???????? Where the heck do you live? BR has the best variety and quality of food of most any place in America in my opinion.
There is plenty of great food in Baton Rouge. There is plenty of average, too. But there is a higher number of restaurants per capita in BR than in most places. You can always find a decent meal. If you mean hoity-toity gourmet fare, no it ain't Manhattan, Paris, or Seattle.
We're spoiled in Baton Rouge. A lot of cities in the north have no great restaurants unless you consider Olive Garden or other common chains great.
In Wichita Falls, Olive Garden was the 3rd best restaurant. There were 2 others that were better. The first was called Pasquals. The owner/chef was trained by the Brennan family. The last time I went there for dinner was on Lisa's birthday several years ago. Us and one other couple. A couple of drinks, and a normal meal (fine dining) was $400.00. It was good, but not nearly $400.00 worth of good. The other is called Salt and Pepper. It is a greek restaurant and is delightful. We went frequently and was always worth the money. Wichita Falls had one reasonably priced restaurant that served great food. Baton Rouge has many. I never realized how much good food was in BR until I moved to WF. Embrace the food experience here people. We really have it MANY times better than pretty much everywhere else outside of LA. I bet that y'all don't realize that even gas station food is great here. Hot (real, real food, not hot dogs or tacos) food in gas stations and convenience stores is not common outside of south LA. Every time we came home we had different places we always stopped, just for the fish, boudin, etc. Food here is great! Embrace it people! Now that I am in Mandeville, every day is an adventure. I try to try at least 2 new restaurants per week. I am having a helluva time keeping my waist the same size. Between here and N.O., I am in food heaven
BR doesn't have the best variety and quality of food in Louisiana. You can't even find decent BBQ and the pizza is mediocre. The most frequented restaurants in this town are Chili's or one of two local restaurants that are Chili's knock-offs (Chime, Walk-on's). Now there are good restaurants. Juban's is probably my favorite place in the world outside of GW Fins, but BR doesn't have the best anything when it comes to food. Far too many chains here to even attempt that argument.
I disagree. There are a lot of good bar-and-grills in baton rouge and neither of the ones you mention are Chili's knockoffs. There are a lot of good nice restaurants, too. True, the BBQ here is average, but the seafood, the Greek/lebanese, Tex-Mex, and bar-and-grill fare is excellent.
Have you been to the Chimes? Last time I checked you couldn't get crawfish etouffee, boudin balls, blackened alligator or poboys at Chilli's. There are plenty of great places to eat in BR. Off the top of my head I can think of The Chimes, Sammy's, Parrain's, George's, Mike Anderson's, and Juban's. Just those six are better than 95% of the restaurants you'll find in most cities. With the exception of New Orleans.
i am with you on pizza. DeAngelos is good, and I find Fleur De Lis over-rated. If I had to choose, I think it would be Rotolos for me.
