The owners of Izzo’s Illegal Burrito are in a “holding pattern” at the company’s Corporate Boulevard location after a contractor, hired to remodel the building’s interior, found in November that the exterior insulation and finish system, or eifs, was failing.
Co-owner Ozzie Fernandez says they are waiting on landlord Tommy Spinosa to fix the building’s structural issues before they can move forward with the interior work.
“It’s taken us longer than anticipated,” Fernandez says of the renovations. The restaurant closed Nov. 12.
The building at 6220 Corporate Blvd. is getting old, Fernandez says, so the owners decided to freshen up the interior with new lighting patterns, wall finishes, new equipment and sneeze guards as well as make other repairs.
Fernandez says when all the interior and exterior work is complete, the location will essentially be a new restaurant. He adds they hope to reopen in June.
The Corporate Boulevard store is the latest Izzo’s location to undergo remodeling. Fernandez says the Burbank Drive store was remodeled a few years ago, the Covington store is undergoing work right now, and work should begin on the Lake Charles store this week.
Izzo’s Illegal Burrito was founded in Baton Rouge in 2001 by Fernandez and Gary Kovacs, with its first store located at the south gates of LSU’s campus. It has since grown to 17 stores in Louisiana and Mississippi.
On Friday, Izzo’s announced it’s creating a new fast-casual concept called Lit Pizza, where patrons will be able to build their own pies. The first location will open this summer in the space formerly occupied by Zocalisa Fine Chocolates and Gelato at 3930 Burbank Dr. in the Southgate Shopping Center.
—Ryan Broussard
