Coyote Blues - Baton Rouge, LA - Spice of Life

Coyote Blues

Baton Rouge, LA

Lunch

March 5, 2010


The Set-Up - This restaurant opened recently on the site of the former Lone Star Steakhouse. The peanut-strewn home of tough steak won't be missed as diners enjoy a new source of Tex-Mex food with a Louisiana flair. The original Coyote Blues restaurant is in Lafayette, LA.

We'd thought about trying the new restaurant for awhile, then learned that a son of our friends worked there as a waiter, which heightened our interest.

On a recent Friday we met friends for lunch, taking care to stay ahead of the noon rush, which arrived both early and noisily.


The Meal - Coyote Blues offers a lunch menu, but we ordered a couple of their specialty items off the dinner menu. I picked the Grilled Tilapia Tacos ($12.79), which I hoped would resemble my grilled fish taco favorites from Cafe Adobe in Houston. Kay got the Nuevo Crab Enchiladas ($16.29), which the waiter recommended, and which had the promising of matching our favorite crab enchiladas from Mestizo's.

With a little readjusting, my dish was spectacular. It came with far too many jalapenos, but was spectacular when I swept all but one or two aside. Kay didn't think the Nuevo Crab quite measured up to Mestizo's, though I was very impressed with the leftovers I ate for lunch today. The poblano rice that came with the tacos proved a special treat - the call it verde (green) rice at Serrano's, which I can eat by the shovelful.

Our friends got beef fajitas and cheese enchiladas respectively. The enchiladas came with cheese corn grits, which were creamy and delicious. On my next trip I'll probably go with poblano rice and cheese grits as side orders.

Drinks - It was a non-drinking day for me, but Kay enjoyed a margarita. No problems with my iced tea.

Ambience - Decor at Coyote Blues is understated. Noise levels are not. As the big restaurant filled with customers, so did the air with assembled chatter and clatter.

Service - The Coyote Blues staff seemed to have the kinks worked out. Our meal came off without a hitch.

The Check - Two plates and two margaritas with tax and tip came to about $55. A little pricey for lunch, but reasonable for dinner.

The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - Four with prospects to go to five

Drinks - Four, since Kay didn't rave about the margaritas, and they weren't happy hour price

Ambience - Four, spacious, attractive and comfortable, but a little noisy.

Service - Four, could have been five if Kay had liked the crab better.

Price/Value - 3-1/2, lunch portions of the crab and fish dishes would be welcome; definitely four for dinner.


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite
Very Good - One visit can't qualify for Favorite status, but a promotion is very likely.

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


Address - 2450 South Acadian Thruway, Baton Rouge
Phone - 225-361-0676

Also at 5741 Johnston Street, Lafayette, LA
Phone - 337-988-3668


Hours of Operation

Sunday and Monday - 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Tuesday thru Thursday - 11 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

Friday and Saturday - 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Lunch Menu available - 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.


Website - coyotebluesrest.com

La Mestiza - Baton Rouge, LA - One of Two of a Kind

La Mestiza

Prairieville, LA

Dinner

January 14, 2010

The Set-Up - We met friends for dinner at this relatively new restaurant, but we felt like we knew it already. La Mestiza is the sister restaurant of Mestizo's, a Louisiana-Mexican restaurant in Baton Rouge where we've eaten for years. Mestizo's was born out of Carlo's (now closed) - the original Louisiana-Mex restaurant in Baton Rouge, and perhaps anywhere.

The Meal - True to whatever Mex style, we were greeted with chips and salsa. The chips were thin and fresh and the salsa, according to Kallie, was "better than at the other restaurant." I know I liked it. She's a salsa connoisseur and keeps track of these things.

We had a party of five, so we got to order some different items -mostly enchiladas, which are the house specialty in my book. I was happy to see the Cancun combo on the menu. I can clean my plate no matter what the circumstances of this threesome - a shrimp and crab enchilada, a crawfish and spinach enchilada and a crispy crawfish taco ($13). Knowing she'd eaten a lot of chips, Kallie got a crawfish chimichanga al a carte. I ate most of it for lunch today. Yum!

The others in our party got shrimp and crab enchiladas and cheese enchiladas (with chili con carne). I didn't hear any complaints.

Drinks - We arrived in time for Happy Hour and were able to get margaritas for $5, which didn't seem like much of a bargain to me for a 10 oz. drink. Apparently they used to serve 16 ouncers, but weren't making enough money so they downsized. The drinks were delicious. Sangria also got a high mark.

Ambience - La Mestiza is smaller than its brother. The dark wood furnishings were unimpressive, but adequate. It seemed like more space than necessary was occupied by the bar, but maybe that's Prairieville talking. I could see the bar TV from the dining room, which was handy. The restaurant was not crowded at all at 6:00 p.m. on a Thursday night.

Service - Service was friendly and efficient, but with no special touches. Now if she'd offered those 16-oz. margaritas at the Happy Hour price. . .

The Check - With tax and tip (and three margaritas total) our bill for three came to $66.

The Scoreboard (one-to-five scale)

Food - five (the leftover chimichanga was almost as good as the enchiladas)

Drinks - four (five possible with lower margarita prices)

Ambience - four (leaning toward three)

Service - four (solid but unspectacular)

Price/Value - four (prices area little high on the Baton Rouge Mexican restaurant scale - but for the money you get unusual and exceptional food)


Overall Assessment

Special Occasion

Favorite - This was our first trip to La Mestiza, but we've been fans of the very similar Mestizo's for years.

Very Good

Good Enough

If Hungry Enough

Keep Driving and Looking


Navigation Tip - The Prairieville restaurant isn't easy to find from Airline Highway. It's in the Oak Grove Village shopping center. Hebert's Gun Shop in the same strip mall is most prominent from the highway.

If you're in Baton Rouge rather than Prairieville (more likely if you're traveling on I-10) try Mestizo's at the Acadian Thruway exit. (2323 S. Acadian Thruway).

La Mestiza Mexican Bistro

17424 Airline Hwy Suite 10

Prairieville, LA 70769

225.313.4191 phone

225.313.4192 fax

Hours:

Lunch
Mon - Sat 11:00 am til 2:30 pm

Dinner
Mon - Thurs 4:30 pm til 9:30 pm
Fri - Sat 4:30 til 10:30 pm

Closed Sundays

La Mestiza Mexican Bistro

Mestizo Lousiana Mexican Restaurant