Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe is a third-generation Creole soul food restaurant located in the historic Treme neighborhood of New Orleans—the oldest African American neighborhood in the United States. The Baquet family, who owns and operates Li’l Dizzy’s, has a rich culinary history that dates back to the 1940s, starting with Edward “Eddie” Baquet Sr., the first generation and namesake of the legendary Eddie’s restaurant that fed the city’s 7th ward before closing in 1996.
The family operated different ventures in the years that followed until the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to close. But in 2021, Eddie’s grandson Wayne Baquet Jr. and his wife Arkesha Baquet opted to keep the legacy alive by opening Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe. Family and history are deeply embedded into the fabric of the restaurant.
It’s named after Wayne’s son, Zachary Baquet, who was nicknamed ‘Li’l Dizzy’ by his band director because his cheeks inflated like Dizzy Gillespie when he played the trumpet in high school. The couple’s sons, Jace and Gene, work at the restaurant. Jace works every Saturday while Gene helps out when he comes home from college during the summers. Family recipes that have been gathered over generations are used to prepare the food and a few are even compiled in the Baquet Family Cookbook that’s sold by the restaurant.
Every single aspect of family and history was carefully considered as the business chose a point-of-sale system that could carry its legacy forward. The award-winning restaurant ultimately chose Square.
How it started: Modernizing operations to strengthen community engagement
When Li’l Dizzy’s opened, the team needed to modernize operations while staying true to its deeply rooted heritage. Previous restaurants were on legacy systems, and a post-COVID world required a different setup. They were looking for a flexible, easy-to-use point-of-sale system that could support the team in-house and on-the-go. For instance, the Baquet Family has had a presence at a variety of New Orleans festivals for over 40 years through their myriad of restaurants, and they craved tools that allowed them to take payments wherever they did business.
They also needed tools that allowed them to offer counter service while also enabling staff to take tableside payments if needed. Like most business owners, the team shopped around but the process with other systems was too involved or proved unsatisfactory. The team ultimately came across Square because they knew other business owners who used the tools.
The fact that we knew people who used Square really resonated with us. For instance, my child’s barber uses Square, the hairdresser uses Square, the snowball stand uses Square. We were coming across Square in our everyday lives [and that stood out].”
Arkesha Baquet → co-owner of Li'l Dizzy's Cafe
How it’s going: Streamlined service with community at the center
The restaurant initially invested in Square Register and Square Terminal, eventually branching out into other tools like Square Online Store and Square Invoices, the latter being a notable touchpoint for customers beyond the walls of the restaurant. When Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe is catering an event, Baquet and members of her staff can easily process and access invoices directly from their phones, creating a seamless experience. “I’m able to handle invoices from my phone very quickly with Square, and that’s a big convenience,” Bauqet said.
Another point of convenience for the business is setting up to-go stations within the restaurant leveraging Square Register, a must considering the volume of to-go orders being just as high as dine-in orders. With multiple registers and multiple terminals, Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe can prioritize customer convenience and satisfaction. But the team has also been able to prioritize their own convenience with Square.
When Jazz Festival went cashless in 2023, the team was finally able to leverage the same tools that they use in-house. “The first year that Jazz Fest went cashless, we finally got to use our own tools, and I was able to have my Square Terminal. I didn’t have to go buy anything new. I already had what I needed,” Baquet said. Being able to use the same tools that are used in-house simplifies the business’s ability to track trends and overall performance year-over-year to help establish projections and plans for the following year.
“For events like Jazz Fest, we’re using our Square reports and reviewing what we did last year and comparing it to this year, so we can see what worked and what didn’t. We knew some areas were going to be amplified, but we also noticed unexpected dips, so we’re going to adjust for next year,” Baquet explained.
The impact: Seamless, purposeful growth
With flexible tools and in-depth business reporting, Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe has an ideal foundation for substantial growth and impact. Following the influx of crowds from 2025’s Big Game, Baquet and the team capitalized on an opportunity to use the space more efficiently. Now, they have an upstairs dining room that they use for public dining and private events. With Square Terminals already in-house, Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe can dedicate one or two for upstairs use as needed without worrying about how to operationalize orders on another floor.
The team is also looking into physically expanding the space to accommodate the high volume of customers. While the exact plan is undecided, Baquet considers a future where diners can have a separate bar area as they wait to be seated or a dedicated second space for catering or large-scale events.
Uncovering new ways to serve and uplift the Treme community is at the heart of Li’l Dizzy’s growth goals. With major press features on TV shows like “Savor the City”, write-ups in The New York Times, and positive reviews from popular vloggers like Mark Wiens, foot traffic and merchandise purchases in the restaurant have both significantly increased. The family’s cookbook and gumbo mix are popular sellers, but their signature hats with Treme written across the front and Li’l Dizzy’s written on the back are also loved by customers, a vivid representation of the connection between the restaurant and the neighborhood. “Our community connection is big for us,” Baquet explained. “To be in the heart of this neighborhood where there’s so much history, so much culture…we take a lot of pride in that.”
