Baton Rouge, Louisiana: Where the Bayou Bengals Roar

For hundreds of cities and towns across the United States, college football season brings a special kind of tourism boom each fall. Few locations echo louder than Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

LSU’s iconic Tiger Stadium that holds more than 102,000 people, and thousands more Tiger faithful and out-of-town visitors flood Baton Rouge on game weekends, making it one of college football’s most raucous environments.

And just down the road is Southern University, one of Louisiana’s eight HBCUs, with a rich history of its own. The Jaguars celebrate game days with a unique set of traditions, including performances by the famed “Human Jukebox” marching band.

SportsTravel spoke with Laura Cating, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Visit Baton Rouge, longtime Baton Rouge resident and LSU alumna, to discuss every aspect of a game day weekend. From tailgate traditions to the best hotels in town, Cating shares what makes a weekend in Baton Rouge unlike any in the country.

Game Day Favorites

This Saturday, LSU will host Texas A&M in the Tigers’ first conference game of the season at 103-year-old Tiger Stadium, nicknamed Death Valley. Like most Tigers home games, it will be an nighttime affair, with a 6:30 p.m. Central time kickoff. (LSU has played 85% of its home games at night since first doing so in 1931).

That means plenty of time to soak in the expansive tailgate scene across campus.

“When you get on campus at LSU, tailgating is far and wide,” Cating said. “It’s a very large campus, and people are tailgating on every inch of that campus. … You’re going to find a tailgate everywhere you step.”

Students, corporations, businesses and families set up across campus, and each type of tailgate has its own charm. But Cating says the best tailgates can be found near the LSU Campus Mounds, two Native American mounds on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places that are estimated to be up to 11,000 years old.

On game days, fans will find tailgaters making homemade jambalaya, tossing cornhole and sharing their insatiable passion for college football.

For an iconic experience, Cating recommends visiting Cajun Tiger Tailgating in Lot 202. It’s a group of LSU fans who drive up in decorated ice trucks, adorned in purple, gold and tiger imagery, to welcome all types of fans — even if they’re rooting for the other team.

 

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“‘Where am I going to get the true experience? And who’s going to welcome me in when I’m wearing the other team’s colors?’ This is the type of tailgate where you can truly do that,” Cating said. “You can show up, and they can say, ‘We want you to experience this like we do because we want to make sure you see the true tradition, and you do it right.’ It’s the pride.”

Another piece of the quintessential pregame experience is catching up with The Golden Band from Tigerland, LSU’s marching band. On game days, the band starts off with performances at the campus’s Greek Theater before marching down Victory Hill to the stadium.

“It is no small thing,” Cating said. “Of course, we love a parade in South Louisiana.”

Before fans head in, Cating suggests visiting LSU’s live on–campus mascot, Mike the Tiger. The famed Bengal tiger lives in a habitat between Tiger Stadium and Pete Maravich Assembly Center, home of LSU men’s and women’s basketball.

Where to Eat and Stay

Food is a big deal in Baton Rouge. Cating gave a rundown of some of her favorite spots in town:

• Elsie’s Plate and Pie: Louisiana–style cooking with a twist. Elsie’s is best known for their savory and sweet pies. Cating recommended the seafood pot pie and their LSU–themed lemon blueberry pies.
• The Chimes: Traditional South Louisiana cooking. Fried alligator, boudin (traditional Cajun and Creole sausage) and gumbo are highlights.
• Raising Cane’s “Mothership”: The popular fast food chicken finger brand opened its first location in Baton Rouge. This year, they’re celebrating their 30th anniversary with a pop–up birthday museum beside the restaurant.
• Coffee Call: The best spot to grab New Orleans–style coffee and beignets. Cating is a fan of the shop’s beignet fingers, which are perfect to dip in a café au lait.

At the tailgates, you can find Louisiana classics like gumbo and jambalaya and red beans and rice.

Baton Rouge has a cluster of hotels in its downtown area that are walkable to LSU’s stadium. You can find rooms at various price points, from the boutique Watermark Baton Rouge to a suite–style Hampton Inn. Cating also recommended the College Drive area as a strong option with hotels within driving distance of LSU.

With two universities nearby, popular weekends can book up fast. But if you strike out on hotel rooms, Cating recommended checking out short–term rentals in the area.

“When to look would be as soon as you get a ticket — as soon as you get the idea to come in,” Cating said. “There is always going to be something available.”

Must-Do For the Full Weekend

If you’re making a full weekend out of your Baton Rouge visit, start downtown by visiting Live After Five, an outdoor concert series held each Friday at Galvez Plaza from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Local restaurants and food trucks line the area for visitors to enjoy food and beverage offerings unique to Baton Rouge.

Of course, fans will want to start Saturday hours before the game and head to campus to soak in the tailgate atmosphere.

For visitors who stick around through Sunday, Cating suggested families check out Knock Knock Children’s Museum. Since Baton Rouge is Louisiana’s capital city, there are plenty of government sites to visit as well, including the Louisiana State Capitol and the Old State Capitol, a historic building and museum. And if that’s not enough, New Orleans is just 80 miles south.

While Southern University won’t be playing a home game this upcoming weekend, visitors returning the following week can check out the Jaguars’ homecoming game against Arkansas–Pine Bluff on October 3.

“When we have home games for both schools in town, Baton Rouge is absolutely insane,” Cating said. “It is so fun to have fans from both schools all over the city and really enjoying themselves.”

This is the first entry in our series profiling different college football towns this season. If you have a special story or under–the–radar suggestion for a future profile, reach out to Augusta Stone at [email protected].