Dining round-up: Acapulco packs the punch; Heeere’s Johnny!

Packing the punch: Downtown diners are packing the Acapulco Mexican Grill on North Boulevard, formerly the Grape Leaf. The Mexican eatery cooks inexpensive lunches such as barbacoa (Mexican-style pot roast), hand-made tortillas and flan from scratch. Look for Acapulco to begin serving coastal cuisine for breakfast and dinner soon. And heeere’s Johnny! Johnny DeAngelo’s new restaurant on Coursey across from the post office opens in about six weeks. Johnny D’s Italian Restaurant will give lunch-time crews an authentic Italian feast buffet, including meat lasagna, chicken parmesan, pesto shrimp, stuffed bellpeppers, fresh vegetable medleys, pizza, salad, bread and other rotating dishes—all for $10.85 include tax and a drink. Light eaters can look forward to the $4.99 po-boys.That new restaurant smell: Several new places have opened in Baton Rouge lately, including the Latin-American and tapas eatery, Sangria, TJ Ribs’s second location on Siegen Lane, and D Jon’s nearby Baton Rouge Community College. Look for more places to open in Perkins Rowe in the coming weeks, such as Chicago’s renowned Grillroom Chophouse & Wine Bar and the Camellia Grill, a landmark New Orleans eatery. If you’ve recently opened a restaurant in the Capital Region  or plan to in the coming months, 225 Dine wants to know. E-mail details to [email protected].