With all the new restaurants popping up on the outskirts of campus, some may become the next University hangout, while others have little hope of lasting a year. Some establishments are mainstays of the LSU experience, while a few restaurants are riding the coat tails of that heritage.
For years students have frequented The Chimes for its vast selection of beer and regional food. Until the opening of Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar last month, no establishment dared to challenge the campus tradition of sports bar and creole cooking The Chimes has become known for.
Revelry visited both establishments to find out which eatery reigns supreme in the sports bar/restaurant arena.
The Chimes
With its Irish pub ambiance, The Chimes is the quintessential college watering hole. It is wooden, dingy, rowdy and laid back – but that has been the attraction for patrons since the summer of 1983.
The Chimes’ success is owed to convenient location, affordability and its wide assortment of alcoholic beverages. The Chimes stocks 130 bottled beers with 32 on tap, giving the establishment the top beer selection in Baton Rouge – a primary drawing point for their establishment. Even though people flock to its bar, nothing can save the mediocre food offered.
Their spinach and artichoke appetizer at $5.95 is a prime example.
The name is misleading, because these vegetables were nowhere in the swimming pool of cream. Served with buttered garlic toast, the dip is a tad salty and tastes more like creamy broccoli soup. Not to mention that the savory toasts could have been more plentiful.
The seafood-less seafood gumbo, priced at $5.95, was nothing to brag to your grandmother about either. There were only two oysters and a handful of tiny shrimp. Although the broth was the perfect consistency, it lacked an important ingredient: flavor. A chef added a crab shell into the entree for taste; its presence caused sneaky bits of shell to taint some bites – this is also a potential choking hazard.
A staple of bar food is the burger, and The Chimes’ burger was nothing special. Even though the meat was ordered medium, the burger was served medium-rare and it was just average in taste and presentation.
The only food item that really turned us on was the french fries, which is unfortunate because it can be assumed they came pre-packaged and frozen from a food distributor. But, they were cooked to perfection, retaining a crisp consistency coupled with light cajun seasoning.
Fries are not included in the $4.90 price for the burger. They cost $1.75 extra and are worth it.
The food may have been average, but the service was impeccable with our server, Joey. He performed like a machine during our lunch, refilling our drinks routinely and bring our food out immediately.
The Chimes is the perfect place for relaxing and grabbing a beer, but do not expect a five-star meal.
Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar
Walk-On’s exudes the feeling of a chain restaurant from the moment a customer enters the front door. The cheap stucco outer walls and the pretentious t-shirt stand inside give Walk-On’s its token “new-school” feel that is invading the south campus area.
Unlike the great location, the atmosphere and food are horrendous.
Upon entering, it is apparent that Walk On’s is just a pathetic imitation of everything The Chimes does best. From the menu to the all wood decor, the resemblance is uncanny.
The large elevated bar resembles the bar at The Chimes, but is not as inviting. Shiny, light-colored wood along with mediocre, overpriced food belongs at Applebee’s and not a local eatery.
As with The Chimes, Revelry began the meal with spinach and artichoke dip. At an identical price with identical toast and served in an identical ceramic bowl, this dip is even saltier. The salt was overbearing and killed any flavor of spinach or artichoke. Much like The Chimes, the dip had a soup-like consistency. On a positive note, the restaurant had the sensibility to include a few more toasts.
Walk-On’s gumbo, also at $5.95, is an embarrassment to creole cooking. The roux is watery with a bitter aftertaste, but the seafood content was more plentiful than The Chimes. The abundance of seafood is only a cover-up for the “out of the can” flavor. However, the undercooked shrimp are inexcusable.
For almost $2 more than The Chimes’ burger, a patron can order Walk-On’s “Sauteed Burger” with sauteed mushrooms and onions topped with melted swiss cheese. This burger rips-off Chili’s “Mushroom Swiss Burger,” but it fails miserably at replicating Chili’s good taste. Although ordered medium, this time the burger came well done.
Even the waffle fries were bad. They were served cold, unseasoned and chewy. Although it is rather difficult to ruin french fries, Walk-On’s manages to do this with unprecedented efficiency.
The wait staff is wet behind the ears, because of the restaurant’s recent opening. This server, Russ, seemed a bit nervous and unsure of himself, but he did his best under the circumstances. Drinks went unfilled and it took a while to pay the bill.
Walk-On’s will remain in the shadows of The Chimes. Although some students may be attracted to Walk-On’s, it still does not beat out its predecessor.
The new restaurant tried to take on a tradition and even copied its menu, but cannot compete with The Chimes in any category.