Driving down the concrete highway from River Road all the way across town towards Denham Springs, it may not look like it at first glance—but Florida Boulevard, a corridor that hasn’t seen a real heyday since the 1960s, now has one of the hottest food scenes in Baton Rouge.
Most intriguing is that this renaissance of food culture is rooted in Florida Boulevard’s international inhabitants. Italian, Vietnamese, Mexican cuisines and more can all be found dotted along side streets and occupying long-forgotten shopping centers. And it’s not only the international cuisine that is flourishing. Cajun seafood and mouth-watering soul food give diners options beyond the reach of most other parts of the city.
Tucked away towards the back of a perpendicular strip mall at 10248 Florida Boulevard rests the almost-hidden Anthony’s Italian Deli.
“What Anthony’s Italian Deli lacks in appearance from the outside, they more than make up for with wall-to-wall flavor on the inside,” says financial analyst Alan Manda, a frequent patron of the Italian eatery.
The deli serves much more than sandwiches, stocking authentic Italian grocery items such as olive oils, pastas, cheeses and imported cured meats. It also has a $7.25 daily special that provides a stellar serving of spaghetti and meatballs on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Marie Angela Saia and her son Marco run the store.
“The Saias have the best hole-in-the-wall in town,” Manda says, noting the savory greatness of Anthony’s New Orleans Style Muffoletta ($11.25). “It is always worth the drive from wherever you are in Baton Rouge.”
Not far down the road, at 11990 Florida Boulevard, Baton Rouge’s Vietnamese cuisine reaches a pinnacle at Pho Quynh, a spot best known for a traditional warm, brothy, rice noodle soup known as pho ($6.99 – $8.99).
“Pho is the perfect meal on a rainy afternoon or after a late night out,” says Kelly Spell, a communications specialist for the Louisiana Lottery and co-founder of the Baton Rouge Foodies group. “I raid the grocery’s condiment tray and add healthy amounts of chili paste, sriracha and hoisin sauce, along with a slice of jalapeno, Thai basil leaves and sprouts. Then I wash it down with a glass of cŕ phę s?a dá, or iced coffee, made with sweetened condensed milk. Perfection.” I couldn’t agree with her more.
Not all Vietnamese food, nor other Asian cuisine, has to come from the kitchens of Baton Rouge-area restaurants. Foodies can get a little ambitious to do the cooking for themselves, and that’s where Baton Rouge’s largest Asian market comes into play. Local food blogger Jeremy Wells calls Vinh Phat Oriental Market, located at 12351 Florida Boulevard, an essential stop for any style of home Asian cooking. It’s loaded with imported Asian goods from chili powders to elegant porcelain teapots.
Not to be outdone, Mexican cuisine has also found a home on Florida Boulevard. La Morenita Meat Market, a small chain of Mexican markets, opened a Baton Rouge location last year at 7981 Florida. The new store has an appetizing selection of Mexican specialty products and spices, produce such as cactus fruit and plantains, meats, cheeses and breads, and a taqueria slinging authentic comida. Jeremy Spikes, owner of Me-Moe’s Lawn and Landscape, says he prefers the torta, a sandwich that starts with a freshly baked bolillo roll out of La Morenita’s panaderia. It’s then loaded with a choice of meat ranging from beef and chicken to lengua—that’s tongue—or choriqueso—a blend of chorizo with cheese—or crispy fried pork carnitas.
I could go on. Based on Urban Spoon’s mobile app, the Florida/Airline region now has 113 eating establishments. That’s more than any other corridor in Baton Rouge. But it’s not just quantity that Florida Boulevard has on its side; it is quality, and a diversity worth dozens of culinary expeditions.
Jay D. Ducote is the author of the food and beverage blog Bite and Booze, host of the Bite and Booze Radio Show and co-host of Raise a Glass. You can find him online at biteandbooze.com.
