For years in Baton Rouge, we grew up on steakhouses and seafood joints, American and Cajun cuisines interrupted by the occasional Chinese buffet, Tex-Mex restaurant or Italian eatery. It seemed only the die-hard foodies were seeking out Indian or Thai cuisine, and even then availability was limited to little isolated spots around the city, the only place in town to get what you were looking for.
But in the past decade, our culinary landscape has exploded. Now, we can choose from half a dozen different spots to try Vietnamese pho. We’ve got French-rooted tartes flambées at Flambée Café. Neapolitan-style wood-fired pizza at Rocca Pizzeria. Baked manakish bread topped with za’atar, hailing from Syria and Palestine, at Zoroona Mediterranean Grill.
It’s a new world in Baton Rouge, one splashed with bright colors of green chutney, golden mango and blazing red Sriracha. And the more the menu diversifies, the more we seem to learn that the globe isn’t so big after all.
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In 225‘s April 2018 cover story, we interviewed owners of restaurants like Zorba’s Greek Bistro, Nigerian eatery BB&PF and Vietnamese restaurant Little Saigon to trace the roots of Baton Rouge’s international restaurant scene. Read on for a tour of all the delicious, diverse cuisine our city has to offer.