Beausoleil has reopened with a new look: a bright, contemporary interior and spacious patio – 225 Baton Rouge

Beausoleil has been a Baton Rouge staple for years. New owner and local restaurateur Stephen Hightower wasnt going to let that change.

When the restaurant closed for several months this summer and Hightower took ownership, his City Group Hospitality team quickly got to work. And when it reopened last week, diners got their first glimpse of the reimagined restaurant.

City Group renovated the inside and expanded the patio area along the right side of the buildings exterior. They renamed the restaurant Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine and reinvented the menu to match. While many of the original beloved menu items are still served, Hightower and his team decided to focus more on seafood.

Coastal cuisine allows you to work with a lot of food, Hightower says, from the French coast to the Italian coast to our coast.

At the raw bar, that includes crudo, oyster shooters and a Seacuterie Board of smoked fish and fresh sashimi. Elsewhere on the menu, youll find truffle-fried oysters, a lobster roll, a fried flounder sandwich, and entrees like a hearty cioppino accented with squid ink linguine and fennel cream sauce. For the meat lovers, dont pass up the Beausoleil Burger with caramelized onion jam or the bone-in butter-cured ribeye entree with foie gras and black garlic compound butter.

And in the spirit of its other projects like City Pork and Rouj Creole, City Group has revamped the restaurants interior with a design thats at once polished and fresh.

We figured wed put our City Group Hospitality spin on things, Hightower says. We just wanted to give it a fresh new look.

The first noticeable change is the spaces brightness. The rooms have been painted white to allow natural light to bounce off the walls. Chairs and booths have also been upholstered with a fresh green color to up the vibrance of the rooms.

The most eye-catching feature, however, is the raw bar. Located to the right of the entrancewhere the restaurants original, compact bar area once wasthe colorful, airy space greets diners as soon as they arrive. It has been opened up to offer more bar seating and a glass window providing a view of the oyster prep. It offers a bit of entertainment to anyone seated at the bar, and its metallic finishes, globe pendant lights and green-tiled countertop help modernize the space.

Local artist Ellen Ogden custom-painted much of the art in the restaurant, including a mural of pearlescent oysters and paintings inspired by Louisianas pre-pandemic festivals.

Keeping with this theme, Cajun cooking memorabilia and decor cover the walls, including antique dinnerware and vintage-style art.

The new patio is fenced in and offers a nice, quiet space to dine with elegant, white-tablecloth-dressed tables, wicker chairs and a large umbrella for shade.

It was a natural move, especially with the pandemic, Hightower says of the outdoor seating. It gives people a comfortable, safe space.

Beausoleil may have a new look, but the atmosphere of community and tradition is still the same.

Beausoleil is at 7731 Jefferson Highway and is open Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; and Sunday, 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m.

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Beausoleil has reopened with a new look: a bright, contemporary interior and spacious patio - 225 Baton Rouge