Sammy's Grill Highland - Baton Rouge

The food was absolutely delicious! The bread pudding bites, which aren’t listed on the menu but are definitely worth asking about, are like a little slice of heaven. Mike provided exceptional service; thank you so much, Mike! Wishing you all the success in the world.

To begin with, the service was lackluster—not bad, but not great either. Given that it was Black Friday and the restaurant was nearly empty, we expected more attentive service, but that was not the case. I ordered a frozen margarita, which I usually enjoy, but this time it tasted different, possibly due to a change in the recipe. It wasn't terrible, but it was far from great. We started with the fried cheese appetizer, which was served cold. How does that happen when we were practically the only customers in the place? My husband ordered the stuffed crab dinner, but what he received were crab cakes instead. When we inquired about the discrepancy, our server didn't seem to know when the recipe changed. It’s misleading to call it a stuffed crab dinner when it’s clearly crab cakes. I ordered the blackened tiger salad, which is my usual choice at Sammy's. I typically love the generous portion of shredded pepper jack cheese on top, but this time there was hardly any cheese, and it didn't seem to be pepper jack—more like mozzarella, if I had to guess. It lacked flavor altogether. We were with a group, and everyone was similarly underwhelmed by their food. Overall, this was not a good experience, and I don't think we'll be returning.

I've always enjoyed dining at Sammy's on Highland. There was a time when this location was just as good. I had lunch there today after church with my parents. When we arrived, there was no crowd from the service, so we were seated right away. I mentioned to the hostess that it was quite cold in the restaurant, and she simply agreed. Normally, I'm not sensitive to cold, yet most other customers hadn’t even taken off their coats or sweaters. Since our waitress wasn’t with us right away, I felt that the hostess—or one of the three present—should have taken our drink orders. When our waitress finally arrived, we expressed our concern about the temperature again. She replied that there was nothing she could do and that the manager would have to handle it. I thought, "Then send a manager!" In both instances, the staff at Sammy's should have been more polite and proactive in addressing customer concerns. The manager eventually came to our table, didn’t introduce herself, and didn’t apologize; she simply mentioned that she had turned up the air conditioning. Once our waitress arrived, she was polite and efficient. However, I noticed there was no valid reason for the wait, as the restaurant wasn’t very crowded, and there seemed to be enough staff on hand. We ordered fried seafood, red beans and rice, and eggplant Parmesan. The food was good, but not up to the standards of the Highland Road location. There are other dining options in Central, and I won’t be rushing back anytime soon.

Every time I go to Baton Rouge, Sammies is a place I must go. My wife and two of our daughters went Sunday night. My wife and one daughter had the shrimp scampi. They said it was excellent. My other daughter and I had our favorite, the fried shrimp. We both felt it was very good but overcooked. It was still good but not up to their usual standard. I also had the baked beans. They were excellent.

Well, my last review is around the last time we went to Sammy's. We heard they have new management (not confirmed) and everything was better. We tried it tonight and there has definitely been a change! I got the Prime Rib Poboy and my husband got the Hamburger Steak. Both were amazing! Served hot and fresh. Service was also great, we were greeted warmly as soon as we entered and our server was pleasant and attentive. We are so happy to have another local place to support near home. We will be back!