The former location of a popular Baton Rouge restaurant may soon be back in business with a familiar name.
Plans are in the works for Zee Zee’s, a neighborhood bar and restaurant that would open in what used to be the George’s restaurant under the Perkins Road overpass, which closed in 2020. The name is a nod to Zee Zee Gardens, another neighborhood mainstay that’s now closed.
“Bringing back a local classic,” says Aaron “Mugsy” Saulnier, the former owner of Bogie’s Bar, in a social media post seeking bartenders, barbacks and servers. An opening date has not been announced.
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Stuart Osborn, one of Saulnier’s partners in the effort, says by text that they are bringing in a “great local chef to bring back this Baton Rouge neighborhood classic.”
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“Paying respect to what Zee Zee Gardens was (with blessings from those involved with its original location) but with a modern, reinvented twist,” he adds.
Benjamin Stalter, a partner with Maestri-Murrell Commercial Real Estate, purchased the former George’s for $540,000 in September through his company WS Holdings LLC, though he will not be actively involved in the restaurant itself. The future of the location had been up in the air due to succession issues following the death of owner Rodney “Smokie” Bourgeois.
This story originally appeared in an Oct. 26 issue of Daily Report. To keep up with Baton Rouge business and politics, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.