After months of renovations and a significant rebrand, the former JED’s Local Louisiana Po Boys is poised to reopen in a few weeks simply as JED’s Local.
Located in the Capital Heights neighborhood of Baton Rouge, the restaurant had built up quite the reputation for its hefty and creative po-boy menu. About a year after opening, customer feedback compelled owners Russell and Sally Davis to start offering table service instead of counter service. Over time, the restaurant began experimenting with plated dishes. The responses to those changes were positive, and the decision was made to fully pivot away from the fast-casual concept. The restaurant closed for three months for a rebrand, renovations, and a reworking of the menu.
Russel Davis told What Now New Orleans that all of the changes have been completely driven by customer feedback.
“We’re a neighborhood restaurant and that’s a big part of who we are,” he said. “Our neighbors wanted us to stay casual, but make things a little bit more comfortable and offer a few more on the food menu and the bar side.”
For the new JED’s, a few of the less popular po-boys were dropped in favor of starters, salads and main dishes. JED’s Local will also open with an expanded bar menu that includes new cocktails, wines, and beer. Those drinks are served at a refurbished bar, which is just one of several upgrades. The modern, post-industrial space has been softened significantly with the addition of country home décor touches and a springtime color palette. Banquette seating gives the space a much cozier feel than the hard chairs and tables that are typical for a fast-casual restaurant. Overall, the new JED’s Local is now much closer to being a date night or fancy lunch spot than a po-boy shop.
“If we wanted people to stay longer and have more of a full-service dining experience, we had to make things a little bit more comfortable here,” Davis said.
The Davises aren’t new to an elevated concept. Both have a strong background in fine dining, having worked at the Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group in New Orleans for years. The pivot to JED’s Local simply means leaning into that background. Russell Davis added that the evolution of JED’s is part of a greater “culinary uprising” that his city has seen in recent years.
“I think Hurricane Katrina caused it a little bit by pushing over some culinary people from New Orleans,” he said. “There are more discerning diners in Baton Rouge, and they’ve got a lot of options now. It’s made the competition a little bit stiffer, which is actually good for our industry. We have to learn more, be better, and grow. It’s also good for the dining public because they’re getting a lot more high quality options here in Baton Rouge.”
