Baton Rouge restaurants and businesses are banding together—and you can help them, too

Baton Rougeans are like magnets—we stick together. Whether it’s a devastating flood or virus outbreak, the people of the Capital Region have proven resilient and eager to help each other through tough times. Since the mandated restaurant shutdown began March 17, the local food industry has had to quickly adapt to the new regulations.

Local restaurants and organizations are coming together to raise awareness and funds for restaurants and servers. Here are some ways you can support local eateries during the shutdown. 

Know of any other local businesses or organizations paying it forward during the coronavirus pandemic? Let us know in the comments!

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Order from a variety of local restaurants and get a complimentary gift card from Better Together Baton Rouge Restaurant Coalition 

What if you could get rewarded for eating at local restaurants? Now, you can. Emelie Alton of Bistro Byronz and Stephen Hightower of City Pork Hospitality Group created the Better Together Baton Rouge Restaurant Coalition to incentivize customers to support local restaurants during the shutdown.

Customers who order from 10 of the participating restaurants receive a $50 gift card to a restaurant of their choice. Want double the rewards? Order take-out from all of the participating restaurants to receive a $100 gift card. Orders must be a minimum of $25. Participating restaurants include Doe’s Eat Place, Eliza Restaurant and Bar, Kalurah Street Grill, Mestizo, Main Squeeze Juice Co., Raising Cane’s, Soji and more than 20 others. 

For more information head to the coalition’s Facebook page. 

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Buy a meal, give a meal to a student in need, thanks to Perkins Rowe

Help feed local children by supporting Perkins Rowe’s Buy a Meal, Give a Meal campaign. For every meal or gift card purchased at participating Perkins Rowe restaurants, the mixed-use development will provide a meal to students in need by donating a percentage of all sales to the East Baton Rouge Parish School System. 

Participating restaurants include Rouj Creole, Bin 77, Jinya Ramen and La Madeleine. Get more information on the Perkins Rowe website. 

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Play Iverstine Farms’ gift card scavenger hunt 

Is it Easter already? Because Iverstine Farms is dropping gift cards like Easter eggs all over town. To encourage the community to eat at local restaurants, Iverstine Farms dropped off $50 gift cards to the butcher shop at select local eateries like Beausoleil Restaurant & Bar, Counterspace BR and Rocca Pizzeria. When customers order from the selected restaurants, they get the chance to win an Iverstine Farms gift card. Follow Iverstine Farms on Instagram for updates. 

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Support the service industry by buying a gift card through the Keep BR Serving campaign

The service industry is suffering. Help local restaurants pay their employees by supporting the Keep BR Serving campaign launched by the Mayor’s Office and the Baton Rouge Restaurant Association. The community campaign is designed to help restaurants continue to cover their servers’ lost tips and wages and will allocate 20% of gift card sales made during the dining in shutdown to employee wages. Get more information here. 

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Support hospital and bar employees through a seafood dinner fundraiser 

Eat for a cause at Mid City Beer Garden’s Seafood Dinner Fundraiser. On March 27, 3-6 p.m., locals can support Baton Rouge General and the beer garden staff by ordering to-go seafood dinner plates. Customers can order a 5-pound plate of boiled crawfish with corn and potatoes for $15 or Louisiana gulf shrimp penne pasta with chardonnay cream sauce, mushrooms and tomatoes, served with a garden spring salad with lemon honey vinaigrette for $10. All proceeds from crawfish sales will be donated to Baton Rouge General to help purchase hospital supplies and the proceeds from the shrimp pasta will be given to Mid City Beer Garden employees. Find more information about the event on Facebook.