A $1 million renovation of Copeland’s has been completed, a move that will turn the Essen Lane restaurant into a prototype for the franchise. The remodeling promotes the New Orleans roots of the Cajun-Creole restaurant, with wrought iron, gas lanterns and fleur de lis serving as decorations, says Al Copeland Jr., chairman of Al Copeland Investments. “We want to display more of a New Orleans flavor,” Copeland says. The remodeling reduced the size of the restaurant’s bar, giving it more of a pub feel, and added about 12 seats. Copeland says it was time to remodel the Baton Rouge restaurant, which had been open since 1994. “If you invest in the business, the loyal guests will come back more often,” he says. “You always gotta invest in the business.”
While many casual dining chains have run into hard times because of the national recession, Copeland’s has set an aggressive expansion policy. The company, which has 20 Copeland’s locations and five Copeland’s Cheesecake Bistro locations, has a goal to sell 14 new restaurants to franchisees this year. “We feel really, really good we will make that goal,” Copeland says. What makes Copeland’s different from other grill-and-bar chains is the menu. “You can get a burger anywhere. You can get a steak anywhere,” Copeland says. “But something authentic, like a creole or an etouffee, you can’t get that anywhere.”—Timothy Boone
