Planning to attend LSU/Alabama - info appreciated

Make sure to check out Coates Hall

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best tailgating spots

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Gameday and get in with a poster who sets up a big tailgate that doesn't mind hosting you

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to do the night before

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really depends on age. Walk-ons is good for all age ranges, Bogies if you're younger.

Tiger Land is where all the college bars are, about a mile or so south of Tiger Stadium. If that's not your thing, I'd avoid that area for the weekend.

Restaurant Recommendations near campus:

The Chimes - An LSU institution. Great place to grab a beer and have some Louisiana food or a burger. I'd pop in here early on gameday and at least grab an appetizer and a beer. The Varsity is a bar/theatre attached to the building and they usually have a special where you pay like $10 and get a plate of red beans and rice and some cheep beers while watching games on a giant screen. Pretty good deal. Abita is the big brewery in LA, but I'm not a huge fan of most of their offerings. I prefer NOLA or Parish if you want to drink something local. NOLA Irish Channel Stout and Parish Envie IPA are both solid options. Tin Roof is a Baton Rouge brewery, but they make pretty bad beer imo.

Walk-Ons - A lot of people hate on it, but it's a good spot to grab a beer and some bar food. It has become a chain, but the original location is right by Tiger Stadium

TJ Ribs - Another hate it/love it place food wise. You'll get much better BBQ in Austin, but they have a lot of cool sports memorabilia, including Billy Cannon's Heisman Trophy.

Parrains - Same owner as Chimes, a little further from campus. Great Louisiana food.

Tailgaters will be all over campus. If you just walk through and talk to people, you will get many free drinks and a plate of food. Tiger fans are very welcome to newcomers, just talk some shite about Saban or Bama and you'll be set. The fraternities set up in the middle of campus on the parade grounds. That's the central area where most of the students will be. RVs are over on the south side of campus. You can walk around drinking bourbon straight from the bottle if you so choose, nobody should give you any trouble about drinking.

As far as parking, I'd avoid the north side of Campus around Nicholson. The area is improving, but it's still kind of ghetto over there. I wouldn't want to walk to my car at night without being familiar with the area, and I wouldn't trust that my car would be safe. You are fine on the highland side over by Chimes. I usually pay like $20 to park at the hotel on the South Side of Nicholson by Walk-Ons. It's not a bad walk after the game and is very close to the nightlife if you plan on hanging around for a while.

If you want any other specifics, feel free to ask.

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Walk-Ons

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Honestly, it just isn't very good. I know people love hanging out there, but the food is so-so, at best. Maybe I'm biased against it since it got closed by food inspectors years ago, but I've never eaten there and walked away thinking that the food was good.

OP, here are my food recommendations:

Bistro Byronz on Government Street - not too pricey, delicious, with some regional options on the menu like the gumbo po-boy.
The Chimes on Highland Road - the classic Baton Rouge and LSU restaurant.
George's on Perkins, under the overpass (not downtown) - the quintessential bar food restaurant.
Ruth's Chris on Corporate - yes, it's a chain and a typical steak place, but this location was ranked as one of America's best restaurants last year. Pricier fare.
City Pork on Jefferson Hwy - casual North Carolina-ish bbq with lots of specialty meats.
Also, Pairran's on Perkins is really good and has more regional seafood options.

Don't wear red. If you do, leave early, go straight to your car, do not respond to comments by hundreds of drunk "campers" tailgating in the nether reaches during your two mile hike to your car... Before game all is pretty cool. The tiger walk with band is a good tradition.

Gotta check out Splash

The food places mentioned are all good. If you're coming to Tiger Stadium, you have to be in attendance where the band and team walk into the stadium. Stand at the place where the band stops and plays, it's awesome!

Thanks for all the great info - looking forward to it. Appreciate the invites to tailgates too. Will likely grab an LSU shirt but have my UT cap - will I get a ton of sh*t?

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Hey Tiger Fans: A buddy of mine and I are planning to head to Baton Rouge for the Alabama game this year - starting a tradition of going to 1 big game a year outside of the Big 12 and of course this was an easy call. Any info on best tailgating spots, what to do the night before, sites to see, etc is appreciated. We'll be driving in from the Austin area on Friday afternoon.

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You are going to have an incredible time! A few things:

Hotel - Get one now, and try to make sure you are located downtown. Hilton Baton Rouge Capital Center, Hamptonn Inn downtown (Brand new, very nice), or Hotel Indigo are all good choices.

As far as the rest of the questions, need some more info about you and your buddy.

1. Age group?
2. Guy/Guy?
3. What do you want to do the night before? (Eat really good food, get a feel for the campus, party with college kids, drink with young adults, casinos, see the area?)
4. Do you have tickets?
5. How good are you at drinking? (Can you last from 8:00AM on gameday after a night of going out until the 8:00PM kickoff?)

LeanderHorn,

I wore my Baylor hat to every home LSU game for 22 years. Sat on first row right in front of cheerleaders. Never had a negative comment, mainly because we were always losing. When they hired Briles I got a few comments but I always had on LSU gear too.

Great crowd, greatest stadium in great conference. It isn't anything like you are use to in the Big 12. So much better. Even the 8-10 year old kids know their football and take it seriously.

Be sure and spend all you time wondering around the stadium and tailgate areas. Enjoy.