Capital Culture

Sponsored by Visit Baton Rouge

Brass bands to the east, fiddles to the west … culture crowds in from all corners of Louisiana. But what does the capital city have to offer? In the midst of hot competition, Baton Rouge isn’t shy about showing off its charms—with big-hearted hospitality known to spook an unsuspecting Yankee. (Do they not hug strangers up north?) Here, our music, our art, and our ferocious school pride are frequently served with flaky biscuits and invigorating coffee in the morning, and—once the sun starts to wane—platters of Southern fare and free-flowing taps of local beer.

Live Music

Whether it’s the literary songwriters or the funky demigods, Baton Rouge’s musical talent pops up frequently. Squeeze into La Divina Italian Café on Thursday evenings to hear the twangy harmonies of Clay Parker & Jodi James or the storytelling of daytime lawyer/nighttime troubadour Steve Judice. Both pair well with the continental delights of an herb-roasted chicken panini and a glass of the house white. Two beloved Baton Rouge entities—Zeeland Street Market and Dyson House Listening Room—got together earlier this spring. Now you can tuck into Mama’s Pot Roast with a cornbread muffin while Michot’s Melody Makers bring the house down with Cajun gusto. 

Head to Red Stick Social, Baton Rouge’s new three-story entertainment complex complete with a restaurant and several bowling lanes, for high-flying acoustics that ably serve everything from the blues-tinged piano from Denton Hatcher & Molly Taylor to the propulsive rock of The Anteeks, and a broad menu of pillowy handhelds—sliders, street tacos, etc.—on which to rest your fingers after a slew of agonizing gutterballs. And Perkins Rowe is a pedestrian haven year-round, but Thursday evenings in spring and fall, funky riffs bounce irresistibly through the shopping center’s manicured streets during Rock ‘n’ Rowe, drawing crowds to high-energy showings from Phat Hat, the Michael Foster Project, and other larger-than-life performers. When the series returns in September, it’ll be the perfect time to try out Perkins Rowe’s buzzworthy new restaurants, Jinya Ramen and Rouj Creole.

Artistic Interiors

Baton Rouge boasts state-of-the-art museums, including downtown’s Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Capitol Park Museum, and LSU Museum of Art, but you can also encounter astounding local creativity in the most unexpected places. Just blocks away from the majestic museums, Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar’s walls of freehand chalk art educate diners with a swirl of salty terminology from the minute they walk in. Plump, sweet, chargrilled, Bienville. Never has a menu you haven’t even opened been this beautiful and enticing. Make no mistake about who runs the show at Brew Ha-Ha Coffeehouse. An electrifying mural, by artist T.J. Black, splashes owner Gabby Loubiere Higgins across the shop’s back wall. Latté in hand, admire work by other local creatives which hangs around the shop. You might find those creatives too, gathered for the monthly Sketchbook Club led by artist Arlie Opal. The Mid City diner Simple Joe makes the most of its humble strip mall digs: diners would be in danger of bumping each other’s elbows if they weren’t hunkered down over buckwheat pancakes and buttery grits. The tables are plastered with collages, and every last inch of wall space is dedicated to pet portraits, cityscapes, and lurid Courir de Mardi Gras photographs, all by your fellow citizens and all for sale. And the late legends depicted on the walls of new campus-area bar Dead Poet are by no means Baton Rougeans but their illustrator is: enjoy spirits among the spirits (Freddie Mercury, Tupac, and Poe, to name a few) as Ellen Ogden’s vibrant talent takes Dead Poet to the next level. She’s done the same for Radio Bar, Trader Joe’s, and White Star Market, among other well-trafficked spots.

Football Pride

The meanings of “offside” and “special teams” might escape you, but the rhythms and colors of gameday spirit should be in your blood by now, thanks to the Golden Band from Tigerland at LSU and the Human Jukebox at Southern University. Even miles away from the stadiums, restaurants and bars around Baton Rouge keep Tiger and Jaguar pride alive as diners celebrate football history or keep up with the current season. The original Walk-On’s, established in 2003 by former LSU basketball players Brandon Landry and Jack Warner, offers Cajun classics and burgers just a shout away from campus and has taken this team spirit on the road to open locations across the South. (Presumably they’re stoking a few SEC rivalries, too.) Epic moments in Tiger history can be revisited at T.J. Ribs, where a half-rack and alligator fritters accompany the perusal of autographed helmets and game balls as well as Billy Cannon’s still-gleaming Heisman trophy. On certain nights, guests at Phil’s Oyster Bar in Southdowns can sit in on Skip Bertman & Dan Canevari’s “Tiger Zone” radio show, as they broadcast live to Eagle 98.1. The Chimes, a fixture in the LSU Northgate area, is practically a campus dining hall (give or take 60 taps of quality beer) and will soon feature a rooftop bar from which you can scarf down red beans and rice and keep an eye on tailgating at the same time. And thanks to its boudin balls and fresh-from-swamp-and-sea selections, Tony’s Seafood pulls devotees in from all across the Capital region, but Southern University students and fans have the gift of being just down the road. Get your tailgate catered or grab a weekday plate lunch to talk over the weekend’s best plays and biggest heartaches. Everyone knows the cure for a quarterback sack is fried catfish.