Welcome!

Thank you for participating in  the Country Roads  inaugural Passport to Good Dining—one that took foodies on a culinary journey to sixteen restaurants throughout Louisiana. We hope you enjoyed  the great deals on delicious fare offered by those below from July through October. Until next year, keep those healthy appetites!

OUR SPONSOR:
Stroubes Seafood & Steaks
107 Third Street
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 448-2830  •  stroubes.com

Offering a complimentary appetizer, valued up to $14, with the purchase of an entrée. Stroubes patrons go for innovative cuisine made with local ingredients, served in “a comfortable environment that’s not stuffy,” according to Chef Scott Varnedoe, adding, “Creative food can be done on a paper plate.” In addition to their handcut steaks, signature dishes include the panéed red fish served on top of crawfish rice purée with asparagus, jumbo lump crab and sherry Parmesan cream, then topped with pickled mirliton and creole spiced popcorn, and finished with brown butter powder. The Steen’s cane syrup glazed duck confit is a customer favorite, too, served with praline sweet potatoes, stewed collards, orange duck gastrique, and sweet and spicy roasted peaches.

Beausoleil
7731 Jefferson Highway
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 926-1172  •  beausoleilrestaurantandbar.com

Offering an amuse bouche (a boudin ball with white remoulade sauce and pickled red onions). Tucked into the Bocage shopping center, Beausoleil never fails to deliver a memorable meal, starting with the pork cracklins delivered to your table while you peruse the menu. Pushed to define what he does, Chef Nathan Gresham describes his cuisine as “French comfort food with Southern flair.”

Bistro Byronz
5412 Government Street
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 218-1433  •  bistrobyronz.com

Offering 20% off one dinner entrée. According to general manager Brian Edwards, dinner at Bistro Byronz “fills a niche between fine dining and casual. With our atmosphere, cocktails and wines, we have a lot of customers come in for a fine dining experience at reasonable prices.” Sunday brunch is also not-to-be-missed, “especially our Bloody Marys,” adds Edwards. Signature menu items are the Blue Cheese Chips and the Pot Roast.

Crawfish Town USA
2815 Grandpoint Highway
Breaux Bridge, La
(337) 667-6148  • crawfishtownusa.com

Offering free bread pudding with the purchase of an entrée. Colt Patin, the young chef at the helm of Crawfish Town USA, has recently been named one of the five “2011 Chefs to Watch” by Louisiana Cookin’. If you missed the handful of crawfish festivals in the area this spring, make up for it by ordering Patin’s Crawfish Festival, a menu favorite: fried crawfish tails, crawfish boulettes, crawfish pie, crawfish etouffée, and your choice of boiled crawfish, shrimp or crab.

The French Press
214 East Vermilion Street
Lafayette, La
(337) 233-9449  •  thefrenchpresslafayette.com

Offering 20% off the chef's tasting menu; or 15% off regular dinner menu items; or 10% off a breakfast/lunch item. Set up in a restored print shop in downtown Lafayette, The French Press exudes character, with an original pressed tin ceiling, old typeface drawers that hang sideways as artwork, and a large cabinet of typeface shelves serving as the hostess station. Chef Justin Girouard’s Cajun Benedict follows the “details matter” philosophy: toasted French bread, Hebert’s boudin, and two poached-medium eggs, topped with chicken and andouille gumbo and fresh scallions.

Hot Tails Crawfish House
1113 Hospital Road
New Roads, La
(225) 638-4676
facebook.com/pages/Hot-Tails-Crawfish

Offering a free Hot Tails t-shirt. According to Samantha Neal, co-owner of Hot Tails, a customer favorite here is the seafood muffaletta, featuring shrimp and crawfish smothered down in a New Orleans-style barbecue shrimp sauce. “We have other unique menu items, too, like the red beans and fried rabbit, frog legs, and we’ll do a chicken liver with pepper jelly sauce appetizer from time to time.” Traditional seafood poboys and platters are available for the less adventurous.

Joe’s Dreyfus
2731 Maringouin Road West
Livonia, La
(225) 637-2625

Offering a free dessert with the purchase of two entrées. Head to this Highway 190 dining institution for award-winning shrimp and grits, or the popular Sampler: stuffed eggplant, crabmeat au gratin, catfish Pointe Coupée, and crabcakes. Their boiled seafood buffet of blue crabs, snow crabs, Dungeness crabs and shrimp starts at 5 pm every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Johnny’s Pizza House
8873 Highland Road
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 763-9797  •  johnnys-pizza.com

Offering a free order of breadsticks with the purchase of any 12" or 14" pizza. North Louisianans go misty-eyed and start waxing rhapsodic about the best pizza on the planet when you ask them about Johnny’s Pizza House, which got its start in Monroe in the 1960s. Charles Savoie, owner of the Baton Rouge location, describes their famous Sweep the Kitchen pizza: “It’s got onions, bell pepper, mushrooms, black olives, pepperoni, sausage, hamburger, Canadian bacon, all topped off with mozzarella cheese.”

Kamal’s Kafé
13091 Airline Highway
Gonzales, La
(225) 644-1400  •  kamalskafe.com

Offering free hummus or baklava with the purchase of an entrée. Kamal Zaher opened his Lebanese cuisine restaurant five and half years ago, and prides himself on their customer service. “I greet everyone at their tables and shake their hands. It’s so important. We know our regular customers by name, and we even know about their families. We don’t need to give them a menu anymore because we know exactly what they like to eat.” Customer favorites are the chicken shawarma and Mediterranean chicken.

Le Creolé
18135 East Petroleum Drive
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 752-7135  •  lecreolebr.com

Offering a free mojito. According to Chef Ryan Andre, patrons can experience an upscale side to casual dining at Le Creolé, from the “white jacket butler” style down to the food presentations. He recommends the rabbit with cracked corn polenta, covered in a crawfish and tasso cream sauce. “It’s something extraordinary that most people don’t offer on their menu.” If there for a weekend dinner or Sunday brunch, you’ll be treated to a tickling of the ivories, too, as music majors perform on the restaurant’s baby grand.

The Londoner
4215 South Sherwood Forest
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 292-9291  •  londonerbr.com

Offering a free entrée with the purchase of another entrée. According to manager Robert Irwin, a visit to The Londoner will “take you back to a pub in London with dark wood, a fireplace, and tables made from whiskey barrels.” Also taking customers back to London? The fish and chips, of course. “It’s our best seller,” says Irwin.

Marcello’s Wine Warehouse Deli
4201 Perkins Road
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 344-1414  •  marcelloswine.com

Offering 10% off a deli purchase (not including wine, spirits, or beer). After a few visits to this newly-opened deli in the Southdowns neighborhood, contributor Alex V. Cook noted, “Really, eating there feels like the best idea you’ve had all week.” Go for varying concoctions of imported meats like prosciutto or Serrano ham, stacked with Manchego cheese, figs, aioli and the like between two slices of fresh bread. And while you’re waiting a few minutes for your sandwich, stroll through the deli’s selection of imported drinks and liquor.

Not Your Mama’s Café & Tavern
9025 Highway 190
Livonia, La
(225) 637-3663  •  notyourmamas.net

Offering 50% any bottle of wine valued at $40 or more. From chicken fried chicken, sloppy roast beef poboys, and dessert cobblers, all the way to the fried Louisiana alligator platter and seafood ravioli, Not Your Mama’s specializes in home cookin’ with family-tested recipes.

Palmetto Grill
2100 Copper Mill Boulevard
Zachary, La
(225) 286-4020  •  palmettoatcoppermill.com

Offering 50% off any entrée. For a laid back atmosphere where you can watch your food being prepared in an open kitchen, head to Palmetto Grill at the Copper Mill Golf Community in Zachary. Chef Daniel Staid points to the crabcakes, ribeyes, and filets as customer favorites.

Serranos
3347 Highland Road
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 344-2354  •  serranossalsacompany.com

Offering a free house margarita with the purchase of an entrée. Go for a fiesta just outside the North gates of LSU. Manager Brad Johnson suggests the award-winning fish tacos: “The tilapia is refreshing, not too heavy.” Fried or grilled, the tilapia taco is topped with sliced avocados, cabbage, pico de gallo, cheese, “Serramoulade” and cilantro avocado salsa.

Tsunami
100 Lafayette Street
Sixth Floor of The Shaw Center
Baton Rouge, La
(225) 346-5100  •  servingsushi.com

Offering a free serving of edamame. When asked about his favorite item on the Tsunami menu, general manager Donovan DuPlantis said, “It’s a toss-up between our fresh yellow tail and our tuna. It changes daily just like our fish.” One thing’s for certain at Tsunami—sushi served from the top of the Shaw Center for the Arts is a winning combination. Go for the fresh cuisine, or go for the views of the Mississippi River. Just go.