There’s a good chance you’ve been fed by City Group Hospitality and Byronz Restaurant Family

Back in 2017, Baton Rouge businessman Patrick Valluzzo purchased City Pork’s two locations: its original deli under the Perkins Road Overpass and a larger full-service concept on Jefferson Highway.

But it wasn’t just about picking up two restaurants.

Valluzzo saw an opportunity to create a restaurant group that could help propel the Capital City’s food scene with new concepts.

“There were 35 employees then,” recalls Valluzzo, City Group Hospitality president and CEO.

Today, the company has grown to seven concepts operating out of 13 locations with more than 400 employees, he says.

The backbone brand remains City Pork, an artisan pork eatery still located on Jefferson Highway and now also at Highland and Perkins roads. It has been joined by Proverbial Wine Bistro, seafood-centric Beausoleil Coastal Cuisine, family-friendly diner Spoke & Hub, City Slice Pints + Pizza, and Rouj Creole, which highlights Louisiana’s foodways. The restaurants are scattered throughout East Baton Rouge Parish and include fast-casual locations on the LSU campus and the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.

“We envisioned a multi-concept organization that would offer different things,” Valluzzo says. “Some are more culinarily advanced, and others are more relatable. It’s a mix of both.”

Similarly, Byronz Restaurant Family grew from a single sandwich shop to a trio of concepts—Brasserie Byronz, Bistro Byronz and Pizza Byronz—whose menus and design channel a “Frenchie American” throughline.

Emelie Kantrow Alton, her father Mike Kantrow and other family members opened Bistro Byronz on Government Street in 2005. It was sparked, in part, by a popular sandwich shop the family ran in the late ’70s and ’80s.

“That brand had a very positive feeling about it,” Kantrow says. “So many people who are now professionals across town worked for us and people remembered the menu.”

The new iteration of the sandwich shop—a full-service, French-inspired eatery—drew fans for its bistro menu, which included the original Byronz sandwich, a warmed stack of ham, salami, Canadian bacon, cheese, black olives, lettuce and tomato with a tangy sauce on a homemade bun. Bistro Byronz also added top sellers: pot roast with garlic mashed potatoes and green beans, steak frites and homey “back of the stove” chicken. Signature homemade potato chips served with blue cheese sauce also became a staple.

The family opened another Bistro Byronz in Willow Grove in 2015, and two years later, a new concept in the same development called Flambee Café. It rebranded to Pizza Byronz in 2020. Meanwhile, Bistro Byronz Mid City relocated from its aging building to a newer location on Government Street, in the former White Star Market, in late 2021.

In recent years, the groups have focused on reinvention and modernization over expansion as a means to move the needle in a flourishing culinary scene they helped create.

For the Byronz team, that’s looked like transforming its Mid City location into Brasserie Byronz in 2024, a grown-up version of the bistro with moodier décor, upgraded riffs on familiar dishes and a broader cocktail program.

Alton says the restaurants have aimed to appeal to different cravings, all delivered in the same European sidewalk café atmosphere.

“We’ve got three different concepts,” Alton says. “And they’re all intended to be honest and accessible.”

For City Group Hospitality, Valuzzo says the phone still rings regularly with new opportunities. But the current focus is to double down on excellence.

All menus were updated this year. Staff were retrained. And earlier this fall, City Slice relocated to Nicholson Drive from West Chimes Street.

Valluzzo says City Group has had a front-row seat to the Capital Region’s dining evolution.

“Baton Rouge has been through a huge renaissance with food,” Valluzzo says. “But I don’t think we’ve arrived yet. We still have a lot of opportunity.”

This article was originally published in the November 2025 issue of 225 Magazine.