The Ultimate
Driver
The all-new BMW X5
- On the Road: the eighth-gen 3 Series lands, and the M350 does 0–60 in 3.9
- On Saturday: LSU at Kentucky, 6:00 CT — Southern at Prairie View
- On the Table: boudin balls and pork belly burnt ends at City Pork Jefferson
- In the Cup: the Chocolate Cappuccino at Highland Coffees
- On the Town: Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martínez open the jazz season at Manship
- On the Wrist: the Tudor Northflag comes back, thinner, with a second time zone
The heat breaks the way it always breaks here — late, and only a little. But the back half of the day belongs to you again, and that is enough. There is a new 3 Series worth arguing about, LSU on the road in Lexington this Saturday, and a smokehouse on Jefferson that understands pork. The driving is the point. It usually is.
On the Lot
The X5 Leads October: 0.9% APR, $869 a Month
X5 · Brian Harris BMW
On the Lot
The X5 Leads October: 0.9% APR, $869 a Month
The X5 xDrive40i sets the pace on Airline — 0.9% APR for 60 months, or $869 a month on a 39-month lease with $6,929 due at signing. X3, X7, 330, and X1 carry the same 0.9%, all of it through November 2.
Finance
0.9% APR
60 mo · xDrive40i
Lease
$869/mo
39 mo · $6,929 due at signing
Expires November 2, 2026. With approved credit. Some exclusions apply. See dealer for details. Delivery by November 2 required.
X3 · Brian Harris BMW
The X3
MY26 X3 30 xDrive. The one that fits every driveway and still drives like a BMW.
Finance
0.9% APR
60 mo · 30 xDrive
Lease
$569/mo
39 mo · $5,299 due at signing
Expires November 2, 2026. With approved credit. Some exclusions apply. See dealer for details. Delivery by November 2 required.
X7 · Brian Harris BMW
The X7
MY27 X7 xDrive40i. Three rows, 0.9% APR — and for drivers who'd rather not sign for three years, a short 15-month lease on the X7 xDrive40i and the 760xi.
Finance
0.9% APR
60 mo
Lease
$969/mo
39 mo · $8,689 due at signing
Expires November 2, 2026. With approved credit. Some exclusions apply. See dealer for details. Delivery by November 2 required.
Brian Harris BMW, 12336 Airline Hwy., Baton Rouge. Shop specials: brianharrisbmw.com/new-bmw-specials2
On the Road
The Eighth-Generation 3 Series Lands — and the M350 Runs 0–60 in 3.9
BMW M350 xDrive · eighth generation
On the Road
The Eighth-Generation 3 Series Lands — and the M350 Runs 0–60 in 3.9
Forget the camo shots. This is the real thing, revealed for the US: the eighth-generation gasoline 3 Series, wearing the Neue Klasse face on updated CLAR bones. The electric i3 is its sibling on the new architecture — but this is the one you still mean when you say "3 Series," the sedan that has been the whole argument for small, fast, and serious since Reagan was in office.
Here is the number that matters. The M350 xDrive takes BMW's 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six, bolts on a 48-volt mild-hybrid assist, and arrives at 437 horsepower and 428 lb-ft. Zero to sixty in 3.9 seconds, per BMW. That is not a warm sedan. That is a fast car that happens to have four doors and a trunk big enough to matter. And there is a trick coming: a Drift Moment function — an over-the-air RWD unlock due in 2027 — for the kind of adult who wants to misbehave on a closed surface and then drive the kids to school.
US pricing from BMW NA, before the $1,350 destination charge: the 330 opens at $49,900, the 330 xDrive at $51,900, and the M350 xDrive at $65,900. The electric i3 50 xDrive comes in at $61,500. US sales open in the first quarter of 2027.
The sixes are back, the face is new, and the fast one is genuinely fast. The electric chapter is real and it is coming. But the inline-six, all-weather, stoplight-to-stoplight 3 Series is the car most of Baton Rouge is actually asking for — and it is almost here.
Sources: BMW PressClub USA, Car and Driver, Carscoops.
On Saturday
LSU at Kentucky
LSU · Saturday, October 10, 6:00 CT · ESPN
On Saturday
LSU at Kentucky
This Saturday is Lexington — LSU at Kentucky, 6:00 CT, ESPN. McNeese is already in the book: 63–14 at Tiger Stadium on the 3rd. Homecoming against Mississippi State is the 17th, early window. Auburn is the 24th, 11 CT at Jordan-Hare.
- Sat 3 — FINAL LSU 63, McNeese 14. Sam Leavitt three TDs. Tiger Stadium.
- Sat 10 LSU at Kentucky, 6:00 CT, ESPN.
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 17 LSU vs Mississippi State, Tiger Stadium, Homecoming, early window (kickoff TBA).
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 24 LSU at Auburn, 11:00 CT, Jordan-Hare.
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar
On Saturday
Southern at Prairie View
Southern · Saturday, October 10, 2:00 CT · Panther Stadium
Southern at Prairie View
This Saturday they go to Texas — at Prairie View A&M, 2:00 CT. Arkansas–Pine Bluff took Homecoming at Mumford, 41–10. Open date the 17th, then Texas Southern the 24th and Florida A&M to close the month.
- Sat 3 — FINAL Arkansas–Pine Bluff 41, Southern 10. Homecoming at Mumford.
- Sat 10 Southern at Prairie View A&M, 2:00, Panther Stadium.
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 17 Southern — open date.
- Sat 24 Southern at Texas Southern, 2:00, Reliant Stadium.
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 31 Southern at Florida A&M, 2:00 CT, Bragg Memorial.
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar
Photos: PCN02WPS / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Scores: ESPN LSU–McNeese, ESPN Southern–UAPB. Times: lsusports.net, gojagsports.com.
On the Table
Boudin Balls and Burnt Ends at City Pork Jefferson
City Pork Jefferson · 7327 Jefferson Hwy.
On the Table
Boudin Balls and Burnt Ends at City Pork Jefferson
City Pork is a smokehouse that figured out how to run a brasserie, and the Jefferson Highway room is where the share plates earn their keep. This is not white-tablecloth theater. It is a place that takes a pig seriously and makes you glad someone does.
Start with the boudin balls — house boudin, remoulade, pickled onions and jalapeños, the pickle doing the work of cutting the richness before it gets heavy. Then the pork belly burnt ends, the dish that tells you whether a kitchen means it: BBQ beans, mustard greens, slaw, a bourbon glaze that could go sticky-sweet in lesser hands and doesn't here. Get the crawfish and brie queso with the fried pork rinds for the table, the wild boar flautas with smoked avocado cream if you want something with a little wild to it, and the salmon saltine — house-smoked, dill aioli, capers — for the one person at the table who wandered in wanting fish. The full entrée board loads further down the same menu; let the room talk you into it.
Two people, smoke in the air, share plates before a midweek show downtown. Patio if the weather holds. Book it on SevenRooms — Wednesdays fill fast.
City Pork Jefferson: 7327 Jefferson Hwy., Baton Rouge. Reservations (SevenRooms): sevenrooms.com/explore/cityporkbrasserie · citypork.com/city-pork-jefferson · (225) 615-8880
In the Cup
The Chocolate Cappuccino at Highland Coffees
Highland Coffees · 3350 Highland Rd.
In the Cup
The Chocolate Cappuccino at Highland Coffees
Highland Coffees has been roasting its own beans at the North Gates of LSU since 1989, which in coffee years makes it an institution and in Baton Rouge years makes it a landmark. The beans are roasted on site. The room has a courtyard. Nobody is going to rush you, and nobody is going to perform at you.
The order is the Chocolate Cappuccino — espresso, steamed milk, chocolate, pulled right and served without the seasonal-syrup circus. It is on the menu as written; order it as written. Want it cold? The iced coffee cold drip runs ten varieties a day. Either one is the correct fuel for a solo morning, a laptop hour, or the ten quiet minutes before you point the car at Highland Road and go.
Highland Coffees: 3350 Highland Rd., Baton Rouge. highlandcoffees.com · (225) 336-9773 — confirm hours week-of.
On the Town
Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martínez Open the Jazz Season
Baton Rouge · October
On the Town
Alfredo Rodríguez and Pedrito Martínez Open the Jazz Season
The Arts Council's River City Jazz Masters turns twenty this year, and it opens the season the right way: the Alfredo Rodríguez Band featuring Pedrito Martínez, Wednesday, October 7, 7:30 p.m. at the Manship Theatre. Afro-Cuban and Latin jazz, seated, in a room that was built to make it sound like it should. Rodríguez on keys, Martínez on congas and voice — two players who turn a stage into a conversation and let you eavesdrop. Tickets from $56 including fees. If you want the whole twentieth-anniversary run, the season pass is available through October 7.
Manship Theatre, 100 Lafayette St. Show: manshiptheatre.org · Tickets: manshiptheatre.my.salesforce-sites.com
Around the Month
- Wed 7 — Alfredo Rodríguez Band feat. Pedrito Martínez, Manship, 7:30 p.m. From $56.
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Fri 9 — Bachtoberfest, BRSO at the Main Library at Goodwood lawn, 7:30 p.m. GA $40 / student-child $20. brso.org
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 10 — The California Honeydrops, Chelsea's Live, 8:00 p.m., 18+. GA $35 plus fees. chelseaslive.com
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 10, 17, 24, 31 (daytime) — Corn Maze at Burden, LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, presale only. Night Maze Oct 30, 6–9 p.m. lsuagcenterbg.ticketspice.com
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 24 — Louisiana Bourbon Festival, L'Auberge, 21+. louisianabourbonfest.com
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Fri 30 / Sat 31 — Clue (1985), Manship Films, $9.50. Costume gets you free popcorn. manshiptheatre.org/comingsoon/clue
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar - Sat 31 — Louisiana Book Festival, downtown at the State Library, 9 a.m.–4 p.m., free. louisianabookfestival.org
Add to iCalGoogle Calendar
On the Wrist
The Tudor Northflag Comes Back — Thinner, with a Second Time Zone
Tudor Northflag · Hodinkee
On the Wrist
The Tudor Northflag Comes Back — Thinner, with a Second Time Zone
Tudor's first in-house watch, the 2015 North Flag, was always a little odd — a power-reserve indicator parked where it didn't need to be, on a case that ran thick. Tudor has brought it back as one word, the Northflag (ref. 9140G1A0U), and fixed the brief. Forty millimeters across, 12.7mm thick, 48.8mm lug to lug, on an integrated two-link bracelet with a T-Fit micro-adjust clasp. Black dial, yellow accents on the GMT and seconds hands — the sport color, used with restraint.
The upgrade is under the dial. Out goes the power-reserve oddball; in comes a flyer GMT via the MT5652-U, a METAS-certified Master Chronometer with a 65-hour reserve. That means a second time zone you can actually set the easy way — jump the local hour forward or back without stopping the watch — on a travel piece that is neither a Sub nor a Black Bay. Boutique-only, $5,525. For the driver who wants a tool watch with a passport and a little attitude, this is the one that isn't on every wrist yet.
Source: Hodinkee, James Stacey. The Tudor Northflag Returns With Dual Time
On the Workbench
$119.99 Oil and Filter, Through November 1
A BMW rewards the person who keeps up with it, and the shop is where that account gets settled. This month the numbers are plain.
Value Service Oil Change — $119.99. Premium synthetic BMW oil and a factory filter, parts and labor in the price. This is the small, on-time habit that keeps the big bills off your calendar. Applies to BMW models in the Value Service Program — the desk confirms your car qualifies. Through 11/1/2026.
10% Off BMW Service — up to $200. For the visit that's more than an oil change: the recommended work your car has been quietly asking for. Excludes Value Service and tires. Through 11/1/2026.
Brake Value Service. Pads and rotors done by techs who already know your VIN and don't guess. Pricing depends on the car — the desk gives you the real number before anything gets touched. No surprises after. Through 11/1/2026.
The work is done by factory-trained BMW technicians with original BMW parts, which is the whole difference between a service and a fix. Book it: brianharrisbmw.com/service-offers · Service (225) 497-1953.
12336 Airline Hwy, Baton Rouge · (225) 497-1953
