Resurrected: La Bou Reopens With New Management

Premade sandwiches can be purchased at lots of stores, but Alfonso Ozuna doesn’t think La Bou should be one of them.

Ozuna and his wife are the new managers of the , and when they reopened the cafe in February, the first thing they did was bring back fresh-made pastries and sandwiches.

“You come out here to get food made to order, not premade,” Ozuna said.

He said the cafe, which closed in October, lost customers because of construction on the nearby Watt Avenue light rail overcrossing and because of the decision to make the location a “La Bou Express” without an on-site baker.

The premade food “gave La Bou a bad name,” he said.

Ozuna, who has been with La Bou for more than 20 years, previously worked as a baker in the company’s main production facility. His wife, Marisol, has managed La Bou locations in Carmichael and on Howe Avenue.

But since reopening, the Folsom Boulevard location has struggled to regain customers.

“We’re hoping to get all that business back,” Alfonso Ozuna said. “We still haven’t reached that number yet [to break even].”

He said last week was their busiest week yet, but he and his wife are still forced to work six days a week.

“We just hope that people give us another chance,” he said.

The La Bou at Watt Avenue and Folsom Boulevard is open from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. The café accepts catering orders and delivery is available for an extra charge.