On weekends that are nice, we like to drive a little farther to eat. One lovely Saturday, we headed west to Baton Rouge to check out Stab’s, a place highly touted by a caller to The Food Show (airs weekdays 2-4 pm on 990AM.)
Stab’s is named for the late great Kenny Stabler, who was a star player for Alabama many moons ago, going on to great success in the NFL. The steakhouse is a former bank on Jefferson Highway in Baton Rouge, in that busy part where Zea and Whole Foods are in the sort of new and very nice strip mall.
The building is quite handsome, and the main dining room is a bright atrium with a large skylight above. There are several dining rooms, each with its own character. The appearance of the place creates high expectations. We were very excited to be there. I was hoping for lunch, but brunch was the only meal being served when we arrived in the early afternoon. I didn’t feel like eating eggs, especially at a steakhouse, but a burger was there, as well as enough other choices to make it worthwhile.
I ordered a crabcake to split as an appetizer. It was billed as a jumbo lump crabcake with Spicy Ravigote Sauce. This was a beautiful thing, pure crabmeat (though it seemed to be lump rather than jumbo lump which I actually prefer) with a nice sear on top and bottom.
It fell apart when cut, releasing mounds of pure crabmeat into the sauce. Delish!
My entree was the house burger, and Tom had a fried oyster salad. He loved the salad, but I thought the oysters were a little limp and maybe a tad greasy. The dressing was balsamic vinaigrette, with copious amounts of blue cheese crumbles and bacon bits. The salad was very good.
My burger was clearly handmade and of good quality. The potato bun held up to the rest of it. Nice dressings. No complaints here, and even cooked as I asked.
The fries were housemade, which normally excites me, but these were a little greasy and definitely limp.
Our waiter was very gracious and attentive, It was an enjoyable lunch but I don’t feel the need to return. Maybe if I lived in Baton Rouge I might, but as a destination restaurant for us, it’s a one-timer.
