Parrain's Seafood Restaurant — Louisiana Seafood, Baton Rouge
Parrain's has been serving Gulf seafood to Baton Rouge since 1966 — a Louisiana seafood restaurant with the institutional authority that six decades of consistent quality produces. The crawfish boil, the Gulf shrimp, and the oysters from Louisiana's coastal beds appear on a menu that knows exactly what it is.
The crawfish étouffée — the Cajun preparation that smothers crawfish in a butter-and-onion sauce built on the roux foundation — is Parrain's most celebrated single dish and the preparation that most directly expresses Cajun cooking's relationship to the Louisiana marshland.
The fried seafood platter — a combination of Gulf shrimp, oysters, and catfish in the Louisiana breading that the tradition developed — is the format that Parrain's has been executing since the Nixon administration.
The Perkins Road location in the Southdowns neighborhood means Parrain's serves the Baton Rouge residential community that has made it a multi-generational habit — the families for whom eating here is as routine as going to church.
Best Occasion: Great for Birthdays
Crawfish étouffée, fried seafood platters, and the Baton Rouge community that has been celebrating at Parrain's for six decades.
Best Occasion: Works for Solo Dining
A crawfish étouffée plate alone at a Parrain's table. The solo Louisiana lunch that six decades of institutional quality makes possible.