MJ’s Cafe

Love love love MJ’s. Best soups, sandwiches, salads, quiches in town. The hard part is deciding what to order. You can choose 2 items for $ 10. Her quiches are to die for. She makes the crust from scratch. Her roasted Brussels sprout salad is divine. Doesn’t matter what you choose. Walk out feeling full, but good.

MJ’s Café is a locally-​owned and unassuming restaurant located in mid-​city Baton Rouge. The food is organic, vegan/​vegetarian, and locally sourced. I go here for lunch quite a bit and get the soup and sandwich combo for $ 10.50. My favorite sandwich is The French (a grilled cheese with apples, jelly, and provolone). It’s never super crowded and the ambiance is clean and bright (with floor to ceiling windows letting in lots of natural light). The service is friendly and fast. Attached to the café is a small gift store, selling soaps, candles, jewelry, and accessories. Although they are pretty much only open for lunch, about once every month they open for dinner. On those nights they serve a different menu, take reservations, and have a local musician entertain diners.

I tried this place because I found it on Unilocal and wanted a vegan lunch for a change. The sandwich was very tasty. All authentic fresh hand made ingredients. I got the vegan poboy. The only downside to the visit was the fact that it waf a bit pricy. I paisa almost $ 10 for that sandwich and I’m not sure I’d spend that often. Knowing it was a local small business I was supporting kept me from being disappointed.

MJ’s Café fills a much needed space in the Baton Rouge food scene. An entire café dedicated to vegan and vegetarian food! Be still my heart! It would be easy for MJ’s to cop out, considering their biggest competition is the Whole Foods hot bar, but they swing for the fences and nail it. Although every sandwich and salad I’ve had has been great, what keeps me coming back is craving for their mushroom soup. Served in a tall mug with fresh grated Parmesan and bread for dipping… it’s killer even on days with 90 degree Louisiana heat. I wish they were open for dinner or on weekends — I would never cook at home!

Absolutely amazing! One of my favorite local spots for vegan and vegetarian food. The owner is lovely and the wait staff is sweet. I always leave feeling energized and pleasantly full.

Soup, salad, sandwich, or quiche? Can’t make up your mind? That’s always my problem. Luckily, all are delicious and at MJ’s you can choose 2. All are made with fresh seasonal ingredients, as locally sourced as possible, and straight up YUM. Don’t miss out on dessert. It’s usually seasonal too. Simply fantastic!

«Specialty soups, quiches, sandwiches»… all of which I am in love with! I have devoured house-​made cups of soup here and quiches. It’s a quaint café shares their space with a lovely boutique… makes for a great atmosphere for dining. There have only been 2 people working here at the times I have been here and they are both very efficient. The café gets pretty busy during lunch, but they can handle the load with ease! My order has always come out promptly and at the appropriate temperatures. Ingredients are fresh the menu is simple. The owner was very kind and you can tell cares a lot about the quality of the food she serves! I can honestly say that the dishes are served with TLC! I felt very relaxed coming here knowing that I was going to receive excellent customer service. During my last visit, I ordered a cup of Califlower soup, which had the perfect amount of cauliflower chunks in it… I get weirded out by completely pureed soups without the chunk effect! My husband ordered the Shitake Mushroom quiche, which was absolutely divine! Mushroom are one of my favorite ingredients in a quiche, so this was simply perfection! The crusts on their quiches are light and crispy… definitely that homemade texture! It was mid-​day, so I needed a couple pick-​me-​ups… coffee — check and vanilla ice cream with pumpkin brittle — check! I was fully satisfied by the time I left!
* Healthy Food * Lunch Spot Baton Rouge * Mid-​City District Café * Quiche * Homemade Soups *

So pleased with my lunch here yesterday but sad I discovered it only a week before I move. I ordered the French sandwich and the salad of the day. The sandwich was bursting with flavor with just the right amount of pepper jelly. I’m an enormous cheese lover, and both my plates were fresh with the perfect portions of goat cheese. The staff was personable and atmosphere comfortable and quaint. I’ll be back when I return on trips for sure!

This was my first visit here. I had the spinach quiche and mushroom soup, both of which were delicious. It has a pleasantly quirky ambiance, not like most typical cafes and restaurants. This place is awesome for vegetarians, I wish there were more places like this in Baton Rouge! Definitely visiting again.

What a find! This homey little café has a small but satisfying menu if you’re looking to eat a light, healthy lunch. The focus seems to be on fresh, simple ingredients and the majority of the menu is ovo lacto vegetarian with a couple fish and one vegan sandwich, salad and soup. Sometimes this is all you need, especially when they do their well-​edited menu quite well.
The vegan soup of the day was pinto bean, which came with a scoop of fresh avocado on top. Very tasty, although when I requested hot sauce, I was very kindly offered jalapenos instead, as they no longer carry Tabasco. I have to admit it’s a bit strange for a restaurant in Louisiana not to have hot sauce, but I’m willing to forgive being that they really seem bent on offering up only fresh ingredients. I’m a hot sauce addict and should have had some stashed in my car.
The vegan sandwich is really divine. Again, no bells and whistles, but who needs them when the vegetables are so fresh and in season? It’s grilled and on incredibly chewy, crusty bread.
I appreciate a small business doing right by those of us who avoid flesh, especially in the meat-​centric deep south. It’s great to have a lunch option when working in Baton Rouge. I do admit if I were local, I’d be clamoring for at least one or two more vegan options, though! If you’re ovo-​lacto, though, there’s a lot of tempting options…

Excellent spinach quiche and fabulous roasted eggplant soup. Made me want to lick the plate. Very light and airy interior, and I will become a regular. This was my first visit.

Stopped in this past Wednesday. This small café is located between Goodwood and MidCity right next to an art gallery. I had their crawfish quiche. It was simple yet tasty. Will def be back to try other items. The staff was very friendly.

A friend and I went here for lunch today. Friendly staff and a quaint atmosphere Tiny place: there’s maybe two or three staff members total and, maybe, 10 chairs plus the bar. Still, highly enjoyable. He ordered the spinach and feta quiche plus tomato soup. I had the cream of broccoli soup plus the vegan sandwich. Everything was delicious, especially the quiche! The standard menu is short, but they have a lot of options for their rotating daily specials. Excellent vegetarian and vegan options.

This is one of my favorite spots in Baton Rouge. Healthy food and great people. MJ is living her dream and I love it!

Hubby and I and hubby’s mother checked this place out recently.
The soup I tried was quite good, and my mother-​in-​law liked her soup as well. Hubby got a sandwich called «The Vegan» which he said was just, «Ok.»
MIL and I both got the quiche which wasn’t a true quiche. It was flat and had a big glop of gross melted cheese on top. Neither of us cared for it.
Overall I would say that I think that since MJ’s is pretty much the only game is town for veg dining that they won’t step up their game much until there’s a little competition.
I guess this place is ok for Baton Rouge since options are limited, but if this place were in Philadelphia, I would not go back. It’s all relative I suppose.
The important thing is that if you are a veg staying in Baton Rouge, you at least have an option on somewhere to get lunch, but the vegan options on the menu are limited unless you want a salad, which you can get at many places.
My suggestion? Add some sort of grilled tofu sandwich or seitan sandwich to the menu. Offer vegan cheese (Daiya). Perhaps even add a vegan quiche to the menu.
On top of it, our server was not super attentive and seemed harried. Perhaps she was serving every table? I’m not sure. Also, like Jon said below, the seating and paying is confusing.

Easily my favorite lunch spot in town. Daily healthy offerings, sourced locally and made with love. Soups, quiche and sandwiches to die for!

Food was very good. Ordered one of the daily soups and a quiche. Tasted homemade. There were two people working — total. They make your food and then serve it to you. This was my first visit and it isn’t veryclear how to order, where to sit, etc. Other than those small issues, the place is great (it is on the small side — maybe 7 tables and a counter area). I’ll go back again.

Great food, the owner, Maureen Joyce, makes everything from scratch daily. She scours the farmers markets and buys local produce that she turns into the best soups, sandwiches, salads and quiches daily. She’s open from 11 – 3 and her soups sell out very quickly. You can call ahead and reserve a serving. Her quiches are sensational. Not all eggy like USA type, hers are from a French recipe her French aunt taught her. Sandwiches are great. You leaving feeling full, but healthy. Great ambiance in restaurant. Some people sit for hours, always interesting people.

MJ’s Café offers the best vegetarian and vegan dishes in the Baton Rouge area. MJ’s serves truly inspired flavor combinations that will warm the hearts of vegetarians and non-​vegetarians alike!