The Seafood Chain With Deep LSU Roots, Thanks To Its Founder

Anyone who knows the stomping grounds of Louisiana State University (LSU) has likely heard somebody say, "Let's go to Mike Anderson's." That's not just a random dining choice; it's a restaurant tied to LSU Tiger culture for many decades. Mike Anderson's Seafood gets its name from the founder, legendary Mike Anderson himself, an LSU All-American linebacker in 1970. That places this restaurant chain in solid Baton Rouge territory, and not just physically. Culturally, the establishment stands for football, family, and sharing good food any day or night, win or lose. 

Anderson opened his restaurant near the LSU campus in November 1975, originally called Mike Anderson's College Town Seafood & Oyster Bar. In the early days, it was a simple operation doling out po-boy sandwiches, oysters on the half shell, plus fresh and boiled seafood. After outgrowing that humble menu, they expanded slightly to include a classic Cajun seafood gumbo and a shrimp salad — then relocated to West Lee Drive with the updated name of Mike Anderson's Seafood Restaurant and Oyster Bar. It still inhabits that same building today. 

With such deep roots in college-town culture, plus enduring respect for the local hero-turned-restauranteur, it's no wonder that Mike Anderson's eateries make you want to cheer for the home team — or at the very least, tuck into some game-day-worthy appetizers at his namesake restaurant. Think Louisiana favorites such as crabmeat stuffed mushrooms, New Orleans bon temps bread, fried green tomatoes, boudin baton, hushpuppies, and fried gator. From there, the menu blossoms into a full parade of Louisiana-style seafood. 

The menu at Mike Anderson's is big, bold, and unabashedly brimming with classic Louisiana seafood fare. You'll find freshly shucked raw oysters from Plaquemines Parish, along with chargrilled oysters, and "Gaspard char'd" with bacon, jalapeños, and mozzarella cheese. Gumbo shows up in a chicken-and-andouille version, plus the well-loved seafood gumbo with blue crab and Gulf shrimp. Po-boys remain part of the restaurant DNA, stuffed with either shrimp, catfish, or roast beef and pepper jack. 

The specialities are where this cuisine really sizzles with regional flair, featuring a crawfish etouffee soup and entrees such as cajun crawfish fettuccine and the Mike's Special, a spin on barbecue shrimp with Worcestershire-butter-garlic sauce. A longtime menu fixture since the early days is The Guitreau, named for a loyal restaurant worker, Beaux Guitreau. It features mahi-mahi finished in a buttery white-wine sauce and piled with crawfish, Gulf shrimp, and button mushrooms. Broiled and fried seafood platters go all-in with various heaping helpings of crab, shrimp, catfish fillets, oysters, crawfish, scampi, and more. Non-seafood eaters choose from steaks, burgers, and sweet-and-spicy grilled chicken with vegetables. 

The Mike Anderson chain currently thrives in three locations, including the flagship restaurant in Baton Rouge. It's located about five minutes from the LSU campus, where an engraved plaque honoring Anderson perches near the iconic bronze tiger statue at Tiger Stadium. It's all a family affair, with Anderson's son running the Baton Rouge operation and his cousin managing the other two locations in Prairieville and Gonzales, Louisiana.