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Since Juban’s Restaurant opened in 1984, Miriam Juban has witnessed all sorts of changes in dining out. The two-martini lunch is dead, and so is the afternoon-long ladies’ lunch—both casualties of the state’s economy tanking in the 1980s.

More than ever, diners arrive in separate vehicles, making large parking lots necessary evils. Attire has relaxed dramatically. Business lunches are big. And everyone has less disposable time.

“I’ve seen a real change in the way people approach their daily habits,” Juban says. “Time dictates eating choices more than money.”

Juban and her former husband, Glynn, got the idea to open their own restaurant after years of living on the road. Back home in Baton Rouge, Glynn apprenticed under restaurateur Mike Anderson and then built Juban’s adjacent to an existing strip shopping center owned by his family on Perkins Road. It was one of the first local restaurants to set up shop in a strip mall, Juban says.

RESTAURANT REDUX: Though restaurants like Spanish Moon Café (left) and Ralph and Kacoo’s (right) have changed ownership, interiors and menus, the establishments themselves are still Baton Rouge fixtures.

Run by Miriam Juban and her sister-in-law, Carol, the restaurant has thrived in the same spot since and has been a barometer for the city’s changing tastes over the past 25 years. It carved out a new category of local dining between formal establishments such as the now-closed Chalet Brandt and enduring fry houses Don’s, Ralph and Kacoo’s and Mike Anderson’s. It added a wine cellar to keep up with the growing interest in wine. And it’s seized an exploding special events market by adding meeting and reception space.

Juban’s has also benefited from a generally robust restaurant market. In March, there were 2,051 establishments in the greater Baton Rouge area earning annual revenues of $978 million and employing nearly 26,000 people, according to the Louisiana Restaurant Association.

“It’s one of the few growing markets in Louisiana,” says Tom Weatherly, LRA senior vice president. “When we get calls from people wanting to come into the state, they’re very hot to get into Baton Rouge.”

In most cases, says Weatherly, those calls come from chain restaurants, which find Baton Rouge a good fit because of its location on Interstate 10, the main artery for coast-to-coast deliveries. There is also an available labor pool of college students. Chains dominate new developments such as Perkins Rowe, Towne Center at Cedar Lodge and their environs.

Weatherly argues this bodes well for Baton Rouge. “It’s a good sign when chain restaurants want to come into your area. They’re betting on the strength of your economy over the next 10 years,” he says.

The downside, Juban says, is chains don’t hire many homegrown chefs and sous chefs, since their kitchens require fewer trained staff. They’re not likely to use local food and produce purveyors since their menus rarely deviate, she says.

Marlyn Moore of Don’s Seafood and Steak House has watched the change from her family business on Airline Highway.

“You don’t see a lot of independent restaurants opening,” she says. “Chain restaurants’ buying power is better.”

“It’s a challenge for independent restaurants,” Weatherly agrees. “They’ve always had to be savvy because it’s such a competitive industry. The profit margins are only around 5 to 6%.”

SIGNS OF THE TIMES: Built to house The Cock of the Walk, a franchise known for its catfish and country-style menu, the Bluebonnet Boulevard restaurant eventually became Mulate’s and is now Boutin’s.

Weatherly says Baton Rouge has a restaurant culture that’s different from places like Lafayette or New Orleans, and it’s not always easy to predict what will work. “It’s an interesting market, he says, “It’s like a blend of South Louisiana and the rest of the country.”

Nearly 50 years old, Don’s has navigated stormy waters, Moore says, including “Catholics being allowed to eat meat on Fridays and the interstate.”

Moore’s uncle, Don Landry, launched the first Don’s in Lafayette in 1934. The Baton Rouge location opened in 1958. Moore has watched commerce and traffic along Airline slow over the years and the neighborhood around Don’s decline, but it hasn’t deterred the family business.

“We’ve never looked at moving,” Moore says. “We’ve looked at adding other locations, but not at moving.”

Dinners are slow today at Don’s, but its lunch and after-church business thrives. Moore’s customers, many third generation, come from Baker, Zachary and Central. The Airline location is one of eight in the state, with the newest in Denham Springs.

Weatherly says the growth trend isn’t slowing down.

“On the whole, Baton Rouge will continue to gain population and gain restaurants over the next 10 years.”