South Baton Rouge - Baton Rouge, LA Area Guide

In 1699, French explorer Sieur d'Iberville saw a red cypress pole marking the boundary between the hunting grounds of two Native American tribes. He named the area “Baton Rouge,” French for “red stick.” In 1719, France established a military post on the site. The city was incorporated in 1817 and became the Louisianna state capital in 1949.

In the 1950s and '60s, economic opportunities created by the rapidly growing petrochemical industry in the area catalyzed a significant expansion of the city from its original center in the north. After Hurricane Katrina devastated neighboring New Orleans in 2005, an estimated 200,000 residents fleeing the disaster settled in Baton Rouge, primarily in the north.

Art lovers in South Baton Rouge love to stare at the walls of the Louis DeAngelo Gallery, which showcases the work of local and regional painters and sculptors.

The nature of the nightlife in South Baton Rouge depends on each neighborhood. Oak Hills Place and Village St. George remain primarily quiet residential areas. Head to the northwest, and the night starts hopping. Most of the fun nightlife destinations act as a combination of restaurant, bar, and music venue.

Lava Cantina features live rock music Thursday through Sunday. When live music doesn't play, TVs throughout the bar usually show music videos. The menu and decor reinforce the rock and roll attitude: appetizers are “the opening act” and dessert is the “encore.” Check out the Zydeco enchiladas, steak fajitas or the World Tour Taco.

Seafood is found in abundance at On the Half Shell, home of some of the best char-grilled oysters in town, as well as seafood salads, crab claws, seafood gumbo, and poboys. This exquisite oyster bar also presents live music every night of the week except Sunday, featuring local artists in a wide variety of genres and styles.

Learn a little Creole, or at least one word, at Louisiana Lagniappe. That means “a little something extra” and refers to the practice of merchants giving customers a small gift in addition to their purchases, a practice popular in the region. This authentic Cajun/Creole restaurant puts a little something extra into its preparation of blackened shrimp, char-grilled tuna and house favorite, fresh fish en papillote. That means “in paper,” referring to the preparation method of wrapping the fish in parchment before baking.

Most people get around South Baton Rouge by car. Street parking can sometimes be hard to find, but most businesses have their own parking lots, and paid lots prove to be common. I-10, a major east/west interstate highway in the region, runs across the northern edge of the neighborhood and provides access to Lafayette to the west and New Orleans to the east. The Capital Area Transit System operates bus lines throughout the city, with the 57, 46 and 47 bus lines principally serving the South Baton Rouge neighborhood. You may be able to hail a cab, but taxi sightings can be rare, especially on weekends, and you might find it easier to call Bayou Taxi & Airport Cab or Uber.

Depending on where and when you travel, cycling may be somewhat hazardous, as streets in the area are not equipped with bike lanes. Many streets do not have sidewalks, so travel on foot can be also a challenge.

With 22 soccer fields, five ball fields, a dog park and a lake, the Burbank Soccer Complex’s 247 acres offer outdoor entertainment for Baton Rouge citizens of all ages. It also serves as the site of the 2014 Southern Regional Soccer Tournament. The venue for this event changes each year, but the Burbank Soccer Complex annually hosts the Baton Rouge Soccer Club’s United Cup every fall and the Red Stick Tournament in the spring, each of which brings out over 100 teams and thousands of fans. Use of the sporting fields remains fee-based and coordinated by BRSC.

Visitors to Highland Road Community Park have plenty of exercise opportunities, including basketball, tennis, baseball, rugby, disc golf and archery, but even more exciting: they can exercise their minds as well at the Highland Road Park Observatory. The observatory’s impressive 20-inch reflecting telescope has been used to discover dozens of comets. It’s available to the public free of charge for stargazing two nights a week and, fitted with special filters, can be used for observing the sun one day per month. On Friday nights, the observatory offers a lecture series on a variety of fascinating scientific topics.

The northern end of the neighborhood houses one of the biggest shopping destinations in the city, the Mall of Louisiana, with over 170 stores and 1.5 million square feet of retail space. Shoppers can patronize fashionable retailers, such as Ann Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Victoria’s Secret; big department stores, including Sears and Macy’s; and dozens of other venues for food, clothing, toys, electronics and more at the largest shopping mall in Louisiana. Just south of the mall, shoppers browse the high-end merchandise in Perkin’s Rowe, such as clothing retailers Yipsy, Francesca, Anthropologie and J Crew, furniture at Z Gallerie, or Jewelry at Kendra Scott Jewelry.

Another option for jewelry a little south of Perkins Rowe on Bluebonnet Boulevard, Hannon Jewelers, a family run business for over 30 years, carries high-quality jewelry at affordable prices. Come in and browse the showroom for rings, bracelets and necklaces of gold, silver, diamond and other gemstones. Hannon brings decades of experience in gemology to its crafting of custom-made jewelry and can work with customers to design the perfect engagement ring or wedding band. In addition, Hannon handles appraisals of jewelry and precious stones for insurance purposes and delicate jewelry repair and restorations.

In business for over 30 years, Haghighi's Persian Rug Gallery offers has the largest selection of new rugs and antique rugs in the Baton Rouge area and also specializes in rug maintenance and repair. If your beautiful antique rug has had an unfortunate encounter with red wine or something sharp, Haghighi's can return it to its former glory.

Grocery stores in the area include Calandro’s, a Winn-Dixie and The Fresh Market, an upscale supermarket with a focus on involvement in the community, carrying a good selection of locally produced goods. For more fresh fruit and vegetables, head to Southside Produce, Louisiana’s largest open-air market. This family run enterprise dates back to the 1930s when the current proprietor’s grandfather opened the first fruit stand in Baton Rouge. In addition to farm-fresh produce, the market also features specialty items, including locally produced jams and honey.