By: Wesley
3723 Government Street
Baton Rouge, LA 70806
(225) 387-5331
This review must be prefaced with this warning: CuisineRouge makes a point of avoiding “chain” restaurants for good reason - most chains are devoid of soul, creativity, and real talent in the kitchen. There, I said it. I’m not trying to hate on them, but a locally owned, original restaurant symbolizes someone's ambitions and life savings, not the clever franchising decisions of a real-estate investment consortium. We do what we can do to shine the light on these places, as they often are overlooked.
Doe’s is an interesting compromise for us. It started out fairly close to home, over in Greenville, Mississippi, and over the years, Doe’s has grown to have two family-owned locations, and twelve franchise locations. Since the family-owned locations are not within a 30-minute drive of Baton Rouge, we visited the franchised location on Government Street.
So enough bull, where’s the beef? My two amigos and I were craving some steak, and Doe’s Eat Place sounded like a fun place to pig out. This is what I learned: Doe’s is probably the most honest and least pretentious steak restaurant that I’ve ever dined at. There is no tacky theme, vegan waif offerings, or chicken served at this establishment (although I hear the menus do vary location to location).
I am hesitant to call this restaurant “manly,” as I don’t want to give any woman hesitation to eating at Doe’s - perhaps “simple,” “elemental,” or “pure” are better adjectives to use. The menu is the very essence of “less is more” as there are only three main items: steak, tamales, and shrimp. Now hold on - there is a bit more to it, as there are 4 types of steak to choose from: sirloin, ribeye, filet mignon, and t-bone/porterhouse.
We each ordered a glass of tea, and in addition one of my fellow diners ordered a glass of Russian Standard vodka, which I hear is hard to find in most restaurants. Kudos to Doe’s for having fancy liquor! Per him, this vodka is the cleanest, best tasting vodka on the market, made by the people that invented the stuff. A must try for those who are hung up on the trendy goose named French offering, ordered blindly by those looking to be cool. Drinking French vodka is kinda like eating Chinese food in downtown Tijuana, but I digress.
The tamales....these aren’t what you get at the Mexican joint down the street. These are “Delta style,” which essentially means they aren’t bland and wrapped in a corn husk. “Delta style” comes in a paper wrapper, and instead of canned chili, you get the scraps from the beef the steaks are cut from ground up coarsely and prepared into a delicious and tangy stew. You simply unwrap the tamale, spoon on some chili, and then enjoy. The beef, corn, and chili come together in a most satisfying way. The three of us split a half-dozen as an appetizer, but if the possibility of steak wasn’t looming, I’d gladly settle for a dozen as my meal, and not feel slighted in the least.
Now about the beef. One thing that is positively refreshing is the amount of respect that Doe’s pays to the Bos Primigenius (That’s what scientists calls cows). Doe’s refuses to ruin the beef by burning it (also known as “well done,” the greatest culinary oxymoron). Since we all were shooting for a light meal, we each ordered the smallest steak on the menu, the pound and a half porterhouse. That might blow your mind, and that’s okay. The steaks are offered in roughly one pound increments, with the intention that you order a big one to share with your partner, with some of the cuts even offering two different temperatures per order.
Ordering the steak was easy: pick your cut, your poundage, and your doneness. After that, another tantalizing choice: fries or boiled potatoes. One amigo picked fries, two picked the boiled potatoes. The waiter warned us the potatoes were bland, prepared only by placing them into unsalted boiling water with butter, and the fries were the better pick.
Every steak dinner is preceded with a marinated salad, consisting of iceberg lettuce and cherry tomatoes soaked in a lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil infusion. The salad tasted good, a little sour/spicy, but the wilted lettuce was a bit of a turn off and I wish it had been colder. The wooden bowls were a rustic touch, and there is an interesting story about the salad, invented by Aunt Florence, that you can find on Doe’s website. True carnivores may not care about the salad, but it is a Doe’s institution.
On to the steaks - yes, the whole point of going to a steak restaurant is the big slab of sizzling beef, untainted by ketchup, A1, Heinz 57, pineapple glaze, or peppercorn mushroom congealed disappointment. Sauces like these are the refuge of weaker cuts of beef, and Doe’s doesn’t offer them because they don’t need them. The ketchup on the tables is only for the fries! Our porterhouses arrived at the table, cooked perfectly. Along with the sizzling spread came a basket of curious brown biscuits. These “drop biscuits” consist of dough, deep fried, and served with butter and honey. Think country-style beignets and you are close enough.
The next part is little hazy. Once we started eating the steaks, the witty banter gave way to the tinkling sounds of cutlery, and other less delicate sounds. Watching two other men eat steak isn’t pretty, so it’s best to focus on what’s on your plate. I had ordered the boiled potatoes to accompany my steak, against the recommendation of the waiter, and they were just that - boiled potatoes, bland and unremarkable. Thankfully, there were enough French fries to go around, and they were cut and seasoned perfectly.
Our waiter, who was something of a likeable smart-ass, encouraged us to pick up the bone and get the good parts if we couldn’t manage with fork and knife alone. We happily obliged. I don’t know how else to tell you - the steak was perfect, tender, well seasoned (with salt and pepper alone, as far as I can tell). We were offered dessert, but passed due to a complete lack of room to hold it.
So what else is there to say about Doe’s Eat Place? Well, it’s a great place to get a perfect steak, it’s got a fun and casual atmosphere, and it’s the absolute worst place to bring your Hindu and vegetarian friends. My bill, which included two tamales (1/3 of the half dozen), iced tea, and the one and a half pound porterhouse was $44. Not bad at all! I’m really looking forward to eating here again. Go Eat at Doe’s!
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