If you’ve driven around Baton Rouge lately, it may not come as a surprise that the local market is one of the fastest growing in the country for quick service restaurants. QSR magazine, an industry trade publication, recently listed Baton Rouge as one of its top 15 small cities for growth in the sector in 2017.
QSR restaurants are those like Raising Cane’s or Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes, which do not offer table service but prepare food made-to-order. Burger King and McDonald’s, by comparison, are categorized as fast food restaurants, which have sandwiches and meals ready to go before customers order.
For local restaurants that fall under the QSR category, the magazine ranking didn’t come as much of a surprise. Local Mooyah franchisee Chuck Kerr says his Siegen Lane location, which opened in 2013, was the highest-grossing Mooyah outlet in the nation during its first two years in operation, and is still among the chain’s top locations.
He believes there are several reasons Baton Rouge ranks as a top market for development: It’s growing, has an affluent population and is home to the state’s flagship university.
“Baton Rouge is a rapidly growing market,” says Kerr, who is opening his second Mooyah location on Lee Drive near the LSU campus later this spring. “People in south Louisiana love good food and we’ve been able to deliver.”
In its ranking of best cities for development, QSR magazine ranked Baton Rouge 11th out of 15 small cities. It cited the market’s projected 3.5% population growth over the next five years and estimated 7% growth in QSR traffic during the same period as two key factors behind its ranking.
While the local market is attractive for development, a shortage of available real estate may be holding it back from even more growth. One QSR restaurant company, the Athens, Georgia-based Your Pie pizza chain, was scheduled to develop its first Louisiana location in Baton Rouge sometime this summer. However, the Your Pie franchisee who has rights to develop in south Louisiana decided to open first restaurant in Houma, where it was easier to find a good location, says Your Pie Director of Development Ken Caldwell.
“We wanted to open in Baton Rouge first,” Caldwell says. “But he found real estate he liked better in Houma. I think the real estate in Baton Rouge has been a little bit of a challenge.”
Caldwell says the chain still plans to come to the Capital Region, though it will likely not be until 2018.
—Stephanie Riegel
