First Look: New breakfast spot The Cozy Griddle opens next week

Baton Rouge’s latest breakfast eatery, The Cozy Griddle, soft opens next week on Coursey Boulevard with a straightforward menu of breakfast favorites like eggs to order and homemade biscuits and pancakes.

Former Catholic High School football player Tarick Johnson launched the concept, drawing experience from his family’s longtime catering business, SYI, and former Main Street Market restaurant, SYI Express Café, now a food truck serving on Saturdays outside the Red Stick Farmers Market.

Johnson, 26, says it was time to open his own concept—one that served his favorite meal.

“I really love breakfast,” Johnson says. “Whenever we would travel as a family, our main focus would be to look for breakfast places. I’m just excited about bringing a different breakfast concept to the city.”

Along with pancakes (called griddle cakes), egg combos and biscuits made with the Johnsons’ family recipe, the menu will feature breakfast bowls; build-your-own omelets with seafood, meats and veggies; and breakfast sandwiches with eggs to order, cheese and a choice of meat between white, brioche or wheat bread.

Breakfast will be served all day, but lunch specials will also be on offer, including red beans and rice on Mondays.

Situated in a strip mall near Sherwood Forest Boulevard, The Cozy Griddle takes over the location recently occupied by the short-lived Breakfast Bar. Customers place orders at the counter, then grab a table or booth in the airy, relaxed space. The bright, butter-yellow walls were inspired by Johnson’s late grandmother, Jennifer Johnson, an avid cook whose favorite color was yellow.

Johnson learned to cook from Jennifer, and he picked up restaurant management skills from his father, Darryl Johnson, who founded the family’s catering business and its restaurant spinoff. SYI is short for Socially Yours Inc.

Darryl says he got into catering several years ago to raise money for his church choir.

“It took off as a business,” he says. “We did a lot of dinners, and a lot of people started asking us to do it.”

SYI eventually opened a restaurant booth at the Main Street Market, where it was known for Southern breakfasts and plate lunches. Regulars may recall the eatery’s homemade layer cakes that sat in a separate case across from its hot food line. They were made by Jennifer.

Darryl says SYI plans to return to the Main Street Market when BREADA eventually reopens its four new restaurant pods. While the Main Street Market reopened last fall after a major renovation, its restaurant bays have not yet reopened due to ongoing updates, BREADA has said.

SYI’s new concept, similar to its previous one inside the market, will be called The Soulful Spoon, and will be run by Tarick, Darryl says.

The Cozy Griddle’s soft opening will be held Wednesday, May 28, with a grand opening to follow in June. The restaurant is at 11445 Coursey Blvd., Suite C. It will be open Monday through Friday, 7 a.m.-2 p.m., and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.