Some might say the food served at The Silver Spoon is clever, fresh, smart, or genius. No—that’s its original name. This eatery began as a tea room in a small part of an antique shop known as Absolute Genius.

Today, owner Kathy Mangham has moved from her days in the antique shop to a mid-size restaurant that booms during the lunch hours. The Silver Spoon has been open for 15 years; Kathy working nearly each day. Kathy has always been interested in food. Her career started out with gift baskets filled with gourmet foods, which then spurred the tea room. The tea room grew with clients and the business took off to become The Silver Spoon.

Kathy’s husband, a chef, works in the Spoon’s kitchen. Together, he and Kathy composed the unique menu—from crab fingers to the veggie sandwich. The rumors around the menu whisper that it’s for women only; Kathy cleared it up. “People think it’s only about women, but it’s really not,” she said. “We’ve got manly food too. I think it’s partly our location and our hours.”

The Silver Spoon keeps short hours; Monday through Saturday 11:30-2pm. The short hours don’t affect business, the place is packed from open to close. The Spoon can seat 100 patrons at a time, and during my visit, about 80 percent of those guests were women. Once I took a look at the menu, I concluded it wasn’t the food, it was just the simple fact that women “do lunch.”

The menu is eclectic; it’s got Southern flair with its crawfish quesadillas and roast beef po-boy. It’s creative by ways of its crab egg rolls and chicken mandarin sandwich. However, it also has mainstream appeal by the occasional burger, fries, and sandwich wraps. It must be noted that the basis of a great menu is delicious food—the Spoon has got it covered.

The Silver Spoon prides itself in making everything from scratch—even the mayo. “Our goal was to have everything made in-house and so it is,” Kathy said. She came up with the name after an Italian cookbook of her mother’s, known as “Il Cucchiaio D'Argento,” or “The Silver Spoon.”

My lunch at The Silver Spoon started with a mango iced tea; a house gourmet. I snacked on the crab egg rolls, an appetizer consisting of two egg rolls stuffed with jumbo lump crab meat, shredded carrots and cabbage all of which is deep friend and very tasty. The rolls are surrounded with a thick plum puree, which sounded odd, but is very complementary. I chose The Silver Spoon Club Sandwich for my entrée, a sandwich stacked high with grilled chicken, bacon, ham, cheddar cheese, tomato, and lettuce all on three slices of wheat bread. I requested a side of Matchstick Fries, which reminded me of a childhood favorite—potato sticks.

It’s safe to say that all of The Silver Spoon’s patrons, men and women, can agree on one thing: it’s delicious.

7731 Jefferson Hwy
Baton Rouge, LA 70809
(225) 926-1172