2 weeks Ago
Fleur de Lis, the longtime Baton Rouge pizza restaurant, is for sale with an asking price of $4.5 million. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Plans are in the works to reopen Fleur de Lis, the landmark Baton Rouge pizza restaurant that closed more than two years ago.
The property at 5655 Government St., which includes an 1,800-square-foot building and the 1.13-acre lot it sits on, is under contract with a buyer, said Beau Box of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate.
"The plan is to bring it back as a pizza restaurant," said Box, who would not disclose the name of the potential buyer. Box said he didn't know when the sale will close, but the plan is to reopen the business as a pizza restaurant in 2025. The potential owner is working with TIEK BYDAY, a Mid City architecture firm that specializes in restoring historic buildings.
Hance Hughes, the principal architect with TIEK BYDAY, said the goal is to restore the building using state historic tax credits and bring it up to code, while making the restaurant feel like it has always been there. "We're updating something everybody loves," he said. A rezoning for the Fleur de Lis property is set to go before the city-parish Planning Commission in January.
The new owners want to rezone the building for commercial alcoholic beverage sales; Box said rezoning is needed because while Fleur de Lis was closed, the liquor license lapsed. Fleur de Lis opened in 1946, and its rectangular pies had a loyal following. The restaurant was a throwback — it didn’t accept credit cards, and the menu was limited to pizzas.
The business closed indefinitely over Fourth of July weekend in 2022, and the owners blamed the shutdown on a shortage of staffing. The husband-and-wife team, Pam and Murray Rushing, operated Fleur de Lis; Pam is the granddaughter of original owners Annie Distefano and Joseph Guercio. The restaurant, furnishings, name and recipes were originally put up for sale in March 2023 with an asking price of $4.
5 million. Box took over the listing for the building in September and lowered the asking price to $1.1 million.
There was a lot of interest in the location, he said..
