Restaurateur Louis DeAngelo has opened his seventh Louis DeAngelo’s Casual Italian Dining restaurant in the Baton Rouge area, in addition to a new restaurant concept and wine bar in the II City Plaza office building downtown. His latest namesake restaurant is located in Central, at 9952 Sullivan Road. DeAngelo describes his new restaurant concept—Zolia—as “a little bit more of an upscale Italian bistro” with a “completely different” menu than what customers are used to seeing at his popular pizzerias. Zolia is about 2,400 square feet in size, with access to the portico between City Plaza and II City Plaza. It’s serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, with hours from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday. DeAngelo partnered with II City Plaza developer Mike Wampold on the restaurant, and says he’s had the concept on the drawing board for about five years. “I really wanted to do something creative and different, at a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch and dinner,” DeAngelo says. “II City Plaza made the most sense for the location because the concept really appeals to more of a business crowd, as opposed to the families we serve at our traditional restaurants.” DeAngelo opened the Central restaurant the week before Christmas, and Zolia the week between Christmas and Jan. 1. Check out the Zolia website here for more information and a full menu. —Steve Sanoski
DeAngelo opens new pizzeria, bistro
