Popular restaurant Le Creolé will move from its current location off Highland Road to a yet unannounced spot nearby, while an Abbeville-based oyster and seafood restaurant will take its place at 18135 E. Petroleum Drive.
Wayne Stabiler, owner of Le Creolé and several other area restaurants, says he can’t disclose where exactly the restaurant will be moving because the deal has yet to be finalized, but adds “it won’t be far from where it was.”
Taking the place of Le Creolé will be Shucks!, featuring a menu focusing on fresh Louisiana seafood and chargrilled oysters.
“They’ve been around for years and years, and they’re very popular in Abbeville,” says Stabiler, who is partnering with the owners to bring the concept to Baton Rouge. “They’ll be specializing in different chargrilled oysters and fresh—never frozen—seafood in a very casual, fun atmosphere.”
As for the opening of Shucks!, Stabiler says “it’s going to happen fast. We’ll start making the changes very soon … and it should be open by November.”
The new Le Creolé restaurant will be about half of the size of the former location, which measures about 5,000 square feet.
“We wanted to downsize it and make it more efficient,” Stabiler says of Le Creolé.
Le Creolé closed on Sunday, and Stabiler says all of its roughly 20 employees will be working at his other restaurants during the transition. They’ll resume working at the new Le Creolé location once it’s complete.
Stabiler also owns both the downtown and Airline Highway locations of The Little Village, as well as Stab’s Steak and Seafood in Central. He also owns Wayne Stabiler Catering, and is developing a new restaurant in the former Bank One building at 7666 Jefferson Hwy., which will be called Stab’s Prime Steak and Seafood.
“Construction is going to start on that restaurant in the next two weeks, but it’s going to be a longer process,” Stabiler says. “That’s probably eight to nine months out.”
—Steve Sanoski
