Pimanyoli's Sidewalk Cafe

14214 Airline Highway
Baton Rouge, LA 70817
225.751.7590
http://www.pimanyolis.com/

Cuisine Rouge Rating:

4 plates

As the temperatures rise outside, so does the appetite for good BBQ. While Baton Rouge isn’t known for being a big BBQ town like Memphis or Kansas City, there are a few places that serve up some good stuff. Recently I have found a new spot that is doing an excellent job on the pit.

Pimanyoli’s is definitely a unique name, and is the result of combining the nicknames of the two owners. “Piman” is Creole for pepper, and he’s the pit master, producing some excellent BBQ. “Yoli” is short for Yolanda, who has been working as a professional caterer for over 30 years. Both come from families that have been in the food industry for a long time.

Keeping with our melting pot of Louisiana culture, Pimanyoli’s combines the best of the country’s various BBQ techniques to create some great food. The brisket is cooked up San Antonio style, the pulled pork on bun topped with coleslaw is straight out of Memphis, and the sauce is Carolina style, vinegary and tasty, featuring 21 different ingredients.

My first visit was for a quick lunch. It was obvious upon entering the place that lunchtime is big here, as I lucked out to get an open table immediately. I saw quite a few things on the menu that I wanted to check out, but chose the brisket sandwich. Deemed the “Brisket Meltdown”, it features smoked brisket topped with grilled onions and Monterey Jack cheese. A couple of technical things about the sandwich stood out to me, one being that there is no sauce on it. Given the fact that sauce is available on the table, this is a good idea, providing the diner with the option of adding it. Also, the sandwich is toasted, which is nice so that when you do pile on the sauce you won’t end up with a soggy mess. Of course the real deal here is the meat, and it was tender with a great smoky flavor, the kind you don’t get from quickly churning out meat like some more commercial type establishments.

On my next visit, I did a more thorough BBQ analysis, trying the pulled pork, St. Louis style ribs, and chicken. The pork was great, tender and smoky with a good texture. Often I find that pulled pork can be kinda ‘stringy’ and dry, but this was done right. The chicken was also well done, and although not my favorite type of ribs, the St. Louis style served here are very good, extremely tender and juicy. Several of the sides were tasted, the potato salad was a little too “pickle-y” for my tastes, and the sweet potato was nothing out of the ordinary. The ones that stood out were the macaroni and cheese and the baked beans. Pimanyoli’s resists the urge to take the easy path and serve up the quick boxed mac and cheese variety, and rather makes theirs daily from scratch using an old school recipe handed down from the owner’s mother. It’s one of the best examples I’ve tasted in the area. The beans were very good, not too thick and not too soupy, with a nice amount of sweetness and the bonus addition of little pieces of brisket added in.

St. Louis Ribs


Three Meat Platter

Also sampled were the tamales. These are delta style tamales hailing from the Newellton area of North Louisiana, just south of Vicksburg. They are from an over eighty year old recipe and are quite tasty. Desserts are fairly straightforward, fudge brownie with ice cream, and bread pudding with rum sauce, but the standout is the “Cobbler of the Day”. This homemade offering features a rotating variety of fruit (blackberry, blueberry, apple or peach) and like everything else I sampled is truly authentic.

Of course there are many other options on the menu, including other sandwiches, burgers, fried seafood and what is definitely on my list for my next visit – Buffalo style frog legs. If you’re looking for some real delicious down home southern staples, this is a place you should visit.

Freaky Foods of Baton Rouge - Soft-Shell Crab

Louisiana is a birthplace of freaky foods and the soft-shell crab is one of them. As a crab molts, there is a brief moment when its shell is extremely soft. Whoever thought of the idea to fry them should be considered a genius. The crab is dredged in egg wash and seasoned flour and then fried to a golden brown. You eat everything; the meat, the shell, and all the rich, creamy guts and fat. The majority of the crab tastes great, but there will be a noticeable difference in taste and texture when you are no longer eating meat. The innards are strong in flavor and are so weird tasting that they are delicious. Get one on a poboy or just on its own. In my opinion, the soft-shell is the king of fried seafood.


Softshell Crab Poboy



Fried Softshell Crab

Freaky Foods of Baton Rouge - Blackened Alligator

To native Louisianans, alligator seems pretty tame. But for too many people, eating this large lizard makes stomachs crawl. One of the specialties of The Chimes is their blackened alligator. Chunks of tender tail meat are coated with blackening seasoning and seared in a cast iron skillet. The salty and spicy seasoning goes well with the mild, white meat. To those who say it tastes like chicken, you can believe that. But I think it may be better than chicken.

Freaky Foods of Baton Rouge - Menudo Rojo with Beef Tongue Tacos

By: Mark

Taco and Burrito Express on Sherwood Forest may not look like much from the outside, but it serves excellent Mexican food and our first Freaky Food Focus. On the weekend, menudo rojo is a specialty of the restaurant. When the dish was ordered, the waitress gave me a peculiar look; a look of “you sure about this gringo?” A large bowl of deep crimson broth was presented, carrying with it the smell of tomatoes and chilies. The meat in the soup is tripe, or the stomach lining of a cow. Two types of tripe are used: the book and the honeycomb. The book tripe has a chewy, meaty texture and the honeycomb has a sponge like texture. A faint muddy smell is also detected, one of the characteristics of cooking with tripe. Served with fresh limes, cilantro, and onions; this soup is a traditional favorite. Corn tortillas are also provided to dip in the broth while eating.

If the soup isn’t enough, order a side of beef tongue tacos. The tongue is cooked long and slow in Mexican spices till tender. The result is a meat that is richer and tastier than the best pot roast. Get them crispy and loaded with toppings, or my favorite with lime juice, onion, and cilantro.

Menudo Rojo

Beef Tongue Tacos