Chick-fil-A is pretty much my favorite fast-food restaurant, so I was excited I got the chance to get an “advance” taste of their new spicy chicken sandwich, which is being debuted for real on June 7. All you had to do for a free sandwich was visit getspicychicken.com and reserve a time for May 24-June 5. A great gimmick for Chick-fil-A, I think. But on to the sandwich:

The anticipation is killing me

The Sandwich

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My cupcake quest has now expanded beyond Atlanta to my hometown of Baton Rouge. I won some free cupcakes fromSweet Wishes Cafe via Twitter following the Saints Superbowl win. I guess everyone was in a giving mood! (But really, they have been doing Twitter giveaways fairly often…follow them!) As far as I know, this is Baton Rouge’s only cupcakery. And though they’ve been open for a few years, all I can say is…About Time! I stopped in when I breezed through BR on my way to NOLA for Mardi Gras to pick up my loot:

Sweet Wishes

Cupcakes

If memory serves, these are (cw from top) white chocolate raspberry, chocolate peanut butter, red velvet, and king cake. These didn’t look like the cupcakes I’m used to eating. They looked more…rustic. I will admit, to me “rustic” at first said “dry” but this was not the case at all. I was also a little wary because Sweet Wishes uses a more moderate frosting-to-cake ratio than I like (I’m a big frosting person) but I was pleasantly surprised on more than just those two points.
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After stuffing ourselves on the usual Christmas feast of gumbo, turkey, ham, and more starchy sides than I care to mention, my brother Vincent and I decided to go check out a new pizzeria near our house, Oscar’s Ice Cream & Pizza Joint.

Oscar's Ice Cream & Pizza Joint

Oscar’s is occupying two suites of what used to be Heads ‘n’ Tails Seafood on Perkins Rd, one suite housing the ice cream shop, and the other the main restaurant. When Vincent and I stopped in for lunch, the small main dining room was not full, but had two or 3 larger parties dining in, a pretty good sign for a holiday afternoon. Oscar’s has a number of really interesting pizza combinations, and we decided to split a 12″ D&A Gumbo (Smoked duck, alligator sausage, andouille sausage & green onion on a roux based tomato gravy):
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Bistro Byronz is a old new addition to the Baton Rouge Restaurant scene. After closing their doors 20 years ago they’re back and expanding. I visited on my last BR afternoon to get a take-out lunch.

Bistro Byronz

With all the construction on Government St. right now, Bistro Byronz was a little tough to get to, and their parking situation didn’t make things much better. But my lunch more than made up for the difficulty.
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I finally got a chance to try longtime Baton Rouge favorite Fleur de Lis Pizza just before leaving for Atlanta. Fleur de Lis is a cocktail lounge/pizzeria that has been around Baton Rouge for a long time–which is quite apparent by the state of the building and its decor (or lack therof).

Fleur de Lis

The place could probably be certified as a “dive”–cash only, basically a barroom inside, but a thriving business nonetheless. But something has to keep them on top of Baton Rouge’s best pizza list, so I wanted to find out what it was.
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Spencer and I visited longtime Baton Rouge/LSU favorite The Chimes this week for lunch. Surprisingly, I can’t find any historical information on the Chimes and why it’s so well-loved, other than that it’s a college bar with an extensive beer selection and great food. Does it even need anything else?

The Chimes

I was excited to try another of “Baton Rouge’s best” last week but was disappointed that the pizza place turned out to be cash only.  Hungry and still craving pizza, Spencer suggested a new-ish place right outside the mall, BJ’s Brewhouse.

BJ's Brewhouse

To me, BJ’s is just another casual dining restaurant, with a menu about half the size of Cheesecake Factory’s (which is still massive).  They supposedly brew their own beer on site, which accounts for the special yeast bread used in their most popular menu items–deep dish pizzas.  Spencer has been raving about the pizza here for months, so I decided to give it a try.

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(Update: Check after the jump for the difference between gelato and ice cream!)

After a day of outlet shopping with the family, I suggested we stop at a new gelateria I’d heard of through Baton Rouge blog Cuisine Rouge. Latte e Miele (Milk and Honey) is located on Highland Rd right outside the Baton Rouge country club.  They’re apparently new enough to not have a permanent sign up yet, but the place was bustling when we stopped in.

Latte e Miele Flyer

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Acme Oyster House

My family and I visited Acme Oyster House’s Baton Rouge location Sunday afternoon. This is not a first bite for any of us, we all love Acme, so I don’t have any first bite photos to show. Lots of food photos though, so I’ll start with our one “usual”: chargrilled oysters.

Chargrilled Oysters

I’d venture to say that Acme has some of the best chargrilled oysters in town. Mike Anderson’s comes to mind as a close contender, but I’d need a side-by-side comparison for that battle. Next up, entrees: Read the rest of this entry »

Spencer and I visited Dempsey’s Po’boys, a place a little outside of my usual Baton Rouge stomping grounds (Coursey/Sherwood) on the recommendation of another BR blogger. This blogger named Dempseys’ French Dip and Gumbo one of Baton Rouge’s best dishes, but I’m not sure that I agree.

Dempsey’s is a locally owned place specializing in po’boys with other typical South Louisiana fare making appearances on the menu. On our visit, the place was packed with a lunchtime crowd and we had about a 10 minute wait for a table. Service was a little slow, but I didn’t see many staff and most tables had parties of 5 or more, so with that volume, a little slowness is forgivable. Spencer and I both ordered the “soup and half”, a cup of soup/gumbo and a half po’boy for $10. I tried the soup of the day, cream of corn and crab, and Spencer had seafood gumbo:

Cream of Corn and Crab

Seafood Gumbo

First bites and more after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »