The Chimes Restaurant & Oyster Bar

Bar, Eatery

3357 Highland Rd
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70802-7923
United States

(225) 383-1754 | map
thechimes.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.08
Reviews:
18
Ratings:
30
pDev:
12.75%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.99 by socon67 from New York

Mar 10, 2018
Photo of senglish7
Reviewed by senglish7 from Mississippi

4.78/5  rDev +17.2%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.75 | service: 4.75 | selection: 4.75 | food: 4.75
This place almost got all 5s. Love the vibe, went on a random Wednesday afternoon. Great selection, great service, great recommendations. Food is killer
Apr 21, 2016
 
Rated: 4.19 by macapp from Arkansas

Aug 31, 2015
 
Rated: 4.48 by Brevbin from Louisiana

Jul 10, 2015
Photo of dsshuck
Reviewed by dsshuck from Delaware

4.44/5  rDev +8.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
Great selection of craft beers and food was excellent. Young crowd with country music and very busy when we visited. Service was very good even though busy. Just missed 2015 Founders KBS keg that kicked earlier today. Worth an additional visit while we are in town.
May 23, 2015
Photo of Red_Stick_Alien
Rated by Red_Stick_Alien from Louisiana

4.66/5  rDev +14.2%
vibe: 4.75 | quality: 5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.25 | food: 5
The Chimes is a local institution. They have a great beer selection. I've never had bad meal there.
Apr 22, 2015
 
Rated: 5 by jmryan8 from Louisiana

Dec 04, 2014
Photo of thood6
Rated by thood6 from Louisiana

4.75/5  rDev +16.4%
80 Taps
Fresh IPAs
2 designated sours lines
Great food
Growler fills
What more could you want?
Nov 18, 2014
 
Rated: 4.24 by JamesStreet from Louisiana

Oct 13, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by tbryan5 from Louisiana

Jul 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by comark

Jul 02, 2014
 
Rated: 4.75 by Storning from Virginia

Mar 06, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by ahommell from Mississippi

Feb 26, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by earthling64 from Louisiana

Feb 26, 2014
Photo of acevenom
Reviewed by acevenom from Louisiana

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4 | food: 3.5
I've been to The Chimes quite a few times over the years. There's a great tap and bottle selection and the staff is very helpful and willing to suggest beer for you. The food is good, but there are better food selections in BR. What you come here for is the experience. The prices are reasonable and if you are looking for a good selection of local brews or solid American craft fare like Stone Arrogant Bastard or a good import selection, you will be well served. Plus the servers I've had are well educated on beer styles. Definitely stop here if you are in Baton Rouge.
Sep 15, 2012
Photo of Beerbuddha
Reviewed by Beerbuddha from Florida

3.88/5  rDev -4.9%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4
Not a bad place to go when in Baton Rouge. The beer selection is decent. They have about 49 beers on tap. When you have that many on tap it becomes more about quantity over quality but the list was good. I was a bit disappointed in the fact that they beer list wasn't updated and didn't reflect that they had local brewery Tin Roof on tap. That and they didn't have Bayou Teche on tap at all. The food was pretty good and the service was good. I could see this place getting rowdy during football games, It was packed at lunchtime on a Monday. Overall nice place to get some beer and grub!

GO GREENWAVE!!!!
Aug 15, 2011
Photo of ksmi116
Reviewed by ksmi116 from Louisiana

3.95/5  rDev -3.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
Definitely an LSU staple, and one of the better places to go for imported beers.

Atmosphere - One of the best parts of the Chimes. College students, parents, recent grads, and fans of LSU come to the Chimes to watch games, just get a meal, get a drink, or to start Around the World, a system of trying beers with a mild reward at the end.

Quality - The quality of food has never disappointed, and the beers on tap are quite good always. The first problem you will have will likely be the wait time, as the Chimes is often crowded.

Service - Some servers are truly fantastic, very knowledgeable about the beers and food, but others are truly just there for the job. Hope for one of the servers who has worked here a long time, and you will not be disappointed.

S - Food selection is pretty basic, with a few LA staples taking center stage. Seafood is generally above average and the alligator is quite good. The tap lines take the cake for selection in Baton Rouge though. Largest lineup I have seen in BR. Bottles are also well represented, but leaves a little to be desired.

F - Food is good, but not quite as good as the price would lead you to believe. Seafood is where its at. The brunch menu is also the best damn thing that is served, so get there at 10 on a Sunday for some incredible food.

V - Again, a bit pricey for food, but about spot on for the beers. Definitely worth a stop if youre in town!
Apr 05, 2011
Photo of dragonWhale
Reviewed by dragonWhale from New York

3.5/5  rDev -14.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
Whilst visiting my dear friend in Baton Rouge, we had to make the obligatory stop here at his favored haunt. A midget child who actually later appeared to act as an adult helped us to our seats. Is she 19 or 11? It is a strange world out here.
Cool bar, some drunk LSU profs and students..alright!
They had a bunch of taps, with much of it being mundane and kind've crappy with a few exceptions. Plenty of representation from the LA breweries, at least, with some good stuff. Some. NOLA's IPA was delicious, the Tin Roof's was abhorrent. Dah well, whatcha gonna do.
The waitress took good care of us and the food was pretty damn good. Had my first taste of the Gulf style oysters. Gotta say, a fun way to eat them, but I am still much more accustomed to the Pac-NW selection. Damn you, Puget Sound!
Get some better beer, folks! At least it's on the up and up, yeah? Probably wouldn't've had the same selection there 3-4 years ago, so I can't complain too much I suppose.
Mar 23, 2011
Photo of 3rdRowTailgater
Reviewed by 3rdRowTailgater from Louisiana

3.73/5  rDev -8.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
If you're traveling to Baton Rouge for a football game or any other reason, The Chimes is a stop you have to make.

It's got a great atmosphere, with LSU students/faculty to families, young professionals and everything in between.

For years, The Chimes had the best beer selection in Baton Rouge and they still maintain a strong selection of import and domestic brews. They do a nice job of bringing in new beers on tap, so that I'm not always picking from the same beers. The selection is not blow you out of the water big, but it's plenty big, especially for a restaurant.

The food is excellent, whether you just want some appetizers or an entree. Grab some fried boudin balls or some blackened alligator, some gumbo and shrimp etouffee. The Chimes has a great menu of American classics and Louisiana traditions.

The price is very reasonable for the quality of food and drink you are getting, but the service can get slow sometimes, so sit back and enjoy.
Feb 02, 2011
Photo of t3hcho53non3
Reviewed by t3hcho53non3 from Louisiana

3.78/5  rDev -7.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
IF you are a college student you know about the Chimes on the northgates of LSU. Regardless if you are a beer connoisseur or not you are going to go to enjoy the delicious food and the college atmosphere. The beer selection is very good but they are in update mode as we speak. If you ask for seemingly rare beers that they have on their menu they will say they don't have it but Chimes East does in fact have it. They are in the process of taking the stock from Chimes East and updating it with the LSU Chime. Either way I always come back especially since it is within walking distance of LSU.
Sep 27, 2009
Photo of Jablonski
Reviewed by Jablonski from Louisiana

3.2/5  rDev -21.6%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
The Chimes is a great place to go for beer if you're stuck around the LSU campus. It has an average selection for a beer bar, but it's missing a good American selection and it overcharges for the imported beers. They always seem to serve any beer in the same glassware, so don't expect anything fancy from going here. In addition, the beer list isn't always kept up to date (neither is the online list), so it can get a bit frustrating at times when you go here. The beer selection is better than most places around Baton Rouge, so I'd recommend it if you're looking for a casual outing with friends. The food here is pretty great, so come hungry.
Feb 18, 2009
Photo of theboozecruise
Reviewed by theboozecruise from Louisiana

4.05/5  rDev -0.7%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
As stated by many, this place is an LSU (and BR) institution.

It's a very mixed crowd, with college students, recent grads, professionals, older people reminiscing on the college days, etc... It definitely has a restaurant first, bar second mentality, except on LSU gamedays.

As for beer selection, the Chimes has the best draft selection for miles, and the bottle selection is rivaled only by a few bars in town. There are new beers on tap monthly and something new to try in a bottle just about every week. Unfortunately the overal selection is hurt because this is Louisiana, but as far as a restaurant/bar goes, hard to beat.

The service is lacking, and the Chimes operates at a slower pace than most restaurants. It's not unusual to come in and sit at the table for four hours enjoying some appetizers, beer, and an entree. The food is good, not overpriced, and there is a variety of options. Expect a wait during the busy hours in the evening, especially when school is in session, and Friday and Saturday nights tend to be even worse.

I'd definitely recommend any visitors to Baton Rouge check out the Chimes.
Oct 02, 2008
Photo of philipquarles
Reviewed by philipquarles from Connecticut

3.13/5  rDev -23.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
The Chimes is an LSU institution that happens to have a decent beer selection.

The place is really like a semi-upscale college bar/restaurant. Lots of wood and breweriana, but packed with LSU students. It's actually a really interesting mix, what with the traditional atmosphere and young (but not obnoxious) patrons.

The beer selection is decent; something like 20 taps and ~100 bottles. Not exactly a mind-blowing selection, but it's one of the only places around where I don't order a water. Last time I was there, the most interesting draught beers were Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Franziskaner Hefe, and Delerium Tremens. Bottles included stuff like Aventinus, Old Peculiar, St. Bernardus, etc etc.

My main qualm with this place is that it seems the bartenders know nothing of beer. They claim to be "the" beer place in BR but serve Paulaner Salvator (among others) in a pilsener glass. They're usually too busy making Jack and Cokes to care....

The food is great, but that's really the case everywhere in Louisiana.

Overall, not exactly a quality beer place; compared to everything else in a 50 mile radius though, the Chimes is easily the best place to grab a beer.
Oct 01, 2008
Photo of kensuthe
Reviewed by kensuthe from Louisiana

3.38/5  rDev -17.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5
Atmosphere - The Chimes is one of the better options for beer in Baton Rouge. Located right at the north gates of the campus of Louisiana State University, there is a decided college atmosphere. Depending on the day of the week and the time of day of your visit, you may encounter a family atmosphere or you may run into a crowded bar scene. Most of the space feels decidedly more like a restaurant than a bar, and you will find many people seated around tables eating and talking at all times of day. Be prepared to wait up to an hour for a table if you go during more crowded times, especially if you are with a large group. But hey, you can always pass the time at the bar while you wait. Live music events are held next door at the Varsity Theatre on some nights, and this can cause your wait time (and the noise level) to be higher than normal. Do not confuse the original Chimes next to the LSU campus with The Chimes East location in another part of Baton Rouge. The original Chimes has a better bar scene and a better beer selection, and should be the location of choice for anyone taking a trip to the area. For repeat visitors, the Chimes offers a Beers Around The World experience where you must drink a set amount of beers from a set amount of countries. With a plaster, wood, and exposed brick décor throughout most of the restaurant, the plaques filled with several decades worth of names of worldly drinkers covering the walls adds a nice touch.

Quality - The quality is not bad compared to other bars in Louisiana, but it does not hold up well when compared to more beer-centric locations throughout the country. The bar does not stock a large variety of glassware, and you should expect to get a pint glass (if anything) when ordering any of the variety of bottled beers. Many of the kegs do not see a high enough turnover, so you can't expect a fresh beer every time. It seems like there is not much emphasis put on cleaning the lines from the kegs to the taps, and it's not unheard of to find some type of debris floating in your glass.

Service - The Chimes is definitely a restaurant first and a bar second. Food orders seem to take precedence over drink orders, especially when sitting at a table or booth. Many of the waiting staff (and, occasionally, some of the bar staff) do not know very much about beer, but that is the exception and not the rule. All draft beers are served in pint glasses regardless of style, and you will either receive a pint glass or no glass at all when ordering a bottle. You can always ask for another type of glass if you want to simulate a chalice or flute, but you may need to explain why to your server. The staff often seems harried and hurried, and there is usually not much time for chatting. If you are reading this review on BeerAdvocate, then there is a good chance that you will know more about the available beers than your server, so I recommend that you recommend your own beers to yourself instead of asking for help. Also, if you want to do the Beers Around The World, you're rolling the dice as to whether your list of completed beers will be lost after having spent several hundred dollars.

Selection - The draft selection is between 20 and 30 beers, and there are between 100 and 200 bottles to choose from. However, if you'd visited the Chimes even as recently as a few years ago, expect to be disappointed at the smaller list of choices available now, especially the beers from Belgium. There are beers on the menu from close to 30 countries, but just because something is on the menu does not mean that it is available behind the bar. This can get to be pretty aggravating, especially if you are trying to do the Beers Around The World. The beer menu is not updated regularly, but it was finally updated semi-recently to reflect the reduced selection. There are also rotating taps for Abita and Rogue (although the latter doesn't seem to rotate much), and a sometimes-repetitive beer of the month to choose from.

Food - This is where the Chimes can shine. With a variety of south Louisiana options ranging from red beans and rice to a fried seafood platter (and alligator strips, crab cakes, veggie burgers, salads, raw oysters, and duck and sausage gumbo placed in between), there are abundant options for those who are hungry. There are oversized deserts, too, if you're feeling quite the glutton. The quality of the dishes is not always superb, but the Chimes isn't supposed to be a five star restaurant. There are nightly specials and soup du jour, and the Sunday Brunch is definitely a nice treat if you can get a table before they stop serving.

Value - While not as inexpensive as it once was, the price for the location is definitely not that bad. You could wind up dropping a decent amount of cash, depending on the length of your stay and whether you order food or not. It's not the cheapest restaurant and bar in the world, but it's still a good value and worth a visit.
Mar 26, 2008
Photo of ryrust5301
Reviewed by ryrust5301 from Louisiana

3.75/5  rDev -8.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4.5
I've lived in Baton Rouge for about 3 years now, and frequent the Chimes quite often. Definitely the best beer bar Baton Rouge has to offer, and probably the best in the state of Louisiana besides Cooter Browns in New Orleans. Although that ain't saying much. Located right next to the north gates of LSU's campus. Needless to say it's usually mostly filled with college students. Chimes is both a bar and restaurant. The main bar has about 30 taps with the usual imports. Anchor, Sierra Nevada, Guiness, Harp, Sam Adams, Abita, and the other usuals. They have about 200 bottles as well from countries around the world. Virtually no Belgians on the list any more, since the distributor problem has left Louisiana pretty Belgian dry the last 2 years. You can participate in a Beers around the world program, where you have to drink 30 beers from I think 12 different countries. Needless to say I completed mine a long time ago. Name on the plaques of honor and a free t-shirt go to those who have completed it. If your looking for a good place to hang out with some friends and drink through some pints, it's a great place. Staff is friendly, and some are more beer wise than others, but even on busy nights service is pretty good. Food is very good, mostly fried and not to healthy, but pretty darn good. Nice size menu on which you can pretty much find anything to suit your taste. Food is always fresh, and i've only had 1 or 2 beers in 3 years which have been bad.

A Chimes East has just opened in Baton Rouge as well. East is more family oriented. The beer list is a little bit smaller, and more expensive. Out of about 12 trips there i've gotten bad beers on draft about 5 to 6 times. I guess since there's more families at east than college students to drink as much the beer isn't as fresh. I always stick to the original Chimes by campus, which is the much better of the two.
Jan 23, 2008
Photo of dteal1
Reviewed by dteal1 from Louisiana

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5
I have been to Chimes more than a few times before today and I have never been let down. Today I had the BLT and onion rings with a pint of Abita Andygator. They have one of the best, and always fresh, beer selections of any restaurant that I have been to around Baton Rouge. I love it because I'm a student at LSU and it is so close to school and really cheap. It is also adjacent to the Varsity Theatre where they have some really great bands. I'm going to a Zoso concert there on November 2nd. In my opinion there aren't many places better than this one to get a beer with your buddies or to take the lady for some lunch.
Oct 18, 2007
Photo of aforbes10
Reviewed by aforbes10 from Iowa

3.08/5  rDev -24.5%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 2.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | food: 3.5
We stopped by Chimes on a research trip through Louisiana. I had read about it on the site here and we decided to check it out based on its large selection of beers. Stopped in around 6-7 pm and it wasn't nearly as packed with people as everyone had said. Lots of open tables. Got a seat and opened up the beer menu to find many beers on tap. Many of these were fairly uninteresting but they did have some Abitas i'd never had and a couple of imports i hadn't seen on draft before. We had a couple of pints with our meal (pretty good food, oysters were fine too) and then moved to the bar to sample from the large selection of bottles. Bottled beer was overpriced and the two we ordered were both past their prime. i dont think they get many orders for bottled beers so they just sit around losing their flavor. so overall i wasn't that impressed. im sure it was the best place to have beer in town, but i just dont think that's saying too much.

i want to add also that the bartender was really, really drunk when he served us and told us that Rogue brewery was in Oklahoma. nice.
May 03, 2006
Photo of JMH_
Reviewed by JMH_ from New Jersey

4.5/5  rDev +10.3%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4
This is one great bar, literally located at the entrance gates of LSU. Upon walking in, you head up a few stairs to the bar drecitly to the back. There is a decent sized seating area around the bar and nice sized dining rooms off of either end of the bar as well. This place is prety big overall and seemingly gets packed during any sort of LSU sporting events. Hell, I was in there midday on a Tuesday and it was pretty crowded.

I ordered the Abita Select, which was an Imperial Pilsner at the time, and within minutes was chatting w/the bartender about the brew, the next in the series (a tasty Alt) and other brews. Shortly thereafter he was throwing samples my way and running into the back to grab some Abita gear for me. Service was exceedingly friendly and they knew their stuff overall.

All the brews, be it in bottle (100 or so) or tap (I'd say 30-40 taps overall), were nice and fresh. Selection was very nice as well. The Southeast region was represented here moreseo than any other bar I hit while in the area, and the imports brought selections from around the globe.

Overall, this is a place that I'd love to visit again the next time I'm in Baton Rouge. Defnitely worth a visit if you're in town.
Sep 03, 2005
Photo of acrawf6
Reviewed by acrawf6 from Louisiana

3.45/5  rDev -15.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3.5
This place has its up and downs. I like how it is right off of campus and can easily be walked to.

Here's the thing, if you want to go to have some beers, sit by the bar! if you sit in the restaurant, the service is slow, and i'm not always confident i get what i want just cuz i dont believe every waiter and waitress are that aware and knowledgable about the beer, and may think you said something else b/c they dont know how something is pronounced. But if you sit at the bar, i would say the service is quite good. They often let you try beers without you even asking, and you can see what you get. Plus all the ones i've talked to know about the beer they have.

The selection, however, is not that good.... if you want to compare it to other beer bars. It does have the best selection in baton rouge for restaruants and beer stores, but it seems like the beers on tap all run together in the styles. the bottles are pretty expensive.

The food is average to good, but by saying that i am comparing it to new orleans food, so it is pretty good.
go between 4-7 mon-fri and i think sometime sunday to get $1 off all pints.
Apr 20, 2005
Photo of faubs
Reviewed by faubs from Louisiana

4.55/5  rDev +11.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5
Ok perhaps I'm a little bias, since I did post this place. However the restaurant is right beside LSU, so the atmosphere is that of upperclassmen and afterhours buisiness types. The food is exceptional as stated with a cajun zing to most bar & grill types of food. I highly recomend the crawfish etouffee. As for the beer selection, its one of the best around, with a number of imported beers on tap. What they don't have on tap they probably have in a bottle. As far as beer drinkers go it doesnt get much better than this. If you happen to be in the neighborhood stop in and ask for a beer menu!
Oct 21, 2002
The Chimes Restaurant & Oyster Bar in Baton Rouge, LA
Place rating: 4.08 out of 5 with 30 ratings