Rotolo’s Pizzeria owner Mitch Rotolo will break ground Monday on a $4 million, 16,000-square-foot commercial development at the corner of Ben Hur Road and Burbank Drive.
The development, a news release says, will be anchored by a 4,500-square-foot Rotolo’s Pizzeria that will serve as the “prototype” for the chain’s future restaurants.
“We’re getting back to what I envisioned and created at the very first location in the shadows of LSU,” Rotolo says in a prepared statement. “The new Rotolo’s Pizzeria will be a comfortable place where our customers enjoy our food and visit with family and friends. This restaurant will set the tone for the Rotolo’s brand over the next 20 years.”
The new anchor restaurant will be the fourth Baton Rouge Rotolo’s location. The chain says new interior design and branding concepts will be tested there and later applied to current and future locations.
The restaurant, which will be located in the center of the development, will have an expanded bar, booth seating with private televisions, air-conditioned patio seating and dog-friendly amenities.
Rotolo and his partners also hope the development will offer businesses the opportunity to cater to college students living along the Burbank corridor.
“This is where Rotolo’s should be,” Rotolo says. “What we’re planning will appeal to LSU students in a big way.”
Rotolo’s Pizzeria’s first location opened in 1996, just outside of LSU. The casual Italian restaurant chain now has 31 locations across Louisiana, Texas, Alabama and Florida.
Rotolo’s retail development also will consist of seven commercial/retail spaces, two of which will have drive-thru lanes. The chain says interest in the remaining retail spaces has been high, and Rotolo anticipates all leases will be finalized before the development opens in February.
The groundbreaking event is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Monday at 5829 Burbank Drive. Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden and Visit Baton Rouge President and CEO Paul Arrigo are expected to attend.
Rotolo is asking the Planning and Zoning Commission for approval of the commercial and retail development’s final development plan.
