Tsunami Restaurant — River View

Tsunami opened in 2001 on the levee when downtown Baton Rouge's waterfront was still a parking lot. The Shaw Center would eventually rise around it, but the Pacific Rim restaurant got there first and stayed. Baton Rouge sits on the Istrouma Bluff, the first natural high ground upriver from the Mississippi Delta — the place where floods couldn't reach, where a port could work year-round. The city built its business quarter on that bluff, safe from the seasonal surges that drowned everything downstream. Levees stretched south from the bluff to protect the agricultural bottomlands. The river is why the city exists. Tsunami gives you the river. From the upper floor, the Mississippi reveals its full scale. Barges work the brown current. The Union Pacific bridge spans to the far shore. The water moves fast, carrying the freight of a continent. This is the best unobstructed view of the river in downtown Baton Rouge. Reservations are recommended for dinner. The view is worth it even if you only order drinks.