Yes, I found good food in Monroe, LA. 

Restaurant Sage turned out a perfectly nice shaved pear & blue cheese salad, and the bacon-wrapped barbecue shrimp over Anson Mills grits really hit the spot after a long drive up I-55 & I-20.

So if you find yourself in the wilds of north Louisiana, you won’t be reduced to pizza, Raisin’ Cane’s, or bad tex-mex after all.  But avoid the Atrium Hotel at any cost; what a dump!