Baton Rouge restaurants and bars saw business heat up this summer

Walking into a restaurant like Bistro Byronz or Elsie’s Pie and Plate this summer, one might be surprised to hear that Baton Rouge businesses usually see a dip in traffic during the hottest months of the year.

These days, the restaurants are full and vibrant with life, with servers and patrons almost bumping into one another.

Many local bars and restaurants are defying previous summertime trends and experiencing growth.

As featured in Daily Report, this follows national trends that saw sales in this sector jump 11.8% in July and 9.5% in June from a year ago. Consumers increased their spending in spite of recession concerns that hung over the economy for most of the year.

Many restaurants in the Capital Region and across the country typically see their sales dip during the summer, with decreased activity often attributed to increased heat and more frequent vacations. According to CNBC, last year’s depression in restaurant sales during May, June and July can also be attributed to higher gas prices.

Asian fusion restaurant Soji has seen its sales gradually increase over the past few years, says general manager Michael Hughes. “You never know what the next day brings,” he says. “But there’s been an overall increase in sales [since this time last year].”

Hughes attributes practices like Soji’s daily happy hour, regular specials like ladies night and a rotating summer menu as reasons for the increase since last year. He also notes the restaurant’s bar, the Lotus Lounge, staying open later than the dining side has also driven in more customers and driven up revenue.

On the other side of town on Perkins Road, Bistro Byronz’ sister restaurant, Pizza Byronz, has also bucked previous years’ trends of sporadic business during the season, though only marginally.

“It’s not a drastic increase,” says Graham Nichols, Pizza Byronz’ general manager. “Summers are usually light but this summer we are more consistent.”

But not all establishments are bucking the trend. For Mid City Beer Garden, this summer has been pretty typical in both sales and prices.

“We have limited air conditioning but we are actually looking to find solutions to keeping the outside a little cooler,” says bar manager Andrew Guffey, who says he expects the business to continue to grow and have a busy next few months as football season begins.

This story originally appeared in an Aug. 24 issue of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.