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New Orleans Restaurant Owners Weigh Closing

Ralph Brennan outside of Bacco, one of six New Orleans-area restaurants he is closely involved in.
Frank Langfitt, NPR
Ralph Brennan outside of Bacco, one of six New Orleans-area restaurants he is closely involved in.
Standing in one of his family's restaurants, Chris Doody says they're likely to shutter their New Orleans location.
/ Frank Langfitt, NPR
/
Frank Langfitt, NPR
Standing in one of his family's restaurants, Chris Doody says they're likely to shutter their New Orleans location.

When people think of New Orleans, they often think of food. Before Katrina, the restaurant industry was one of the city's largest employers. But two months after the hurricane, less than 15 percent of the city's restaurants have reopened.

The state's restaurant association says that up to 1,000 restaurants in the area are finished. One candidate for closing is Bravo!, a mid-priced Italian chain restaurant in the Uptown section of New Orleans.

On a recent tour of the damage, Rick and Chris Doody, who operate the chain with their father, Alton, said they will likely shutter the New Orleans location, while keeping their store in nearby Metairie open. They cited the high costs of bringing in new workers -- and the uncertainty about how many people will return to New Orleans.

Those concerns have led big names to relocate. Ruth's Chris Steakhouse moved its headquarters to Orlando. Even Ralph Brennan, a member of the city's first family of cuisine, considered leaving.

Brennan owns Bacco's in the French Quarter. Sitting at a table before lunch, he describes his thoughts after Katrina devastated his hometown. "The first couple of weeks after the storm are probably the most difficult I've ever faced," Brennan said."I was thinking, 'Do I go back? Do I not go back? What's the city going to be like?' And I was really getting depressed."

Brennan says he believes tourism will return to New Orleans. But like the Doodys and many others, he remains unsure of the town's ability to sustain its restaurants year-round. As Rick Doody said of the Uptown Bravo!, "We just don't have momentum in that restaurant to weather the storm."

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Frank Langfitt is NPR's London correspondent. He covers the UK and Ireland, as well as stories elsewhere in Europe.

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SOMOS CONNECTICUT es una iniciativa de Connecticut Public, la emisora local de NPR y PBS del estado, que busca elevar nuestras historias latinas y expandir programación que alza y informa nuestras comunidades latinas locales. Visita CTPublic.org/latino para más reportajes y recursos. Para noticias, suscríbase a nuestro boletín informativo en ctpublic.org/newsletters.

The independent journalism and non-commercial programming you rely on every day is in danger.

If you’re reading this, you believe in trusted journalism and in learning without paywalls. You value access to educational content kids love and enriching cultural programming.

Now all of that is at risk.

Federal funding for public media is under threat and if it goes, the impact to our communities will be devastating.

Together, we can defend it. It’s time to protect what matters.

Your voice has protected public media before. Now, it’s needed again. Learn how you can protect the news and programming you depend on.