Happiness is a Warm Brisket

There is something special about biting in to the combination of a slippery green dill pickle, strong white onion and slow-cooked pulled pork.


Cou-Yon's Bar-B-Q knows exactly what I am talking about.

The barbecue shack, located at 9320 Burbank Drive and 4001 Nicholson Drive, is providing Baton Rouge with its “fa tru Texas bar-b-q.”

There are plenty of barbecue places in Baton Rouge, but Cou-Yon's is one of the few that stands above the crowd of mediocracy.

Pulled pork, brisket, barbecue chicken, ribs, sausage and smoked turkey. You name your barbecued meat of choice and Cou-Yon's probably has it. 

I usually can't choose between brisket and pulled pork when I visit barbecue joints, but, thankfully, Cou-Yon's has a combination platter that gives customers a choice of two smoked meats. It's served with two tasty sides, pickle slices, raw white onion rings and buttery texas toast.

I originally doubted the brisket and pork but Cou-Yon's did not fail me. The pulled pork’s juiciness and smokey deliciousness makes it easily edible without condiments; however, the restaurant’s tangy sweet and regular barbecue sauces are a good compliment.

The pork is good but the brisket will make your taste-buds bow down in reverance.

The delectable dish is prepared two ways: lean or moist. The latter is the prevailing choice in this meaty battle. 

I might go as far to say that the succulent, flavor-dripping slices of tender brisket trimmed with a trace of fat are the best I have had, aside from home-cooked barbecue.

Along with the $7 to $15 entrees, Cou-Yon’s has an overwhelmingly prime variety of finger-food appetizers like fried pickles, barbecue and buffalo-flavored chicken wings, cheesy bacon fries and a few other choices that have potential to cause a schism between your dinner companions.

Let me not forget Cou-Yon’s sides such as baked beans, comforting Grandma’s corn-pudding, sweet coleslaw, seasoned french fries, potato salad and baked potato salad.

The eatery is especially appealing for college students because of its close location to campus and drink specials like $1 Pabst, Miller High Life and Rolling Rock draft beers on Thursdays. You’re a stronger person than me if you can resist a buck brew on tap.

Overall, the atmosphere of Cou-Yon’s isn’t anything special, but the barbecue house’s affordable prices, large portions and quick service are sufficient to score returning customers.

Three Guys Walk Into a Bar

Chummy chatter buzzes at the high-top tables around the room. An army of beer taps stand at attention behind the bar. The cozy ambience begs you to walk in and further investigate.

The Londoner on 4215 S. Sherwood Forest Blvd functions as a restaurant during the day but, by night, transforms into a bar that provides Baton Rouge with a peek of authentic British dining and all the ice-cold beer your liver can handle.

The atmosphere of the tavern is that of one you would imagine John, Paul, Ringo and George visited to slurp on a pint of chilled ale. 

Lanterns provide subtle lighting to set an intimate setting. Charismatic beer mugs line the coffee-colored wood rafters. The brick-laid fireplace is surrounded by halves of wooden beer barrels mounted to the wall.

In between hops-loaded conversation, bites of English classics like bangers and mash, fish and chips and pork chops are scooped into eager mouths.

The generous, but not wasteful, portions of food are served on newspaper-lined plates, a quirk that gives the barroom toffee points for creativity. 

The taproom has mastered potatoes like Wonka mastered chocolate. The red onion gravy-soaked mashed taters are a vessel of creamy delectability, and the “chips”, or fries, are generously seasoned and cooked to an equilibrium of soggy and crispy.

Southerners might be wary to eat pork chops not cooked by their grandma, but The Londoner doesn’t falter on the pig dish. The cuts of meat are a satisfiable caliber and sweating with piquancy. 

Wash it all down with an Abita Purple Haze, Blue Moon, Guiness, Hoegarden, Newcastle, Anchor Porter, Monty Python Holy Grail Ale, Strongbow English Pub Cider or any of the other suds from the collection of more than 25 draft and 50 bottled beers.

For maximum brewski guzzling, visit the watering-hole during its happiest hours on Monday-Friday from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.

The cantina’s food, which is about $10 to $15 per entree, is enjoyable but not the establishment’s selling factor. The Londoner entices potential guests with the opportunity for a taste of Britain but will gain return patrons for the novelette list of beer, live music and carefree feeling.

For a frigid pint with kindred-spirits, televised game of the U.K.’s favorite sport or quick bite of acclaimed authentic English cuisine, venture to The Londoner and look for the red double decker parked out front.

For more info about The Londoner go to http://www.londonerbr.com/.

Pork chops, mashed potatoes and sauteed veggies

Why Did the Foodie Cross the Road?

I woke up needing it like a student needs summer vacation. 

It had to be special. Normalcy would not cut it. The binds of mundane munching had to be broken.

I needed finger-greasing, nostril-teasing, taste-bud-titillating fried chicken.

Lucky for me, Chicken Shack at 413 N. Acadian Thruway in mid-city is just a stomach grumble away. The shack has been serving its acclaimed fried chicken along with fried pork-chops, shrimp and fish for 75 years -- long enough to perpetuate its rendition of the southern classic to a coop of its own.

The scent of fried bird bubbling in the grease pools encompasses you like a friendly hug upon entrance to the literal shack.

Ketchup is not a word that comes to mind when gnawing on a wing from Chicken Shack. The chicken is superbly seasoned and easily edible without its crusted clothing.

The deep-fried skin will make you weep. The golden brown, slightly chewy and all-the-right-kinds-of-crunchy crust is so delicious it could be served sans chicken.

Chicken Shack’s signature dish might lure in customers, but the meal is incomplete without the soulful side items. Candied yams, potato salad, peach cobbler, mustard greens, coleslaw and red beans are only a few of the chicken’s faithful sidekicks. 

With one bite of cinnamon-crammed yams or sweet peach cobbler my mouth reminisces of Thanksgiving dinners at my granny’s table, and the relish-rich potato salad is fit for a bourgeoisie picnic. 

Every morsel of meat has been sucked off the chicken bone and your dining companion is severely annoyed by you scraping remnants of yams off the bottom of your styrofoam tray, but the experience is not concluded without a handmade personal pie.

The hockey puck sized pies come in lemon and sweet potato, but the bread-winner is the lemon pie with its made-from-scratch shell and warm gooey center. 

Fried chicken is a staple in the South’s cuisine, and Chicken Shack celebrates it like Mardi Gras in New Orleans.

Ditch the colonel and strut over to the Chicken Shack. You will be planning your next visit before you can wipe the crumbs from the corner of your mouth.

Fried chicken breast and leg, yams, potato salad and lemon pie

I'm Sorry Oscar. I'm Having an Affair.

It’s a condiment’s blank canvas. It’s your Sunday best’s ruinous adversary. It’s your grumbling stomach’s steadfast chum.

It’s a hot dog.

Thanks to Frankie’s Dawg House, you no longer have to visit Chicago or your local little-league baseball concession stand for your footlong fix.

Frankie’s is pleasing palates with Baton Rouge’s first gourmet hot dog stand, and it does not disappoint with its “wieners so big you need two hands.”

The newly established “dawg house” incorporates a medley of toppings and sausages to transform the simplistic hot dog from an elementary snack to a labyrinthine meal suitable for gourmands and children alike.

With a menu of more than a dozen angus beef, these aren’t the franks your momma cooked when she was too exhausted to dish out a five-course dinner. 

A few personal favorites include “The Fatty,” “The Mad Hatter” and “The Haven.” 

Although “The Fatty” is stacked with Cajun fries, queso cheese, jalapeños and chili, “The Haven” out-dresses it with chili, bacon, ham, pepper jack cheese and a fried egg crown.

I’ll gorge on any of Frankie’s scrumptious creations, but “The Mad Hatter” occupies a special place in my stomach. Topped with homemade purple coleslaw and spicy golden mustard (I add chili), the hatter provides a balanced amount of cold sweetness and savory warmth. 

Frankie’s takes its anti-bland frankfurter regime a bite further with speciality dogs prepared with duck, alligator, deer, italian, bratwurst, boudin and bison sausages.

I’m a fan of knowing my food's origin and keeping it local -- so is Frankie’s Dawg House.

The mouthwatering meat links, plethora of produce and enveloping buns are made and grown in the sportsman’s paradise, rather than a factory featured on animal rights brochures.

As if the hot dog stand’s prices weren’t modest enough, daily Facebook bargains, like free tater tots on Tuesdays, are exclusive to e-friends of Frankie.

Frankie’s invites its dawg and dog lovers to bring their canine companions to frolic in the doggy playground while master overindulges.

The weenie vendor, like all diners, has its pitfalls. At Frankie’s you run the risk of leaving with an embarrassing shirt stain or injuring a loved one with a pelted pants button, but, last time I checked, an overflowing helping of toppings and well-fed belly are only minor nuisances. 

Whether its to watch the big football game on the deck, close a crucial business deal or combat the hangover from Friday night’s foolhardiness, Frankie’s Dawg House exists to satisfy your hunger itch with a bun full of flavor and a topping of southern hospitality.

For Frankie's location and full menu visit http://www.frankiesdawghouse.com/.

Frankie's Chicago Dawg

Confucius Say, "When Stomach Growls, Growl Back"

The sight of those eggshell white receptacles of meaty morsels and pan-fried noodles causes my mouth to salivate more than a sale-hungry woman on Black Friday.

Though Chinese Combo King lacks the customary oriental doggie-bag, the fact remains that its food compels me to squeal like a tween girl.

Sure, Mister Wok’s has its renowned general tso’s chicken, but CCK is dishing out Americanized Chinese cuisine that makes Bamboo Palace’s buffet look like a pig’s trough. 

Melt-in-your-mouth Mongolian beef, all white meat kung pao chicken with toasted peanuts, and tangy orange shrimp are only a handful of the cooked-to-order dishes.

This isn’t your run-of-the-wok Chinese grub.

The royal restaurant also offers lo mein and fried rice, palatable mixed vegetables, honey-glazed chicken wings that would make Hooters green with envy and kung pao tofu. 

The best bang for your yuan are the combination plates, which includes an entree, amber egg-roll and scoop of fluffy fried-rice. The combos cost around $8 to $9. 

Unfortunately, you won’t find moving waterfall portraits or algae-wearing goldfish aquariums at CCK, but don’t fret. The eatery sports a simple feng shui and hygienic facilities.  

Chinese Combo King’s contemporary take on classic Asian cooking and affordable prices, easily, makes it one of my favorite places to eat in the Red Stick. I think Confucius would agree.

If you don’t trust me or Confucius, visit Chinese Combo King yourself or check it out at http://www.cckbr.com/index.html.

Kung Pao Chicken