Ottawa Foodies

3

I'm a fan of The Red Stick going back to when it was just getting started in Mtl. Have been to this location multiple times, most recently Oct 2010 mid week, dinner.

I'm a big fan of the ribs here. I can't say much
about the rest of the menu because the ribs are all i ever order, but they nail my rib craving every time. Massive portion. Fall off the bone (yes, yes i know all the rib purists are screaming that's heresy but i like it that way and yes i've been down south where they make em like someone's gramma used to or whatever...) good.

Fries and baked potato are both tasty carb sides, and the apples are great. Slaw is fine. You can order some pepper sauce for the fries that's a nice addition. The 'side salad' is loaded with bacon and egg and cheese and a solid starter tho is takes away room for ribs, which is a conundrum, i admit...

I don't know why people have a problem with the multiple servers thing... water was refilled, new drinks were brought quickly, who cares if you see the same faces every time or not?

Will be back.

Awful. Will not go back.
Overpriced and poor quality.
First of all, we had 7 or 8 different waiters, I had to ask the manager why we had so many different servers.
It made my sister and I uncomfortable.
Apparently they work as a "team".
The spinach dip with corn chips was pretty bland and runny.
I sent back my seafood pasta in rose sauce because it was awful. I didn't want to pay 20$ for pasta that I didn't like at all.
We had a ton of left overs, I didn't bring any home.

To sum it up, The Baton Rouge sucks.

Although I am not a fan of Baton Rouge for dinner, lately we have been going there for lunch quite often at work. The bar specials at lunch are actually pretty good - the service tends to be very quick and we can usually get in and out within forty five minutes. Today I had the chicken fingers, fries and a pint of Rickards for $14. Typical greasy chain food but I do like those fries.

Have also had the bar special ribs at lunch and found them very tasty.

I will keep this one short and sweet. I have been to Baton Rouge a few times. No serious complaints, food was good, the fries are good.

One time I had a rib dish with mashed potatoes. No complaints about the food itself. I found however, that it was too simple. No salad, no garnish, just rib and fries. meh. This particular time was a few years ago. I was dining with my parents. On their menu at that time they had an option to pick 2 side dishes, one from each category.(I don't remember exactly what the categories were, but something like Potato based dishes and Veggie based dishes.)

My father wanted 2 sides from one category. To our dismay, the waiter ended up arguing with my father for about 10 minutes about how that was not possible. My father had no problem paying extra or what have you. However my Dad ended up conceding and wasn't impressed with either the food or the service. This experience however, was in the GTA. The server’s unwillingness to accommodate has tainted BR in the eyes of my folks.

The second time I went to Baton Rouge (was in Ottawa a few months ago), I ordered a pulled pork sandwich. Again, it just came with thin shoestring fries and that’s it. The sauce was much too sweet for my liking, however I imagine many people would like it. Too simple, and no greens. If one would like to add shrimp or a salad or anything else, your bill gets very tall very quickly.

I feel that Baton Rouge does not stand up to a restaurant like Milestones(although Milestones is not a Rib joint), I feel that the Baton Rouge could be much more creative with their menu. Also, I found it is rather expensive for what I received.

All in all, I would never choose this restaurant of my own accord, and I end up here due to work lunches. The quality of the food is top notch, if you are a rib lover than it’s a great place, but meat and potatoes don’t wow me for the price they ask.

When I am vocal about my opinion about Baton Rouge to my girlfriend or my colleagues, people tell me "I'm crazy because they are the best ribs around." Maybe so. Maybe I cannot appreciate the Baton Rouge like I am supposed too. For my money the Ottawa ribfest serves up better pulled pork and ribs than the baton rouge for a fraction of the price. I guess my entry was not short and sweet, I’m sorry for misleading you at the top.

My two cents,

Robert

I've been to Baton Rouge a few times. The food is consistently good. It’s simple, but really flavourful and well prepared.

I have yet to visit this restaurant and leave after the meal without at least one person holding onto a doggy bag. The portions are generous!

The only small criticism I have about the ribs is that the meat is not supposed to literally fall off the bone. It should be as tender as they currently make it, but still have a tiny bit of resistance when you take a bite. But don’t get me wrong, the meat is delicious and the ribs are awesome!

I always appreciate properly cooked veggies and the ones I have at this eatery are right on! Al dente and perfectly seasoned. Also, the baked potato is excellent!

Our table sampled two desserts. One was a hit, the other, a near-hit. The banana bread was nestled in some Southern Comfort sauce and this sauce really knocked the dessert out of the ballpark! Yum! The pie's filling was oh-so-tart and had a great consistency. The crust however was very thick, hard to cut and even harder to chew.

I was excited when I heard Ottawa was finally getting a rib joint and on my first excursion to Baton Rouge I was delighted with my meal. Definitely the best restaurant ribs I've had in Ottawa. Unfortunately, the next 2 times I ordered ribs I was disappointed - very dry the first time and the second time they attempted to mask the charred ribs with sauce. Suffice to say, for that kind of money I was expecting better ribs. The manager - to his credit - was very helpful and replaced the ribs, unfortunately the next set were no better.

I've had the steaks and have been disappointed in them as well. The prime rib sandwich is a sure thing so if I end up going to this restaurant that's my fall-back.

Oh, and if you're ordering the fries as a side, make sure you tell them not to put their "seasoning" on them. I'm pretty sure it's just MSG.

@ baton rouge for the 16 oz prime rib done medium rare. pimped my steak with a skewer of prawns, fully loaded baked 'tatoe, side of jus, 5 peppercorn sauce, creamy horseradish sauce, sauteed shrooms, and grilled red onions. the shrooms and onions on the side were JUST A TAD excessive - as you can see, the portions were almost as large as the steak! washed down with a baton rouge tropical twist -- a blend of blend of vodka, southern comfort, lime, and cranberry juice. BR is one of those predictable places where you go for standard and decent grub where the menu (almost) never changes and you go for conversations and antics with a crowd. if you're already overdosed and bored with their ribs and unreasonably large portion of fries, try a fully-loaded prime rib. those around your table will follow your lead...

I agree with bits and pieces of the comments here and on the other Baton Rouge reviews (Kanata/Gatineau). Our experience was pretty good on some levels and in other ways I was plumb dissapointed.

My SO received a very generous gift certificate from clients of his for BR, and we had planned on going last weekend, after the World Juniors' quarterfinals. We called in the early afternoon to make reservations, and we told quite impolitely that both locations were booked until 8:30. I called after the game (at around 6) to see what the wait for the tables would be, and if I could put our names on a list, given that we were right around the corner from the Kanata location. Sadly, the hostess wasn't accomodating to say the least.

My SO called this afternoon to make a reservation for 6:15 and was told they didn't do reservations on the :15 only on the :30 and the :00, but that we should expect to wait fifteen minutes or so for our table to be ready. I felt a bit like I was in the Seinfeld episode where Jerry flips on the car rental manager because "you know how to take a reservation, you just don't know how to keep it".

When we got there, we were (luckily) seated quite promptly and ordered our drinks right away, and our food minutes later. Oddly, our caesar salads came before our drinks (wine, plain and simple). SO liked the dressing, but I found it lacked any kick, and was little more than romaine with bland croutons and dressing.

The mains seemed to take forever, in part because we got our salads so quickly: He had the hamburger, the beef of which he likened to Chez Lucien (never a bad thing!) with french fries, which he said seemed a bit underdone/overly greasy.

I had the rack of ribs with a baked potato. The ribs were indeed very yummy, with a wonderful mesquite flavour. I found, however, that the meal in general was over salted. There was a thick layer of salt on the outside of my baked potato (similar to what you see on soft pretzels), and next to the mesquite flavour in the sauce there was a strong salty tinge. Please understand, I salt everything (I understand it's unhealthy and I'm trying to refrain), so when I say it was oversalted, it was way oversalted by most people's terms.

The other thing that I find odd (in addition to no nutritional information) is that the service staff share tables. It's nice, because you can always find someone and they won't say "Oh, I'm not your waiter". On the other hand, they don't split the tips evenly. For us, this meant we had to guess which of the two servers we were tipping. The one who brought us the bill was super friendly and very efficient, whereas the one we actually paid was less civil and not attentive. That said, the tip went to the friendly server, and had we known, we may have tipped more. It just makes it more confusing is all.

We will be back, but only because the giftcard-giver was incredibly generous.

My only complaint about Baton Rouge is that there is no nutritional info for their menu. Given that they're a chain, I would expect them to provide it. Especially given that ribs and sauces can vary greatly from one chain to another.

We wanted to dine here last night as a treat, but the missing nutritional info forced us to choose another place.

I'm planning to send them an email to request it.

The ribs at BR are literally fall-on-the-bone-yummy! Coupled with their salt and pepper fries and you have a winning combo! Unfortunately, even though I love the taste of the fries, they often don't agree with me afterward -- too much peanut oil???

Other tasty items are the veggie sandwich and the salmon salad (which is no longer on the menu but they still make for me when I ask).

Overall, I like the food. The service is very much tag-team ... over-service rather than under-service at BR. At least I will be guaranteed to get a drink, for the most part. Sometimes they are so busy that orders or special requests do get lost.

My only criticisms are that the salads are over-dressed and the glasses for non-alcoholic drinks (water, soda, ice-tea) are too small!

There is no doubt that these are by far, hands down, the best ribs in the city!

The only redeeming quality of this chain restaurant. Ribs are fall-of-the-bone tender with a fairly sweet BBQ sauce.