×

225’s most-read stories of July 2023: Loads of new restaurants and favorite grocery finds

Surprise, surprise.

In July 2023 Baton Rougeans were most interested in reading about one dominating topic: food. From favorite grocery picks to new restaurants, our list of top stories for the month was almost entirely food-focused.

And with all the exciting openings in the Capital City’s restaurant scene, this trend is probably warranted. Keep reading to see what our readers have been eating up on 225batonrouge.com this month.


Brasas Peru owners Carolina Ayala and Giannina Chavez at their new restaurant. Photo by Ariana Allison.

5. Authentic Peruvian cuisine arrives in Baton Rouge at new Brasas Peru

Lima, Peru, native Giannina Chavez, her brother Renzo Ibanez and sister-in-law Carolina Ayala opened Brasas Peru in late June in the Beau De Chene Shopping Center on Perkins Road. Serving up maize chulpe, arroz chaufa and charcoal chicken, it’s one of the latest restaurant to add to Baton Rouge’s growing international dining scene—and it brings the city up to speed with popular Peruvian culinary trends. “We thought Baton Rouge was ready for it,” Chavez told 225 earlier this month.

Pelican to Mars opened on Government Street in February. Photo by Ariana Allison.

4. Yes, lots of new bars and restaurants have opened lately in Baton Rouge. Here’s a look since January

225 features writer and major foodie Maggie Heyn Richardson has been keeping tabs on Baton Rouge’s bar and restaurant scene. Here, she outlines 14 new bars and restaurants that have opened between January and June and what bites they’re known for, from Detroit-style deep dish pizza near Southern University to black truffle gnocchi from Gonzales’ new upscale eatery.

Ship Island in Mississippi. Stock photo

3. Where to day trip from Baton Rouge this summer

The only story outside of the food and drink vertical to crack the top five, this piece by our summer intern Gabrielle Korein rounds up four great day trip ideas that offer a change of scenery this season. We hope some of our readers were inspired for Fourth of July getaways—or perhaps they’re planning ahead for Labor Day in the coming weeks.

Sazon Latin Grill opened in April. Photo by Oscar Tickle.

2. The new Sazon Latin Grill brings Colombian-Cuban cuisine to Baton Rouge

Our summer intern Oscar Tickle checked in on Daniel and Tay Lopera, who opened Sazon Latin Grill in April 2023. Their new restaurant takes recipes from both sides of the family, bringing Colombian comfort food and authentic Latin American food to Capital City diners. “If we can go with what we like, then we can’t go wrong,“ Daniel told 225 earlier this summer.

Some of 225’s favorite summer finds at the Baton Rouge Trader Joe’s. Images courtesy Trader Joe’s.

1. 7 summer items we’ve been adding to our carts at Trader Joe’s

We at 225 were not afraid to let our fan-flags fly in this roundup of our favorite summer items from the Baton Rouge location of Trader Joe’s. And we were pleasantly surprised to see that our readers took to our picks, which ranged from candles to cherries, and, of course, multiple cold sweet treats. Click the link above to read the complete list, and let us know what things you’re loving from the store by emailing [email protected].