Always lots to eat...

• By CHET FOLKES
• Advocate food writer
• Published: Dec 30, 2005

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No matter where you live -- in Baton Rouge or in one of the growing parishes nearby, you are not far from a restaurant. Whether you like down-home food in a friendly mom and pop setting, pricey and elegant haute cuisine, or specialties offered by a national chain, a vast selection of local eateries provides diners with a wide range of choices.

The greater Baton Rouge metropolitan area abounds in restaurants offering every type of dish, served in places that range from small, family-style eateries to over-the-top dining establishments featuring cuisine as good as anything to be found in New Orleans or other large cities. And there's an eating niche for every pocketbook.

There are so many restaurants in the area it is literally impossible to count them, since new places open weekly throughout the area, replacing those that have closed, or moved to other locations.

Baton Rouge has always been considered a good restaurant town, with a loyal following of customers, even when the city was much smaller in size.

Today, the number of residents who make up the local restaurant industry's customer base continues to expand.

Food choices include, Cajun, of course, along with numerous seafood restaurants.

There's also Creole, soul and Southern barbecue, but other flavors also abound, such as Asian, Italian, Mexican, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Indian, French, Latino and German.

Lighter food is offered in veggie wraps and California-style salads at many places, and pizzas, hamburgers and sandwiches are the mainstay at numerous eateries.

All of the big chains are represented here such as Outback Steakhouse, Wendy's, McDonald's, Burger King, Popeye's and Waffle House, plus local chains like DeAngelo's and Raising Cane's, which specializes in chicken fingers.

A number of restaurants in the older parts of town such as the Pastime, Fleur de Lis and Jay's Barbecue have been serving their specialties for decades, while outlets of the biggest national chains such as Carrabba's and P.F. Chang's have recently opened.

A small sampling of places the new Baton Rouge resident may find interesting follows:

CAJUN -- Three quintessential Cajun restaurants in the area are Boutin's, in a rambling, rustic building at 8322 Bluebonnet Blvd., (225) 819-9862; Brunet's, 135 S. Flannery Road. (225) 272-6226, and Louisiana Lagniappe, 9990 Perkins road, (225) 767-9991.

SEAFOOD -- A local favorite, Mike Anderson's seafood specials have become legendary over the years, and the restaurant continues to attract new diners and repeat customers. It is at 1031 W. Lee Drive just south of the LSU campus. (225) 766-3728, and at the Holiday Inn, 1500 Highway 30, in Gonzales, (225) 647-8000. Ralph & Kacoo's, the Seafood Restaurant, is in a big pink building at 6100 Bluebonnet Blvd. (225) 766-2113. Open seven days a week, Drusilla Seafood is at 3482 Drusilla Lane. (225) 923-0896. Parrain's is housed in a number of authentic old cypress houses joined together at 3225 Perkins Road. (225) 381-9922.