LAFAYETTE, La. — Driving through Lafayette Parish, you may have noticed a lot of your favorite local businesses shutting down, relocating, or maybe you're noticing a few new places popping up near you — but did you ever wonder why?
Chef Paul Gibson has. Owner of Gather Lafayette, a new brunch eatery opening in the former location of Scratch Kitchen on Garfield Street downtown, he tells me it's a tough business to get into.
"They have a lot of great restaurants in Lafayette, you better know what you're doing for one, you better serve great food, and you better be willing to work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to get it going," he says. Gibson, who opened Gatherback on December 15 has nearly four decades of experience under his belt. Recently however, like many others, he's noticed some major changes in the restaurant scene, such as the closure of nationally-recognized brands like Hootersand Burger King.
"Those chains are worried about the bottom line, when the bottom line dips, they close up. Local places aren't going to do that," Gibson tells me. "They're going to fight through it, we fought through COVID, fought through the recession, you know, they're here to stay so it saddens me when I see a local place, but it doesn't sadden me when I see the other guys."
While seasoned now, Gibson himself is no stranger to the struggle of a tough business to break into as he looks back in time to a place you may recognize him from.
"Bonnie Bell's Bistro," he recalls. "We were open for 10 years, then we shut down. I'm not gonna say we took a break, but decided to do other avenues and then I had a chance to open this up and I jumped on it. It was exactly what I wanted."
A dream of his, coming back to life in the form of Gather. That's where you'll find burgers and tacos, along with recipes like chicken shwarma and Korean dishes he learned to cook while serving in the Army overseas. Gibson says while it was less than a month from the day he signed the lease on the location until that December 15 opening day, it took nothing short of team work and elbow grease.
"It was just hard work and grind," Gibson tells me. "Pushing and pleading and sometimes getting on people's nerves, but it's still my dream, even though it's my second restaurant, it's still my dream. People thought I was crazy!"
Crazy. John Young, co-owner of Cafe Coachella on the Evangeline Thruway knows the feeling.
"With new things opening up, I mean food parks, food trucks, it's a real tough business for an establishment to make it right now," Young says. I first met him and his business partner Lucien Benoit two years ago when they moved the restaurantfrom Lafayette's Moss Street to the Thruway. Their goal — to build up the northside of town, "The Gateway to Acadiana" — by serving food from the soul. When I asked him whether he felt that's happening, he said no.
"We're not to the point where we're going to close down or nothing, but the best thing people could do for us right now is to come out and support," says Young. "We've done everything and been at this location two years now and people who live in Lafayette are still just finding out about us."
Young tells me their menu changes daily depending on what's in season, on sale, and what customers are requesting. When I visited, they were serving chicken and sausage gumbo with stuffed turkey wings with potato salad and green beans. Other days, you'll find things like barbecue plate lunches, smothered pork chops, and spaghetti and meatballs.
"There's nothing to offer on the northside, we tried our best to upbring the northside, but to be honest with you, we're to the point we don't know what else to do," Young says. "Everything is just a pass-by right now, you come to the northside and you just pass by."
Lafayette economic developers say this has to do with several factors, like aging infrastructure, crime, and a southern shift in population across the city over the last two decades, but they are working toward greater solutions, focusing on things like assistance and awareness of grants available for small businesses, specifically in the restaurant and retail sector.
"We are an area that is known for its local eateries and we are working feverishly, actually, with our local elected leaders, with our other economic development allies in the community, with workforce development partners, education partners, to ensure that we enhance the attractiveness of North Lafayette and really not just North Lafayette but all of our municipalities in this community," says Mandi Mitchell, CEO and President of theLafayette Economic Development Authority.
While she recognizes South Lafayette's growth, Mitchell also notes another development over the last decade or so — expansion to the north and west of the parish, such as in Carencro, Scott, and Duson. She calls these the "places to watch" for local entrepreneurs who may be looking to build or expand.
Either way, Young, a North Lafayette native, tells me he's going to continue growing where he's planted.
"The location on the Thruway was great, I still feel it's great, you know, that's why I liked the location in the first place," he says. "And that's why we stay."
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