Students miles away from mom’s home cooking will be able to get their homestyle culinary fix by visiting Leroy’s, a new restaurant opening in April, said Stephen Hightower, owner of Frankie’s Dawg House and Leroy’s.
Hightower and business partner Brian Reames came up with the idea to bring back simple meals many enjoyed growing up, choosing to place the restaurant near campus at the former home of The Purple Goose located on Nicholson Drive near Southgate Towers.
The restaurant will specialize in simple homestyle dishes, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Patrons will be able to enjoy foods such as meatloaf, chicken pot pie, mashed potatoes and many specialty dishes.
“Basically we’re trying to bring the comforts of home or that memorable meal that you had with your family, where you can always come get that with us,” Hightower said. “We’ve always thought that there was a need to bring these foods back to people’s realm, and actually they’re getting popular around the nation – the whole good ol’ style comfort food is coming back.”
The concept is reflected in the restaurant’s slogan, “Simply Good Eats and Drinks.”
Hightower’s grandfather, Leroy, inspired the restaurant’s name and concept.
“I spent my childhood enjoying these favorites that he used to prepare for us,” Hightower said.
Leroy’s menu will center on a special seasoning called “the shake,” Hightower said, which will feature shaking the seasonings in a bag to then flavor the chicken.
“We want to be known as the best fried chicken in town – old school bone-in fried chicken,” Hightower said.
Beignets will be served and also get a fair share of shaking, from powdered sugar to flavored fruit toppings.
Hightower said he is bringing two concepts to Baton Rouge that are totally new to the area – poutine specialty cheese fries and beer shakes.
The beer shakes will feature various beers paired with ice cream and other toppings, and the poutine cheese fries will have gravy and melted cheese on french fries, Hightower said.
Michael Weber, general studies senior, said he has been working for Hightower for around five years and will be a manager at Leroy’s.
Weber mirrored Hightower’s excitement about the menu items the restaurant is bringing to the campus area.
“It’s something that [Baton Rouge doesn’t] have around in that area. We’re bringing different kinds of concepts over that nobody else has.”
Weber said aside from the allure of the good food, the restaurant’s bar will serve as a destination for students to relax and take a break from the crowded bars around Tigerland.
“Everybody is going to be able to come sit down, have some good music playing, enjoy it and have some good company around them,” he said.
“Basically we’re trying to bring the comforts of home or that memorable meal that you had with your family, where you can always come get that with us.”
