Hallelujah Crab from Jubans

When you really want to treat yourself right for Sunday brunch, Jubans is a must. With a lively jazz band roaming the restaurant, the brunch menu is filled with tasty selections.

But the must-have is that Hallelujah Crab dish. This is fried, soft-shell crab loaded with savory seafood stuffing, served over stone-ground grits and topped with a creolaise sauce. Each bite is loaded with the crispy crunch of the delicate crab and that heavenly sauce.

Pro tip: Make someone at the table order duck-fat hash browns so you can get a taste of those delicious, decadent potatoes as well.

Juban's, 3739 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge. (Jennifer Brown, senior editor)

Loaded Grits and an Americano from Magpie Cafe

In a hidden spot past the chaos of Perkins Road, Magpie Cafe sits as a peaceful, garden-loving coffee shop that serves fresh pastries, baked goods and hot dishes. Inside, various local art is for sale hanging on the walls, as well as fresh coffee and creaky wood floors.

In the courtyard, there's a small metro oasis with fresh herb pots, crawling vines and a healthy koi pond!

New to the menu, the Boursin-loaded grits are garlicky, buttery soft and perfect for a full breakfast. The dish is topped with crispy bacon, fresh chives from the garden, a perfectly cooked fried egg, and salt and pepper. A good bite on a warm, rainy day in Baton Rouge.

I also had a healthy serving of an Americano, which was a great smooth-tasting brew. According to my sister, the iced matcha is also incredible.

Magpie Cafe, 3205 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge (Margaret DeLaney, health section coordinator).

Chicken pot pie soup at Jason's Deli

When it's rainy, overcast or feeling like cold is in the air (which, let's be honest, in September in Louisiana, all you really get is a "feeling like cold is in the air"), I love a good soup. I also prefer to eat at locally owned places. That said, sometimes you eat what's available -- which was the case last week before Francine was on its way toward Louisiana. Fortunately, the chicken pot pie soup at Jason's Deli hit the spot. It was warm. It was lusciously creamy. It was full of chicken and vegetables. It was smoking hot.

I loved it. Additionally, the puff pastry topper was just what the doctor ordered in terms of giving that light bready crunch to the occasional bite. The bowl of soup was filling and cost less than $7.

I have a feeling that the next time it feels like cold is in the air, I'll have a hankering for another bowl of Jason Deli's chicken pot pie soup. Winner. Winner.

Jason's Deli has multiple locations in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and elsewhere. (Jan Risher, Louisiana culture editor)