This Walking Tour of Downtown Baton Rouge will Leave Your Belly Full!

Roast Beef Poboy at Poor Boy Lloyd's

We all know that there's a lot happening on Third Street downtown, but that doesn't mean we really know the ins and outs of downtown dining. If you really want to see what the city's central area has to offer, take a look at the new Baton Rouge Food Tours. Recently I took a little stroll downtown with Kim Harper, who runs the shows, and my belly sure thanked me in the end.

We met at Poor Boy Lloyd's which is a staple at the corner of Florida and Lafayette. While everyone with our group was a local, Kim gave us the history of the Poor Boy (or poboy as they're more widely known) as well as the history of the ownership. We then popped in at Stroubes for a little soup tasting, which was welcomed in the chilly weather. Kim also gave us some history facts about the old buildings surrounding including the old state capitol, along with some statues near North Boulevard Town Square. You might be thinking... "But Jay, I'm not a tourist, so why should I care about taking this food tour?" While it's obviously ideal for out-of-towners, locals can also enjoy taking a walk around the area, trying places you might not visit too often, and learning a few fun facts along the way.

Crab, Corn, and Brie Soup & Duck and Andouille Gumbo
at Stroubes

Next we stopped by the Lobby Café for some mouthwatering mini muffalettas. This is a cool little spot and has an old speakeasy below the dining room that the owners turned into their apartment. We took a walk up the road to get a nice view of the State Capital before we sat down to some warm fried green tomatoes topped with lump crabmeat and hollandaise at The Little Village. There were actually a couple of people in the group who hadn't had a fried green tomato before, so that was fun!

After that, we landed a stone's throw away at Restaurant IPO for one of my favorites, the Duck Popper. Check it out if you haven't tried it. Our last stop on the chilly tour was at the Kingfish in the Hilton Capitol Center. There we had a warm bananas foster sauce with some cheesecake bites and hot coffee. It was a fun day and I definitely recommend tagging along on one of the Baton Rouge Food Tours! For more information check out their website: http://batonrougefoodtours.com/

Muffalettas at The Lobby Café

Fried Green Tomatoes with Lump Crab Meat and Hollandaise
at The Little Viallage

Grilled Duck Stuffed with Green Onion Cream Cheese,
Jalapeños & Tasso, Wrapped in Bacon,
Tossed in a House Made Roasted Jalapeño Bacon Peach Pepper Jelly
at Restaurant IPO

Beignets Foster at Kingfish in the Hilton

The Little Village

Today we had a going-away lunch for the Executive Director at work and we ordered some take out from The Little Village.  The Little Village is a Baton Rouge original Italian-style restaurant with a lot to offer to casual and business diners alike.  Their downtown location is a block off the Mississippi River and very close to the state governmental buildings and corporate office buildings that make up the city's skyline.

We ordered the food to go and I walked over to the Little Village to pick it up and bring it back to the office.  The restaurant itself has a good ambiance to it.  The atmosphere is relaxed but still retains the feel of a nicer place where upscale business lunches can take place.  One of the highlights of any trip to The Little Village is their Village Bread.  The dough is woven before baked to create a loaf of bread that is easy to pull apart.  It comes out of the oven extra soft and is then topped with parmesan cheese and enough olive oil to make Popeye blush.  It is served with even more olive oil and an olive spread that you can add to the bread after you pull it apart or just sprinkle right on top of the entire loaf.  The Village Bread is without a doubt one of the best stand-alone bread dishes I have ever found at any restaurant.

The Village Bread (the half that was leftover, anyway)

In addition to the bread, we also enjoyed a Caesar Salad, Vegetable Lasagna, and Shrimp Diavlo with Penne Pasta.  It was a quite a feast for a lunch at the office!  The whole meal was pretty excellent.  The highlight of the salad was the homemade croutons that gave just the right crunch to the bed of romaine lettuce, cheese, and dressing.  The vegetable lasagna stood tall with multiple thin layers of noodles and sliced vegetables and was then topped with a thick marinara sauce.  I was about as impressed as I've ever been with a vegetable lasagna, being the meat eater that I am.  The best part of the meal for me (other than the bread) was the Shrimp Diavlo with Penne Pasta, even though it was a little light on the shrimp.  The creamy sauce was delicious and the pasta was nicely boiled into a soft, yet firm, noodle.

Shrimp Diavlo with Penne Pasta (after we ate almost half of it)

The Little Village provided us with a nice meal for our going away lunch, although I will warn that it is a little on the pricy side for just a casual lunch.  I've never been to their Airline Highway location, but I'm sure it is just as good!  I would bet that I'll be back at some point in the future, even if it is just for the bread!