Baton Rouge Restaurants

The Chimes (because it is close to LSU, is inexpensive, good, and rates very high on the list).

The Chimes is located at the North Gates of LSU, has good (and cheap) food, and over 30 beers on tap and many many more in bottles, for a total of over 120 different options. Perfect for a college student. And if you live in Baton Rouge, you know about the beers around the world challenge. Drink 60 beers in 6 months (20 must be from different countries), and you get your name on the wall...I made it around the world, and you can find my name on the wall as of June 2003! It was the most expensive free t-shirt that I own!

Update: Along with the original Chimes, there is now "The Chimes East", which has the exact same menu as the original and is located on Coursey Blvd.

Favorite Dish: Gosh, it's really a toss-up between their crawfish etouffee (7.95) and their crawfish fettuccini (9.95). My friend Matt really likes the red beans and rice (because it comes with the salad and is only 5.95). On Tuesdays, you can get raw oysters on the half shell for 25 cents apiece! Then again, the seafood gumbo is great and they have a pretty mean seafood platter. So much good food to choose from!

Great little Vietnamese restaurant located in a strip mall in the eastern suburbs. Inexpensive and tasty. I recommend the *bun* and the *pho* -- YUMMY!!!

Of course, other offerings are also very good, but if you're not familiar with this cuisine, these two types of dishes are the best to start with. Pho is the national dish of Vietnam -- it's a huge bowl of soup with various meats and/or seafood, noodles, basil or mint, and a big plate of sprouts, sliced hot peppers and lime wedges to accompany. Delicious, filling and cheap!

The restaurant is located in an Asian strip mall and is very clean and bright. They get a lot of Vietnamese customers, but there are also lots of Anglos customers also, so you shouldn't feel uncomfortable if you go there and you're not Vietnamese. The owners don't speak great English, but they can communicate the gist of what a dish is about.

Favorite Dish: I love the bun with grilled pork, grilled shrimp and Vietnamese eggroll. It's a cold noodle "salad" with the above mentioned meats along with chopped mint, some pickled turnip and carrot, chopped peanuts, chopped cucumber and I don't know what else... It comes with a small dish of "dressing" which is a slightly sweet, thin sauce that's based on the condiment, fish sauce. It is NOT fishy, though! It's wonderful!

This is a great summertime lunch or dinner -- very refreshing and not too filling, inspite of the large portion.

This place has the best steaks in the area. The restaurant is located on hwy 51 adjacent to the railroad tracks in Independance, La. Independance is a VERY small town so the restaurant is easy to find. The place doesn't look like much from the street but the inside of the building is nice. The atmosphere is casual. Reseravations are not required but will help on friday and saturday nights.

The waiting line can be up to 45 minutes long on an ordinary weekend. If it's a LSU ballgame weekend, add more, but it's worth the wait. If you're wondering if it will fit into your diet, forget it. It's just a "see-food" diet.

Favorite Dish: It's got to be the "Guitreau". Grilled fresh fish fillet topped with sauteed crawfish, shrimp, mushrooms, and onions in white wine, butter and spices.

All these years that I have been in Houston, I have been telling people of my days being fed by Mama at the Silver Moon Cafe. Its this little house just off the LSU campus.. you pay a fixed price and you get what Mama cooked that day.. and lots and lots of it.

It gets very crowded, but everyone is so nice.. share a table.. and be courteous to everyone. I've never seen it happen, but I come from a generation of little girls that have seen Mama's slap the manners back into someone.

Favorite Dish: I haven't eaten here in about 4 years. When I sat down to a bowl of red beans and rice.. I admit..i cried a little.

red beans and rice.. such a simple dish... but if its done right it takes hours and hours..

*sigh* its only a 5 hour drive to baton rouge from houston.. i can get there in plenty of time for lunch!

Louie's is a 24 hour diner right outside the gates of LSU, and another of the musts for all LSU students. I usually eat there for breakfast at about 3 am... well, dancing makes you hungry. Baton Rouge has a couple of late night options, but this one stands out! You will probably have to wait a while if you go there at 2 am on a friday or saturday night, but the wait doesn't ever seem long.

Favorite Dish: My sister absolutely loves the shrimp poboy, and I am a fanatic for the hash browns - you have to try them, they are big chunks of potato and are awesome. The banana pancakes are really great too.

This joint has become a great place to eat around LSU... dining can take as little or as long as you like. I like to hit the Illegal Burrito for lunch, but it is also open for dinner. And as of summer 2002 it is not Illegal to buy a beer with your burrito (they got their liquor licsense). Just remember, if you order the Illegal Burrito (all 3 pounds of it) you aren't supposed to eat it with a fork - that's illegal!

Favorite Dish: The Burrito in a Bowl (because I'm a girl! - the Illegal Burrito's target audience, I am convinced, for the Burrito in a Bowl is the ladies, because honestly, their burritos are just to big to handle).

Another thing I love about the Illegal Burrito - all their prices include tax. It's like a little slice of Germany with a South of the Border twist!

This place is so awesome! I used to rate this my favorite Baton Rouge restaurant, but the more places I eat, the more I realize that this is my NUMBER 1 restaurant overall. Don't get me wrong, I have had better meals for sure. But the "coolness, combined with the great food makes this numero uno. It is at the north edge of LSU's campus and is frequented by the students. It is famous for having every possible beer known to mankind. They have a little promotion, known as "Around the World." Simply drink 70 beers from 40 countries within 6 months and you are rewarded with a t-shirt and your name engraved on one of the many plaques hanging on the walls. There are people who have over 40 shirts! This place just has a great atmosphere. It can get busy around 7 O'clock and on game days. My advice is to go to the bar, order some beers, and get a dozen oysters.

**After 5 O'clock you have to be 21 to enter, except with parents. Also, there is NO non-smoking section, so bring your gas masks!**

Favorite Dish: The seafood pasta is out of this world! It is a large plate of shrimp and crawfish with an awesome sauce over some pasta. It comes with bread and a salad. Plenty for even the biggest eater and enough for two most of the time.