EatLafayette: 1895 Cajun Cuisine & Pub

EatLafayette's summer-long promotion of their one-of-a-kind locally owned restaurants recently came to an end, but not before I could check out a couple stops along the way. With over 70 participating restaurants, it is easy to see why the EatLafayette campaign has been so successful. Julie Calzone and Madison Barras helped set up some meals for me around the Hub City. One of my goals for 2013 was to get myself to both Lafayette and New Orleans more, so I jumped at the opportunity to check out a few restaurants at which I had yet to dined. The first on the list sits at 1895 W. Pinhook and is aptly named 1895 Cajun Cuisine & Pub. Address them by name! It opened at the beginning of 2013 so they haven't even hit their one year mark yet, but it seems like the restaurant is well on track to be around for a while. With plate lunches galore and a nice seafood offering, 1895 provides a nice local option in a busy shopping center. Now for a rundown of my feasting frenzy:

Cajun Crab Cake: full of lump crab meat and deliciously seared to create a nice crunch!

Atchafalaya Bites: cornmeal dusted catfish nuggets with tartar sauce

Crawfish Etoufee: a bed of rice smothered in a home-cooking mixture of Cajun trinity and crawfish tails

Mahi Mahi Tacos: fish tacos with mango salsa, poppy seed coleslaw, and chipotle sour cream

Plate Lunch: pork roast and gravy over rice, just like Maw Maw makes it! Never underestimate Lafayette's plate lunches

Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Corn Grits: looks like a mess in my picture, but this was one of my favorite dishes!

White Chocolate Bread Pudding: what's not to love?

A Lovely Day to Visit the Capitol Grocery

On a lovely Fall day in Baton Rouge there are few spots better and with more character than Capitol Grocery on Spanish Town Road.  On a recent glorious day I took a stroll around downtown and paused as I passed the magnificent State Capitol building, which happens to be the tallest Capitol building in the nation.

Louisiana State Capitol, Downtown Baton Rouge

From the intersection with a view of the capitol, I hooked a right onto historic Spanish Town Road.  This old neighborhood offers some of the best architecture in town and also plays host to Baton Rouge's largest Mardi Gras parade!

A Look Through the Tree Tunnels on Spanish Town Road

Situated on Spanish Town Road between 7th Street and Costello Lane, Capitol Grocery is the longest operating grocery store in Baton Rouge, dating back to the 1890s. 

Capitol Grocery on Spanish Town Road

Capitol Grocery offers a basic supply of food and household products as well as hot food to please the Spanish Town residents and visitors.  My lunch break on this day came a little later than usual, but fortunately I was able to grab the final box of the daily lunch special: smothered pork chop with good brown gravy!

Smothered Pork Chop with Brown Gravy, Corn, Rice and Gravy, and a Dinner Roll

There is nothing like good Southern comfort food, and Capitol Grocery knows how to do it right.  This bone-in pork chop came smothered in a rich, flavorful brown gravy.  The meat was tender and seasoned magnificently as each bite melted in my mouth and mixed with the gravy as it settled comfortably in my belly.  The chop tasted so good that I had no choice but to clean the bone with my teeth because it would have been a food sin to leave any bit of pork uneaten.  The corn at Capitol Grocery could use a little help.  It tasted fine but had no flair like a good cajun corn should.  It could be replicated with ease by any novice and a can of whole kernal corn.  The rice came with different gravy which I also enjoyed.  Instead of rich brown gravy like the pork chop was topped with, the rice featured a lighter gravy with some stewed veggies that perfectly complemented the flavors of the meat.

I'm sure I'll be back to this place several more times in the coming months and I highly suggest that you give it try if you've never been! 

"Bon Appetit!  That's French for good meal." - The Reverend

Delpit's Chicken Shack

There are several good places in Baton Rouge to find fried chicken other than Popeye's.  Undoubtedly one of the best of these places is Delpit's Chicken Shack on N. Acadian.  The Chicken Shack serves up hot lunches to many satisfied patrons every day as they have quite a few offerings on the menu, but their specialty is the bone-in, finger-licking fried chicken.

Delpit's Chicken Shack, N. Acadian Thruway, Baton Rouge, La

I recently visited the Chicken Shack for my first time after strong recommendations from Eusebio and Eric.  The lovely Caroline met me there for lunch to help me see what all the fuss was about.  We got things started with an order of the "shack balls."  These hand-battered boudin balls were unlike the other deep-fried Cajun treats that you can find around town.  The each ball contained the flavorful rice and meat mixture that remained extremely moist inside.  The shack balls impressed me a lot, so I couldn't wait for the chicken!

Three Shack Balls

The fried chicken dinner came in a styrofoam box with couple of sides and a roll.  I ordered a three piece meal of all dark meat and picked cornbread dressing with brown gravy and yams as my side items, which may have been a decent call, but they weren't anything too special.  Fortunately for me, they were better than the two sides that Caroline got so at least I can brag about that!  Both of my sides were plenty good enough to eat, just not good enough to bring people to Chicken Shack on their own.  The chicken, on the other hand, is a different story!

Fried Chicken, Cornbread Dressing, Yams, and a Roll from Delpit's Chicken Shack

Seasoned well, fried crunchy on the outside, and juicy on the inside, this chicken could soundly be argued to be the best fried bird in town.  It was absolutely delicious from the first bite of crispy skin to the final nibble of tender flesh off the bone.  Each bite made me want to order more to eat until I couldn't stuff any more down my throat, then go back for more the next day!  I resisted the temptation though.  But don't worry, I'll be back soon enough.

Wag's on the Levee

Today I ate lunch with Darrell Broussard, former LSU Student Body President and one heck of a guy, at Wag's on the Levee on Third Street in downtown Baton Rouge.  I've been there several times since I started my new job.  One of my offices is right around the corner so it is pretty easy to walk in for a quick lunch.  Wag's is good food but it needs some work.  The walls are barren, the tables and chairs are too ordinary, and the restaurant as whole has a real lack of character.  If that starts to come around, then business should pick up because the food is good.  Their menu features rotating tradition southern and soul food like fried chicken, stuffed bellpeppers, crawfish etoufee, and red beans and rice.  Today's special was smothered pork chops served over rice with a good brown gravy.  In fact, there is a country song about good brown gravy, so you know when it is right, it is some kind of tasty!

       

I had a side of green beans and macaroni and cheese (made with spaghetti noodles) with the pork chop. The chop itself was a little small, but the portions of food overall were plenty for a lunch. The meat was tender and moist and a perfect companion to the rice and gravy. The beans were cooked with ham and very tasty and the the macaroni and cheese was typical but good. The lunch specials only run $7.95, so its a pretty good bargain for a full plate of home-cooked-style grub. I've been to Wag's several times now and I'm sure I'll be back again.  It would not be on my list of eateries to visit downtown to eat at until it improves the ambiance of the restaurant itself, but if you are already downtown its worth giving a try, especially if you are in the mood for some southern classics!


UPDATE 1/12/2010:

I ate at Wag's again recently and was a little let down by the quality of food.  I ordered the special of the day, the smothered chicken, and it lacked flavor and came out rather dry.  The meal was edible at best, and I left full but not very satisfied.  The green beans and mashed potates were easily replicable by anyone with a can opener.  The cornbread had a sweet taste to it and was sadly the highlight of the plate.  Maybe it was an off day and an over-done dish, but I certainly wasn't happy this time around.  I guess I still couldn't argue with the price though!

Smothered Chicken over Rice with Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, and Cornbread