Unlike the rest of LSU’s campus dining opportunities, such as fast food in the Student Union or the cafeteria-style of the two dining halls, the newest addition to the school’s culinary landscape offers a full-service restaurant experience.

The Lounge offers dining fare to LSU students and faculty, as well as the Baton Rouge public, with a classy flair. It’s located in the preexisting LSU Faculty Club at Union Square next to the Barnes and Noble. 

“We want people in the Baton Rouge community to be able to enjoy campus in a different way that doesn’t involve a sporting event,” says LSU dining special events coordinator Sarah Wronkoski. “This is a way to be on campus and enjoy LSU that’s new and different.”

Originally built in 1939, The LSU Faculty Club that houses The Lounge was first an on-campus hotel and restaurant exclusively for club members and their families. Amenities like billiard rooms, a television room and faculty dormitories give way to the modern occupant of the space, which exists as a premium buffet in the former hotel’s dining room. “There are some groups of students that come with their parents—who used to be students themselves—and they show them this hidden gem of LSU’s campus,” says Neva Ferguson, manager of the club. 

The idea to transform half of the club into a modern dining experience came in May 2021, when the pandemic allowed the university to “reimagine the space” during the club’s closure, Wronkoski says. The restaurant opened last fall.

While the new restaurant is a part of the same LSU Dining ecosystem as the McDonald’s and Panda Express in the Student Union, Wronkoski says The Lounge is attempting to be a subtle and more refined option for campus dining. With its wood-paneled walls and modern, minimal décor with white marble countertops melding with the classic aesthetic of jazz and big band music and the original wooden doors’ patterns, The Lounge is the furthest thing from the cafeteria lines just up the road.  

The Lounge is also one of two places on LSU’s campus where alcohol is served, the other being Tiger Stadium. The drink menu adds an LSU twist to classics like the Old Fashioned and the Vesper, with the classic cocktails called the “Core Curriculum” and the specialty cocktails referred to as the “Electives.” Drink names like Tigerbait, Early Registration and Hold that Tiger remind diners that they are at a bar on LSU’s campus. 

Read the full story about The Lounge from 225 magazine . 

Subscribe to the free 225 Daily e-newsletter here to keep up with Baton Rouge food and events.