As the Catholic season of Lent continues, students may find Baton Rouge restaurants are working to make their menus more Lent-friendly.
Jack McLemore, general manager of TJ Ribs on South Acadian Thruway, said the restaurant has to take extra steps to prepare for Lent because a majority of the dishes on the restaurant’s menu are meat-based.
He said the restaurant offers fresh fish nearly every day but adds more to its menu during Lent.
“We absolutely have to order more fish,” he said.
McLemore said the restaurant typically receives fewer patrons on Fridays because most people don’t consider TJ Ribs a Lent-friendly option.
“People’s first thought when they hear TJ Ribs is not fresh seafood,” he said. “But we have it here.”
Brad Loveless, manager at Mike Anderson’s on Lee Drive, said the restaurant sees a significant increase in traffic on Fridays during Lent.
Loveless said to prepare for the season, the restaurant staffs more waitresses, cooks and hostesses on Fridays and orders more fish to accommodate the influx of people.
Loveless said Mike Anderson’s has seen an even bigger boost in revenue this year because Lent is occurring during crawfish season.
He said he has noticed the restaurant getting busier as the season goes on.
“With Lent, we’re filling up a lot earlier,” he said. “The wait sometimes starts at 5:30 p.m. now.”
Anna Atwell, accounting junior, said she never has trouble finding restaurants on Fridays.
“You can really go anywhere,” she said. “Tons of places offer seafood.”
Atwell attributes the abundance of seafood to the state’s reputation for good food.
“You can’t get better seafood than Louisiana,” she said.
Atwell said since she gave up junk food for Lent, she has found a lot of options at Subway that meet both of her restrictions.
“Sandwiches are good, even without meat,” Atwell said.
Atwell said she has found that even fast food restaurants offer non-meat items on their menus.
McDonald’s offers its famous Filet-O-Fish, sandwich Burger King offers the BK Big Fish sandwich and Taco Bell replaces meat with Pacific shrimp in several of its dishes.
“Around this time, restaurants do try to cater to people who do this,” Atwell said.
Cesar DeLamora, manager at Superior Grill on Government Street, said the restaurant offers a special Lent menu during the season.
DeLamora said the restaurant has to order more ingredients for Lent because the Lent menu offers more seafood than the regular one.
According to DeLamora, the investment pays off.
“We make good money,” he said. “You can really see it here.”
But not everyone has an easy time finding places to eat on Friday that fit a Lenten diet.
Matthew Reed, theatre freshman, said he always has trouble finding restaurants that offer a variety of seafood or non-meat dishes on Fridays.
“As far as it goes right now, there’s really no place to go,” he said. “I have a lot of trouble finding places that serve seafood.”
Reed said he observes Lent because he was raised Catholic, and he now believes Lent is a time for self-reflection.
“It’s like testing yourself,” he said.
Reed said he’s testing himself this Lent by giving up both soft drinks and making snide comments.
Jeremy Barnes, who is visiting in Baton Rouge for a mission trip, walked around the Quad this week discussing religion and philosophy with students.
Barnes said he’s Christian but doesn’t observe Lent because he doesn’t see a point in fasting out of obligation.
Barnes said he fasts during other times of the year to be closer to God.
Barnes said he thinks people should fast on their own, not just because the season dictates it.
Simon Shirazi, mechanical engineering sophomore, doesn’t observe Lent because he doesn’t consider himself religious.
“I don’t observe it, but I respect people who do it,” he said.
But that doesn’t stop Shirazi from taking advantage of the season.
“I do enjoy seafood,” he said.
 
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]