re: Anything new on Fleur de Lis re-opening?

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Sell the same exact pizza at the same exact location, but call it by any other name, and the business will fail.

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I completely disagree.

I loved that pizza. It was unique. I get that it's not something everyone would love. Someone here complained about the canned mushrooms. I loved that.

To each their own.

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A dumpy place selling mediocre pizza from the original owner recipes is going to fail.

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but it didn’t fail. It was open for 75 years

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It’s pizza. It’s not rocket science. Make a great product at a great price and customers will come.

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there’s already too many generic pizza places. They fail constantly, like all the time. FDL was different and being different made it successful.

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The old lady was bitching and moaning on social media about no one wanting to work (for her) anymore

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Exhibit A of a food board Fleur de Lis hater. This guy comes out of the woodwork, like clockwork, to bitch every time someone mentions Fleur de Lis.

What’s it to you if other people like Fleur de Lis, and want it to come back? Your hatred of the place is a head-scratcher.

It’s been purchased by a well known, completely different, Baton Rouge restaurateur at this point. The issue about bitchy owners is dead, so you can be released from that trauma.

If you hate the place so much, I would suggest you not go to the restaurant if it reopens, let those that want to be there enjoy it, and we will all be happy, right?

There are plenty of people off of this board who will welcome the ability to have an old favorite back again.

I wish the new owners plenty of luck, hope they can eventually work through the issues at hand, and get the place open again.

I do think they will probably have to raze the old place and build a new restaurant to overcome code issues.

I think if you spend a couple of million dollars on intellectual property, recipes and physical location, you will definitely not piss all that away (if reopening is even remotely possible).

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There are plenty of people off of this board who will welcome the ability to have an old favorite back again.

I wish the new owners plenty of luck, hope they can eventually work through the issues at hand, and get the place open again.

I do think they will probably have to raze the old place and build a new restaurant to overcome code issues.

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It would be great to have Fleur de Lis back open. I enjoyed the place for years and it was a place with true character and pizza that many enjoyed (save a few).

Not knowing the details, I'm surprised they can't simply incorporate most of the shell, particularly the front, and do an addition for modern ADA bathrooms. Perhaps the kitchen may also need upgrades. I've seen this done in other old spots. It won't necessarily be cheap, but I think anyone buying this business knew all the issues and budget going in. Idle investment is money not making a return. If they view it as a sunk cost now, we might just see condos.

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Did you understand the part where I stated that I offered what they were asking 15 years ago

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If you offered what they were asking, what was their stated reason for declining?

Did you read my post? They weren’t asking, nor was it actively for sale. It was an message about a conversation passed through a friend.

the new owners got a screaming deal on the property but, as has been confirmed via business report and word on the street, the building is in such bad shape that it needed a full structural overhaul in addition to the interior renovation. Kitchen and building systems also need full replacement.

This is not a minor undertaking and with interest rates the way they are for construction loans the project becomes unfeasible. They were (and are) committed to reopening FDL but that along with a change in the ownership group has killed it for now, and maybe for good.

Right now they have the debt on a very valuable piece of property and are out some design fees and engineering. They can wait and hope that the money part becomes more tenable in the future. It would most definitely be cheaper to knock it down and start over but that would put a dent in the built in customer loyalty part of this. BR wants FDL back but they don’t want it looking and feeling like an applebees

I seem to know

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A new clean place that serves the same food would be an plus.

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a brand new restaurant (at this point) is really the only option unless money is no object . But it’s not the option the new owners had in mind. I suspect the architect they hired was in over their heads and gave them bad info at the beginning and here’s where that got them. Any competent contractor would have told them either plan on knocking it down or don’t buy it

oh well

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I don't think people care.

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I certainly don't care about the old building

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A new clean place that serves the same food would be an plus.

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I agree with this. IMO a new "retro style" building with pink stucco and a neon sign would be more than enough to give it a nostalgic feel.