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Baton Rouge experienced a lot of movement in the restaurant industry in 2024. Several large franchises and Louisiana-founded eateries put roots down in the Capital Region for the first time. Local favorites like Boil & Roux, Pluckers and P-Beau’s closed their doors, and a handful of local restaurants changed ownership.
Jim Urdiales, owner of Mestizo Louisiana Mexican Cuisine, celebrated 25 years in business this year. He says sales have increased since 2023 and this year was the third year in a row the restaurant had 10% growth from the previous year, mainly from catering services. While sales have increased, so have business expenses.
“I’ve never seen utilities, water, insurance, cable, the cost of everything as high as it is now,” Urdiales says. “There has been an exponential growth in the cost of doing business this year.”
In January, Mestizo raised its restaurant prices to cover the rising business costs. Urdiales says it was the largest price increase since the restaurant opened.
Mary-Brennan Sensing, owner of MJ’s Cafe, also says the increasing costs of goods this year affected her business. Though sales at the plant-based lunch spot this year were about the same as last year, Sensing says she wasn’t able to expand her menu like she wanted due to the price of ingredients.
Urdiales says another challenge Mestizo faced this year was credit card processing fees. When he first opened 25 years ago, he says roughly 40% of transactions were made with credit cards. Now nearly 95% of transactions are paid with cards. Moving forward, Urdiales plans to monitor how other local restaurants are navigating the credit card processing fees, and may introduce incentives for customers who pay with cash.
Sensing says social media presence is something she has been struggling with and wants to improve next year to market her business. Since first taking over MJ’s Cafe in 2017, social media hasn’t been a high priority, but now she feels it is necessary to expand her business’s reach.
