While many restaurants in the Baton Rouge area remain closed, either due to flooding that began on Friday or because they simply have too many displaced employees, even those that managed to keep their doors open are struggling with staffing issues and a disrupted customer base.
Mestizo Louisiana Mexican Cuisine owner Jim Urdiales considers himself among the fortunate. His restaurant on South Acadian Thruway took in some water on Friday, but Urdiales says he quickly got it out and reopened Saturday. Still, daily business has been off about 50% since then.
The lunch crowd is virtually nonexistent, he says, but the restaurant is catching some of the dinner crowd.
“I think I’m luckier than most because I’m right here,” Urdiales says, adding he’s running the restaurant with a skeleton crew due to displaced employees.
Despite his challenges, Urdiales says he can’t help but think about how much worse off his fellow restaurateurs are in places like Denham Springs, where officials say roughly 70% of properties took on water—including the many restaurants along Range Avenue and in the Juban Crossing development. It could take six months to a year before those restaurants are fully back up and in operation, he estimates.
“It’s just going to be a slow building process,” Urdiales says.
Local restaurants and other businesses have been letting people know they’re open with the #BRopen hashtag on Twitter. Ruffino’s on Highland Road hopes to join them today, says co-owner Peter Sclafani. Nearby road closures at Highland Road and Airline Highway have severely impacted his business, which is near Bayou Manchac and Ward’s Creek. The restaurant has been closed since Sunday, but did not take in any water.
Meanwhile, over at Capital City Grill in downtown Baton Rouge, general manager Y’zell Williamson says business has been slow in recent days. The restaurant, which draws from other downtown businesses, is operating with few employees available.
“The management team has been playing double duty … filling in the gaps where we can,” Williamson says.
On a typical Friday, Capital City Grill nets about $10,000. On this past Friday, receipts totaled between $3,000 and $4,000. And instead of making the typical $6,000 during Sunday brunch, the restaurant brought in about $2,000, Williamson says.
Nonetheless, Williamson says the restaurant has remained open to help provide a sense of normalcy to the staff, evacuees seeking refuge in downtown hotels and the community at large. Williamson anticipates that business will increase next week if government offices reopen.
—Alexandria Burris
