There is no shortage of traditional Southern cuisine in Baton Rouge, but there is something special about Canefield Tavern.
The restaurant is cozy and quaint, tucked into a corner of Nicholson Drive that most recently housed a Brew-Bacher’s Grill location. It’s homey inside, with nearly all the furniture made of wood and large, cushy armchairs like the one your grandma sits in.
Natural light streams in through floor-to-ceiling windows. One wall is dedicated to wine bottles on a finely crafted wooden shelf.
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The restaurant deems itself a “Southern kitchen and bar,” and that’s a perfect description. The lunch menu and the dinner menu are the same, full of classic Southern dishes including fried green tomatoes, fried chicken dinner, stuffed bell pepper, fried oysters and chicken and waffles.
To start off, I ordered the barbecue shrimp appetizer. Though I’d had barbecue shrimp at other restaurants, I wasn’t sure what to expect. To my delight, the serving featured plump, peeled Gulf shrimp, tails intact, over a thick, barbecue butter sauce. The shrimp were tasty, as was the complimentary French bread for dipping in the sauce.
For my entree, I ordered the rotisserie chicken and soon learned that when they say chicken, they don’t mean a leg or a breast. They mean half of a chicken, all-natural and spit-roasted. The skin was golden and crispy, topped with a nice seasoning and mouthwatering melted butter sauce underneath. My chosen sides—collard greens and salad with Italian dressing—were surprisingly flavorful.
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Canefield Tavern’s slogan, “good, honest ingredients and familiar Southern flavors,” is apt. The staff was all smiles and greetings upon walking in, and the lunch service was swift. The restaurant turned out to be a wonderful place to spend a quiet lunch.
Canefield Tavern is at 5251 Nicholson Drive and is open daily 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Check the website for specific lunch and dinner hours.
Fast Break is a 225 Dine series that celebrates lunch in Baton Rouge. Follow along as we tour different lunch spots around the city.