Here's my incomplete guide to eating and drinking in the city:

Baton Rouge is home to so much good food, but if I had to pick one restaurant in the area that should be sought out if at all possible is Roberto's River Road Restaurant. It's a little bit of a drive, though, as it is well south of the city, but it's an absolute treasure.

Some other very good restaurants in the city:
The Chimes/Parrain's (owned by the same people, both outstanding)

Pinetta's (great old school Italian place, their red sauce is to die for)

Louisiana Lagniappe (probably the best seafood joint in the city)

Ruffino's (Italian, creole, steaks, all awesome, try the Crawfish Cheesecake as an app)

Gino's (outstanding old school Italian)

The Overpass Merchant (small menu, but all well executed)

Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar (downtown with the best selection of oysters around and often live music)

Juban's (Italian/Creole/Cajun/Seafood all done excellent, try the Hallelujah Crab)

Traditional Baton Rouge haunts (not too pricy, but not super cheap)
Sammy's (seafood and po'boys with a large enough menu to please everyone, but often very crowded)

Fleur de lis (thin, soft crust pizza, been around forever, CASH ONLY)

George's (po'boy's and sandwiches plus a bar under the overpass)

Sammy's (famous for their boiled crawfish, but they have a wide menu with something sure to please everyone)

The Pastime (pizza, po'boys, and calzones downtown, I'd stick to the calzones)

Louie's (LSU institution for late night burgers and breakfast food)

Stockyard Cafe (incredible plate lunches with insane portions next to the old bridge. They may have the best fried chicken on earth)

Mason's (Giant hamburgers and brunch on sundays)

Bud's Broiler (a New Orleans institution open south of LSU across from Tigerland, cheap and open late, charcoal grilled hamburgers, get the #4 with smoked sauce and cheddar cheese)

Tony's Seafood (The seafood market and to-go spot that launched the Louisiana Fish Fry Empire)

Izzo's Illegal Burrito (ike a better version of Chipotle).

Raul's (greasy burger right outside the north gate of campus)

The Jambalaya Shoppe (while not the best jambalaya possible, it's certainly the most convenient with locations all over town, some for both lunch and dinner, try the gumbolaya)

If you want the best cheap hole-in-the-wall joints:
La Morenita (Mexican grocery store on Florida Blvd with the best $2 tacos on earth)

The Chicken Shack (hard to beat the Big Shack Sandwich or the fish sandwich for under $3)

Belue's (great plate lunch/style place featuring the Turduken Po'boy, hogs head cheese, and all kinds of cajun/soul food awesomeness)
Jerry Lee's Boudin (home of the best Hogs Head Cheese around)

Bergeron's in Port Allen/Gonzales (great cajun food in the restaurant and fantastic bbq, smoked boudin, and pistolettes on the meat market side)

River Queen Drive Inn (also in Port Allen; serves cheap burgers, po'boys, ice cream. Try the Ida Burger or the Oyster Po'boy with Spicy Mayo, all under $7)

Ronnie's Boudin (best boudin, boudin balls, and cracklins this side of the basin bridge)

Capital City Crawfish (most underrated po'boy and seafood market in town)

American Market (sandwich shop south of LSU where you can get a 14" sub with chips and a drink for under $7. Get the Cajun Turkey)

Inga's (sandwich shop on Chimes Street by the North Gate. Similar to American Market but with more options (salads, more toppings, stir fry bowls) and slightly higher prices. Cajun Turkey is awesome here too. Their steak sandwich is also outstanding)

Kaminari (AYCE sushi/hibachi buffet just north of Campus. You can also get stuff to-go by the pound for very cheap. Better, but more expensive at night than at lunch)

La Salvadorena (authentic Salvadorian Cuisine just outside the north gates of campus)
Smokin' Aces (little BBQ stand with great ribs, mac n cheese, and BBQ sauce)

newer "hip" places:
Magpie Cafe
City Pork
BRQ
Elsie's
LIT Pizza (pick your own toppings pizza)
Cocha
Curbside Burgers (awesome burgers)
Ruby Slipper (brunch)
Twine
Simple Joe's Cafe
South Fin Poke
White Star Market

Outstanding Asian Food:
Dang's (Pho)
Albasha's (Best Baton Rouge Lebanese food)
Thai Pepper (buffet at lunch, sit down restaurant at night, been around forever, always solid. DON'T GET THE SPICY unless you can REALLY tolerate heat! Stick to the medium)
Tsunami (sushi with unbeatable view)
Sushi Masa (All-you-can-eat Sushi that's made to order)
Sushi Yama (best sushi in town)
Omi (authentic, unique, and outstanding Chinese Food)
Geauld Tigers (American Chinese on Chimes Street right by campus)

Now, for the bars:

You have 4 main areas for bars in the city:
Campus (Northgate/Tigerland), Perkins Road (Overpass/Southdowns), Downtown, and Other.

On the north side, the bars have pretty slim pickings outside of The Varsity (live music venue), The Chimes (outstanding beer selection and food), and Barcadia (arcade with ok food).

Immediately south of campus is Walk-On's, which is convenient with decent food and cover bands before and after games. Going down Burbank is also Mellow Mushroom (good pizza and drinks) and Bogie's (really good college bar). Across Nicholson Drive is Tigerland, home to sleazy college bars The Box (cover bands), Mike's (free drinks on Fridays), Reggie's (for underage kids), JL's, and Fred's (for the 21+ frat crowd).

Perkins Road Overpass has some great bars including:
The Merchant and Georges (already mentioned), Duvic's, and Ivar's. All of these bars are 21+ and are much nicer than the college bars. There's also Zippy's for burritos and margaritas.

Southdowns is home to Uncle Earl's (great patio) and the Bulldog (beer bar with really nice patio) as well as Red Zeppelin (arguably best pizza in town)

Downtown has most of its bars centered around 3rd street including: Jolie Pearl (oysters), Boudreaux & Thibodaux's (cover bands downstairs and acoustic sets on the balcony upstairs), Happy's Irish Pub (school girl costumed waitresses and cover bands on the stage outside in the courtyard), Huey's (cocktails and occasional jazz bands), Bengal Tap Room (occasional acoustic acts, good food and draft beer, The River Room (laid back craft cocktails) and City Bar (basically the Jersey Shore in Baton Rouge). WARNING: OPEN CONTAINER LAWS ARE ENFORCED ON 3RD STREET AND 3RD STREET ONLY!!!!

There's a whole lot of randomly located bars around BR, but here are the highlights:
Tin Roof (brewery off Nicholson Drive between Downtown and LSU. Often have food trucks and/or bands)

The Cove (relocating to Essen, but formerly in Citi Place; best selection of beer and spirits basically anywhere)

Olive or Twist (young professionals bar for cocktails on perkins)

Hayride Scandal (try-hard yuppie bar with whiskey cocktails near college at corporate)

Phil Brady's (old man bar, irish pub featuring blues music most nights and a big blues jam open mic on thursday nights)

Radio Bar (Hipster bar with great cocktails (I recommend the Sazerac) and a patio and food trucks at night)

Dyson House Listening Room/Red Dragon Listening Room (small, intimate venues that book premier singer/songwriters and folk acts)

The Spanish Moon (original live music venue between downtown and LSU along Highland Road)

The Atomic Pop Shop (record store by day, BYOB original live music venue by night, next door to radio bar)

Finally, there's a really interesting historic Blues Bar in Zachary called Teddy's Juke Joint. It's about as authentic a delta blues experience as one can find in the South.

This post was edited on 9/14/18 at 10:35 am