First Look: Legendary Louisiana restaurant Drago’s reopens in Perkins Rowe

“It’s not often that you get to make a first impression twice,” says Drago’s Seafood Restaurant owner Tommy Cvitanovich. After a five-year run on Constitution Avenue, the storied restaurant reopened in Perkins Rowe Sept. 2. “Now we have that unique, distinct opportunity.”

Tonight from 6-9 p.m., Drago’s will host Rockin’ Dopsie in the Square, an outdoor concert immediately outside its front door in the Perkins Rowe Town Square. It will likely be the first of numerous sponsored concerts, Cvitanovich says. The restaurant is located at 10111 Perkins Rowe, Building C, Suite 100, in the spot once occupied by Kona Grill.

Founded in Metairie in 1969, Drago’s is one of south Louisiana’s most legendary seafood restaurant brands, best known as the originator of chargrilled oysters, which it developed in the nineties. Like its other five locations, Drago’s new Baton Rouge digs features a grill in full view, where entering diners can watch the signature dish come to life under butter garlic sauce-induced flames.

The recently renovated eatery features a large, covered patio, classic décor, an expansive bar area and plenty of TVs for sports fans. Along with lunch and dinner, the restaurant will also offer a breakfast menu as well as a coffee counter serving PJ’s Coffee, grab-and-go breakfast sandwiches and freshly made beignets.

Drago’s opened its first Capital City outpost in early 2020 on Constitution Avenue. The company “put a lot of money and work” into the highly visible location, Cvitanovich says. But then the world changed.

“Three weeks after we opened, we got smashed with the COVID shutdown,” he says. “After that, we got hit with the economy, which was sluggish, to say the least.”

The restaurant chugged along for five years, Cvitanovich says, but when the opportunity to get bought out of the lease came along, Drago’s jumped on it. The freestanding spot is now home to sports simulation sports bar Loft 18.

While searching for a new Baton Rouge property, Cvitanovich said he took a fresh look at Perkins Rowe, which he’d rejected several years ago in favor of the College Drive corridor. The pandemic had changed the calculus for restaurant success, he says, now making the Perkins Rowe location a better fit for Drago’s culture. It offered a smaller, but still ample footprint, and it wasn’t dependent on hotel occupancy, which has seen a decline in business travel, he says. Moreover, it offered an inviting outdoor patio.

“We’re here now, and we’re very happy about it,” he says. “I love the way the renovations came out. It’s a whole new part of town, and a new lake to fish in. So, it’s up to us to make that first impression again.”

The menu remains the same, anchored by its wildly popular chargrilled oysters, bivalves on the half shell doused in signature butter garlic sauce, and a generous shower of parmesan and Romano cheeses. A big part of the dining experience when ordering the dish is sopping up the remaining juice with slices of fresh French bread. Here, it’s sourced from the Red Stick’s own St. Bruno Bread Co. 

“I’m trying to use as much local as I can,” Cvitanovich says. “If I can incorporate Baton Rouge into Drago’s, I’m gonna do it.”

Drago’s sells 6 million oysters at all its locations, which include Metairie, the Hilton New Orleans, Lake Charles, Bossier City, Jackson, Mississippi and Baton Rouge. The dish has been mimicked by countless other restaurants in New Orleans, the Capital Region and beyond.

Cvitanovich’s parents and restaurant founders, Drago (pronounced drah-go) and Klara Cvitanovich, were Croatian emigrants who moved to New Orleans after World War II. They joined a substantial Croatian population in south Louisiana, who were first drawn to the state in the mid-19^th century to work in its fishing and oystering industries. Croatian oystermen brought pioneering techniques with them, including dredging with large rakes, as well as returning seed oysters to the water to help conserve the population.

Three of Cvitanovich’s adult children, Josh, Carson and Callie, will work at the Baton Rouge restaurant.

Along with its signature starter, the menu features a big variety of Creole- and Cajun-influenced dishes. Seafood pasta is a big seller, Cvitanovich says. Steaks are also popular. Don’t miss the boudin balls, he adds, now made by a Baton Rouge-based vendor that Cvitanovich wouldn’t reveal. They will soon be available for retail under Drago’s private label.

“It’s a delicious boudin ball, that will make the Cajuns very happy,” he says.

Drago’s is at 10111 Perkins Rowe, Building C, Suite 100. The eatery is open Monday-Wednesday from 3-9 p.m., Thursday from 3-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday from noon-10 p.m. and Sunday from noon-9 p.m.