In the roughly two months since New York Bagel Company opened its third Baton Rouge location in an unconventional location—inside the Price LeBlanc complex on Airline Highway—owner Jay Gomez has adjusted to the nuances of operating a restaurant at an auto dealership.
“The biggest difference is we don’t have a normal lunch rush here,” Gomez says. “Customers come in as they’re getting their car serviced and employees come in on their breaks, so it’s kind of a steady, all-day business as opposed to the other restaurants, where we get a big breakfast and lunch rush.”
Gomez says he wasn’t particularly looking to open another Baton Rouge restaurant when the dealership approached him last year about taking over the roughly 1,800-square-foot location in the dealership from Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
“Mr. LeBlanc gave us a pretty good deal, and we couldn’t pass it up,” he says.
About 800 customers and workers are at the dealership on any given day, Gomez says, which provides for “a pretty good traffic flow.” Nonetheless, Gomez is working on finalizing a plan to begin delivery service to nearby Woman’s Hospital, which should lead to a considerable uptick in sales.
Delivery is a new venture for New York Bagel Company, which does not offer delivery from its locations on Lee Drive and Perkins Road. Gomez says he hopes to have the service rolling sometime next month.
Gomez opened his first restaurant on at 257 Lee Drive in 1996 and followed up with a second location at 8342 Perkins Road in 2014. The restaurant inside the dealership at 13200 Airline Highway offers the same menu and operating hours as the other locations, except it is closed on Sunday along with the dealership.
As for further expansion plans, Gomez says he’s got his sights set on the Lafayette market, which would mark his first restaurant outside of Baton Rouge.
“We’re early, early in the process,” he says. “I’m trying to find a spot right now and hammer out a lease.”
—Steve Sanoski
