The housing and hotel boom in downtown Baton Rouge has created an opportunity for some higher-end restaurants to open on Sunday, a day when most have historically shut their doors.
In mid-July, Stroubes Seafood and Steaks took the leap, opening on Sundays from 4 p.m to 9 p.m., and owner Eric Carnegie says so far he is extremely happy with the results.
“It’s definitely worth our while to be open,” Carnegie says.
Carnegie and his business partners had long thrown around the idea of opening on Sunday, but the modest foot traffic didn’t justify the expense. But with the explosion of new hotels, apartments and condominiums—coupled with more events—they decided to give it a try.
Before launching, the restaurateurs began promoting their new hours with a grassroots effort that involved visiting with downtown hotels multiple times and encouraging hotel staff to let guests know about the new hours.
If each hotel has about 10 to 20 rooms filled on Sunday, “they gotta eat somewhere,” Carnegie says.
They also put the word out through the Downtown Development District and other organizations.
Carnegie says the response from locals and downtown residents has been fantastic.
So far, the success of Stroubes hasn’t led to Sunday openings by other downtown restaurants, but it may do so in the future. Frederick Nonato, one of the managing partners for Tsunami Downtown, says he and his business partners are always open to making changes to benefit the restaurant.
Tsunami does open for some Sundays, but only for special occasions, Nonato adds.
Davis Rhorer, executive director of the Downtown Development District, says the opening of Stroubes and the possibility of other higher-end restaurants opening on Sundays to join restaurants that are already open, such as Schlitz and Giggles, Capital City Grill and Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar, will help strengthen the downtown market.
With 300 housing units currently under construction, the draw of more restaurants opening on Sunday combined with ongoing events and activity on nights and weekend, “downtown is becoming a 24/7 place,” Davis says.
—Ryan Broussard
