Baton Rouge: 4 Seasons of Seafood

Baton Rouge is the crossroads of Cajun and Creole cuisines, respectively described as the country and city foods of Louisiana. While the two cuisines share some ingredients and even recipe names, the cooking styles differ: Cajun preparations tend toward the rustic; Creole preparations suggest sophistication. Lucky for you, there’s no need to choose one over the other in Baton Rouge. On one menu here, you might find plump Louisiana shrimp served with Creole-style remoulade sauce, deliciously complex with tart and spicy flavors, next to a hearty bowl of seafood gumbo, blending shrimp with meaty crab and rice in a dark roux.

Tony’s Seafood, a market and deli where you can buy fresh seafood and spice mixes or a hot lunch, is an everyday celebration of Baton Rouge’s seafood seasons. Go for savory stuffed crab or crawfish pie, gumbo in three varieties, and po’ boy sandwiches stuffed with oysters or shrimp. Tony’s is also a good place to sample Cajun favorites such as boudin. Here, the Cajun sausage that traditionally blends pork and rice may be stuffed with tender crawfish or shrimp and crab.

At Parrain's Seafood Restaurant in the mid-city district, high-quality seafood is made to order. Catfish, crawfish, shrimp and crab star in specialties from soups and salads to pastas and platters. Even City Pork, a modern take on Louisiana’s traditional meat markets, works seafood into its menu. Here, you can pair a crawfish appetizer with a plate of house-made charcuterie.

Downtown Baton Rouge is an emblem of the city’s dining scene, and Red Stick Adventures' All About Baton Rouge Food Tour will orient you. The guided walking tours visit a range of eateries in search of Baton Rouge’s culinary signatures, from home-style gumbo and po’ boys packed with seafood to gourmet shrimp and grits.

To join a citywide celebration of Baton Rouge’s culinary culture, time your visit with a food festival. In August, Fête Rouge hosts a competition among local chefs and a tasting of global wines.

International flights connecting through Atlanta, Houston or Dallas can get you to Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, which is located only 11 kilometers from downtown. Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (116 kilometers from downtown Baton Rouge) is also a great gateway to Baton Rouge and other surrounding Louisiana cities.