At many downtown clubs, the challenge is no longer simply attracting members. It is creating reasons for them to use the club regularly in a post-2020 work environment where routines have changed and office traffic is less predictable.
At City Club of Baton Rouge, General Manager Zafer “Z” Goncu believes daily habits matter more than occasional programming. One of the club’s most effective moves came in 2019, when leadership introduced complimentary breakfast for members.
The strategy aligned naturally with the club’s identity as a business-focused downtown club serving attorneys, judges, and professionals who already worked nearby.
“We have at least 60 or 70 people every morning,” Goncu says. “For the size of our restaurant, that is a huge number.”
The club currently has 887 members across resident, non-resident, and young professional categories. Goncu says the breakfast model helped increase usage while reinforcing the value of membership in a tangible, everyday way.
“If you go out and eat breakfast five days a week downtown, that’s more than your dues,” he says. “People look at it and say, ‘I work downtown anyway. I’ll come here every day.’”
But Goncu believes the real differentiator is not the free breakfast itself. It is the consistency of the experience surrounding it.
“We know every single member,” he says. “We know their wives’ names. We know their kids.”
That familiarity is supported by unusually long employee tenure. Goncu has been with the club nearly 20 years after starting as a restaurant captain and later moving through catering management before becoming General Manager. Other front-of-house employees serving breakfast and lunch have been at the club nearly as long.
He says many members barely need to order anymore.
“They stand by the POS system in the morning and say, ‘You want your regular today?’” Goncu says. “That’s how much relationship there is.”
Goncu describes his leadership style as collaborative and people-focused, built around trust and support rather than rigid hierarchy.
“If every single person surpasses me, I’m a good leader,” he says.
That philosophy also shapes the club’s service culture. Goncu encourages staff to avoid defaulting to “no” and instead focus on finding solutions for members whenever possible.
“Just say ‘yes.’ Figure it out,” he says. “If members see the effort, they’re usually okay.”
For Goncu, that mindset is what modern hospitality ultimately comes down to.
“It’s about people and the relationships you build,” he says.
