Phil’s Oyster Bar—one of Baton Rouge’s beloved local institutions and a favorite Mid City restaurant for decades—is being recreated in the Southdowns Shopping Center on Perkins Road by the sons of the restaurant’s longtime owner, the late Gus Piazza.
Brothers Jordan and Anthony Piazza say it has long been their dream to reopen the restaurant, which for years was located on Government Street then relocated to Concord Avenue near College Drive from 2004 until its permanent closure in 2007.
“We couldn’t be more excited to bring Phil’s Oyster Bar back to Baton Rouge,” says Anthony Piazza, who will run the restaurant. “We have been planning this for years, and we look forward to serving fresh seafood to our customers in a place that our dad would be proud of.”
The brothers are spending more than $100,000 to renovate their new space, which previously housed Thai Kitchen restaurant, and hope to recreate the feel of the original Government Street location. Like the original Phil’s Oyster Bar, the new space will have a “Back Room.” It also will feature all of the popular menu items from the family’s recipes, as well as a few new items.
“The restaurant business is in our blood,” says Jordan Piazza, who will be involved in the restaurant but will keep his day job as business manager for Raising Cane’s. “We want to do this as a tribute to our dad and because we truly love the business.”
Phil’s Oyster Bar opened in the mid-1950s on Government Street as a restaurant attached to Phil Tuminello’s Seafood Market. It became a true local favorite in the mid-1970s, when former LSU football team manager Gus Piazza bought a stake in the business and took up its management. Over the years, it became known as much as a haunt for local movers and shakers as for its oyster and fried seafood fare.
To surmount the limited dining space and parking, Piazza moved Phil’s to the more spacious location at 4550 Concord Ave. in 2004. But the new location lacked the charm and ambience that made the original Phil’s a classic neighborhood joint, and in 2007 Piazza closed the restaurant after deciding to retire. He died five months later.
Coincidentally, Thai Kitchen has relocated to the building at 4550 Concord Ave., which has since 2007, housed several restaurants and, most recently, a fitness facility. The restaurant’s owners had long wanted to own their own space and acquired the building late last year. They opened in February after an extensive renovation.
—Stephanie Riegel
