SoLou Baton Rouge — Restaurant in Baton Rouge

We decided to come here last night for my mom’s 41st birthday dinner because we heard of the hype. This place (by far) was one of the worst restaurants I’ve been too.

I’ll start with the overall service. The hostess who brought us to our table had the worst attitude and barely spoke to us. And when we sat at the table all of our glasses were filthy. When we told our hostess, she rolled her eyes and grabbed a cup with the lip stain on it. As soon as our waitress came which was quite a while, she grabbed the remaining cups, took our drink order and apologized profusely on the matter. And didn’t come back for a long time. She handed us our drinks and took our appetizer order which consisted of only three appetizers. That took a long time to come. The food was cold and by then we were fed up and ready to get our entrees and desert which we order at the same time. Our food didn’t get to our table until 45 mins after we placed the order. Also, our desert didn’t get to the table until the manager was informed by my cousin that we placed a dessert order but never got it. The woman apologized towards the end of her service for such bad service and proceeded to cry towards the end. While she did have horrible service, I realized throughout that whole night the staff put so much on our waitress that night which shows what kind of place it was in the first place. Overall the service was a 2/10

Now I’ll proceed with the food. It wasn’t the best food I’ve ever had. Me and my family love sharing food and always get different things to try in restaurants so we can try to eat each other things. For the apps we ordered the Pulled Pork Queso, Crab Dip and Parmesan Fries. The Pulled Pork Queso needed salt as well as the Crab Dip. And the Parmesan Fries and WAYYYY to much Parmesan on it. The Fries were extremely cold which made the overall experience horrible. I also hated the way the Queso tasted. And the Crab dip was okay, definitely had way better. Now onto our Entrees. I had the SoLou Burger which was dry and horrible. My cousin had chicken and potatoes which I can say was the dish of the night and that’s to say it was simply chicken and potatoes. My aunt had chicken and waffles which looked and tasted pretty good, it’s just the chicken was extremely salty. My girlfriend had a shrimp PoBoy which was HORRIBLE! My mom and uncle had the ribs and the crawfish Mac and Cheese and that was mediocre. Finally dessert, the S’Mores. The cookie for the s’mores tasted like pure dirt and my aunt had a bug on her marshmallow so we did even eat that because it turned us away so bad. Overall the food was a 3/10.

Finally I am going to talk about the aura or setting. It is a nice looking restaurant and we loved how it looked. We sat outside and they had heaters for us to sit under and we were warm and comfortable. I enjoyed the cozy feeling of the heat and cold mixture. It was quite the experience being there because of all the restaurants in BR, this was the first that I knew of that provided such accommodations for the outdoors. Overall the setting was a 9/10!

In conclusion, I will not be going back here with my family. It’s truly not worth the hype and I will not recommend this place to others. Please go at your...

Could it be as good as the first time?

Answer...absolutely. Lauren S. was our server tonight and she knocked it out of the park. I had a different colleague with me tonight and I was truly excited to share "my" restaurant in Baton Rouge with her.

I had the Steak, but substituted their brussels sprouts for the french fries...totally worth it, delicious! Their fries by the way are fried in beef tallow...so hard decision. My colleague had the gumbo and the salad, both amazing. When asked about the spiciness of the gumbo Lauren's delightful response was "It's made so children can enjoy it as well." So rather than trying to determine if your taste buds match your servers, Lauren explained the taste in an easy to process manner.

This restaurant is very, very consistent. I've been here twice, and each time it was five stars across the board. If you are looking for a great night out, whether that be a date, a business dinner, or special family evening, SoLou is a great place to go. Oh, and the server from last time (see initial review below), Shelby, recognized me, said hello and checked on us herself. SoLou obviously has a culture of high service and generous smiles.

One more word about Lauren, and this may be more for her managers than anyone who is still reading this review...she has amazing table presence. She was good at ensuring we were offered cocktails and wine, which we declined this time being satisfied with our orders and water. Her service did not decline one bit, which unfortunately happens at times when you go to a restaurant and skip drinks and appetizers. Our order did not phase Lauren, and she was polite, generous, and present. High, high marks. Seriously amazing smile too!

Initial first review below...

Dinner was a fantastic experience. Our server, Shelby, was an absolute delight. She was gracious, engaged, knew the menu very well, and was attentive and cheerful. The food was incredible. We both had the rotisserie chicken with Brussel Sprouts, a recommendation of the server.

The first food brought was the best crispy pork rinds I’ve ever had. WOW! So much better that bread and butter. And while we declined dessert Shelby insisted on bringing some complementary cotton candy. Seriously? I try to eat carnivore and I could not resist. And honestly, it melted in my mouth immediately so does it really even count?

The vibe of the restaurant is awesome. Great aesthetics, nice music, not over the top. While dining there was an obvious party of four attending to business, and a birthday party for some teenage girls and their parents. Both groups fit perfectly. So if you want to have a great dining experience, this...

I so rarely have a meal experience worth writing about, despite a willingness to pay ANY amount of money for great food, but this one was SO WORTH WRITING ABOUT!!! I literally wanted to try everything on the menu & plan to as I will be back time & time again now! It's a beautiful, comfortable, & welcoming restaurant, with great indoor & outdoor space. The servers clearly want everyone to have a great experience because all of them were attentive, personable, & invested in making sure you did (an observation based on our server & watching the others). We LOVED the cracklins provided to the table as we reviewed the amazing options on the menu. The Solou Burger with fries was just tremendous, the Truffle Mac & Cheese was rich & rewarding, & the Steak Frites with chimichurri sauce was cooked & seasoned perfectly. We thoroughly enjoyed watching the celebratory desserts come out, complete with sparklers, singing, cotton candy & donuts that looked just delightful (we didn't have the donuts, but they looked amazing)! Most restaurants simply don't get desserts sold, but this place is SO smart because they've made the desserts so fun & appealing that you just can't help but want to try them (even when you're full)! From a business perspective, it's just brilliant! From the patron's perspective, dessert is completely rewarding with amazing options like a beautiful Creme Brulee, generous cheesecake, & tabletop smores (an experience all on its own, complete with a crock of fire to toast your marshmallows), just to name a few! Finally, how can you not have a great experience when your check comes with a free serving of their warm, melt-in-your-mouth, authentic cotton candy (not the bright-colored, artificial kind either)! It's such a wonderful touch that tells the customer "we want you to remember & enjoy your dining experience here"!! We absolutely cannot wait to get back there to try everything on their menu. We walked out of the restaurant saying how much we loved every aspect of it & that it was definitely our new favorite restaurant! Thank you for such an enjoyable dinner...