the-mill and would probably be mediocre at best in a lot of other locales, but the combination of local ingredients and local culinary traditions just elevate them to be something more than they probably reasonably should be. It is not in any way scientific, but I feel as if the hit-to-miss ratio in Louisiana is just much higher than in most other places. New Orleans is rightly lauded as a culinary standout and destination, but there is some really good eating to be done throughout the state (except in Shreveport, which is the Peoria of Louisiana).

Yeah, we were at the Highland Rd location. Also, we managed to hit Wayne Jacob's on the way back to the airport for lunch. Bowl of gumbo and a beef brisket lunch plate. Great stuff and an exceptionally friendly staff.