Tried two Restaurants around BR for the first time this weekend,

and I have to say that I think both are great for the BR food scene.

Friday for lunch I tried Pimanyoli's. I have had their tamales many times before since they sell them in the south end zone of tiger stadium, but they taste great sober at the restaurant as an appetizer as well. For lunch I ordered the BBLTA - brisket, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and smoked apple on texas toast. The sandwich was phenomenal. The brisket was smokey and fell apart with every bite, the bread was crispy on both sides and soft in the middle, and the smoked apple added a great sweet balance to the otherwise smokey sandwich. My girlfriend ordered a plate lunch with brisket and pulled pork. Brisket was great as already stated, and the pork was very good too. Will definitely be back.

Last night for dinner we decided on Roberto's on river road. We arrived about a half hour before the couple we were eating with, so the hostess sat us in the bar while we waited. The feel of the bar was great - a small bar in the back room of an old house with a friendly bartender, a few regulars, and Roberto himself coming in to cut up periodically. Our dinner started with the River Road Shrimp and the Eggplant Crab Cakes. Both were very good, though the shrimp in the river road shrimp were a little too small for a dish that features them. However, the spicy sweet sauce was great, and I devoured most of the bread bowl it was served in just to keep tasting it. Entrees around the table were the Beef Tournedos, Veal Picatta (special for the night), fried catfish (picky eater), and Catfish Billy. I tried all but the fried catfish. To keep it short, all were very good and everyone enjoyed their entree. Beef was tender, veal was cooked well, catfish billy was seasoned well and the etoufee served on top was good as well. Biggest disappointment of the night was that they had run out of the Mardi Gras Bread Pudding - bread pudding made with king cake - and I really would have liked to try that. The dining room has a welcoming atmosphere and is very loud, which is great if you want to cut up a bit. We stayed late over drinks and never the staff never pushed us out the door. Overall a great experience and we will be back regularly.

If you haven't been to either of these places, both are worth a try.