Brandon's Cajun Cafe

Update: Brandon's Cajun Cafe went out of business in 2010.  We were sorry to see it go.


4215 S. Sherwood Forest
Baton Rouge, LA 70816
225-292-6262

Cuisine Rouge Rating:

4 plates

By: Chad

Whenever I learn about a new restaurant in town, I get excited. This is especially the case when it’s a locally owned establishment, and one that offers something different or unique. When I learned of Brandon’s Cajun Café my excitement over the newness was quickly extinguished by the word ‘Cajun’. Another Cajun restaurant in Baton Rouge isn’t what we need I thought. There are already a laundry list of places where one can get Cajun food, and as most of us know, none are as good as own grandmothers.

However I was quite pleasantly surprised by the new and interesting items on the menu. They take some standard Cajun staples and really rework them in innovative and interesting ways. For starters, the appetizer of Couyon Sushi is as tasty as it is unique. They take nori (the traditional flavorless seaweed wrap used for sushi), put boudin stuffing, crabmeat and avocado inside, then roll it up and slice it,top it with remoulade sauce, and dust it with cayenne pepper. It’s something that even people who aren’t fans of traditional sushi will enjoy.

Another great item on the menu is the boudin burger. Boudin is mixed with pepperjack cheese, formed into a pattie and grilled, then placed on a bun and topped with bacon and remoulade sauce. Very tasty. The rest of the menu is fairly straightforward Cajun eats, with items you would expect to see like fried seafood and etoufee. I sampled the etoufee and it was not that great, the gravy had a strange consistency, almost gelatinous. The flavor was good, but the rice was also a bit undercooked for my liking.

For dessert, they once again offer a little something different in the form of their red velvet bread pudding. Yep, red velvet cake is given the classic bread pudding treatment, resulting in a rather unattractive yet tasty glob of red goo, topped with vanilla ice cream. This dessert is definitely sweet and has great flavor, but could use some texture, perhaps in the form of nuts.

All in all, this restaurant impresses me with its innovative approach to Cajun cuisine. I think that with a few refinements this place can really stand out and make a name for itself. I look forward to seeing more innovative items on its menu.


Couyon Sushi



Red Velvet Bread Pudding

Mmmemories - Old School BR Restaurants

by: RefChef

Thanks to reader RefChef for this submission.  He does a good job outlining some of the great restaurants of Baton Rouge from the past.  Enjoy.

Old Skool BR restaurants from Back in the Day located on Airline Hwy:

Europe's was one of the best restaurants in BR. The Chicken Livers Marsala was to DIE!

Another Airline Hwy restaurant was the Mirror Steakhouse. Great steaks at particularly great prices. It was the first place I ever saw a live lobster in a tank.

Jack Sabin's was a classic in many ways -- the clubby bar, the vaguely Mafia-ish atmosphere, the Distefano heritage... They invented Oysters 2-2-2 (Bienville, Rockefeller & Sabin)

The Village -- Flagship of the Distefano culinary empire. I've never eaten in a better Italian restaurant anywhere (including Italy). The cannelloni was perfect.

Other popular restaurants around town 30/40 years ago:

Two Jacks
Bob & Jake's -- inventors of the Sensation Salad
Mike & Tony's
Mickey's Gold Nugget
Giamanco's

"Novelty" restaurant that should never have closed: The Dizzy Dog! The Dizzy Dog was up on Scenic Hwy. All they served was hotdogs -- the best hotdogs ever! Footlongs and regulars. We used to go every Saturday. My personal fave was the BBQ dog with hashbrowns (BBQ sauce, mustard, onions and hashbrowns). Chicago Al ain't got nothin' on the Dizzy Dog.

Another near LSU: Uncle Ben's Fried Chicken on Nicholson Drive just outside the North gates. They had great fried chicken and wonderful milkshakes.

And let us not forget the Library Restaurant on Chimes St. (original version owned and operated by Joe Anselmo). The Library Special was the BEST roast beef poboy outside of NOLA. Other shining examples of great Library food: the BlueBoy (RB fully dressed with chunky blue cheese dressing) -- back in the 70s this was food innovation!; the Joe's Special (RB, olive mix, melted cheese on muffaletta bread); the hot sausage poboy. You know what made the Library's poboys so good? They melted the mayo into the bread. You never got a sandwich there with a smear of mayo -- not even a cold RB. All bread was spread with mayo and them stuck under the broiler until the mayo melted in to greasy goodness. All time best Library snack: sliced hot sausage, yellow mustard, saltines, & cheese on a paper plate w/ a cold draft beer in a paper cup. YUM!!

We are still looking for your mmmemories as well!  Send in your favorites and you could find yourself styling a Cuisine Rouge t-shirt!