Cindy Brennan, the managing partner of one of New Orleans’ favorite restaurants, reflects on family, hospitality, and nearly 50 years of success.
In the culinary world, quiet dedication sometimes speaks louder than public acclaim. And on occasion, you’ll find noted restaurateurs who devote themselves to mastering their craft, content to let their work stand on its own.
Cindy Brennan is definitely in that number.
“I have a lot of family members with big personalities. I just like to be successful, do the right thing, work hard and be proud of what I do,” says Brennan. “Someone once said to me, ‘You’re the under-the-radar Brennan’ – and I guess I am, but I am very comfortable with it.”
Born into a family whose name is synonymous with the culinary legacy of New Orleans, this Brennan usually stays out of the spotlight, all the while working furiously behind the scenes to make the many merits of Mr. B’s Bistro shine.
Located on the corner of Royal and Iberville streets, right across the street from the Hotel Monteleone, Mr. B’s – with its copper-roofed oriel windows and revolving front door – has been a bastion of what food critic Tom Fitzmorris dubbed “modern Creole cuisine” for nearly half a century.
Featuring a timeless aesthetic with dark woods, polished brass accents and forest green leather banquettes, the restaurant was one of the first in the area to boast an all-California wine list.
“At the time it was very avant-garde. California wines were just starting to be recognized in the same league as French wines. Honestly, I think it was ahead of its time.”
Locals and visitors alike frequent Mr. B’s, drawn by its atmosphere, excellent service and plates brimming with their signature barbequed shrimp, pasta jambalaya or bowls of rich, dark Gumbo Ya-Ya that had the Wall Street Journal rhapsodizing last year: [It’s] the epitome of a rich, luscious, dark-roux chicken and andouille gumbo,” one that “delivers a transcendent flavor.”
“I think a lot of people love Mr. B’s because they think it’s a comfortable, warm environment,” says Brennan. “You can laugh out loud, be in black tie, sit at the bar … it’s kind of like a choose-your-type of dining experience.”
In fact, longtime customers often prefer grabbing a seat at the bar where they can chat with friendly bartenders ready and waiting behind the stick. There they can grab a light salad for lunch or top off a Friday afternoon sipping B’s Old Fashioneds crafted with Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Angostura and Regan’s orange bitters. Or sample a dreamy slice of pecan pie from the whimsical dessert menu designed by area artist Tim Trapolin.
But in truth, it’s the Brennan behind the scenes that holds everything together.
Born to John Thomas Brennan and Claire Louise Lally, Cindy was the third of four children, including siblings Ralph, Tommy and Claire, a.k.a. “Lally.” When she was a young girl, Cindy enjoyed working with her hands, especially designing and sewing her own clothes.
“I had a Barbie doll and made clothes for her. I would just take a pair of scissors and start cutting fabric. I didn’t use any patterns or anything like that. It just sort of came naturally.”
After graduating from Tulane University with a degree in Business Administration, the bright young Brennan began working as an assistant to Martha Radelat, buyer in the Design/Couture Department at the historic Maison Blanche department store on Canal Street.
“[Maison Blanche] wanted to promote me and move me to a different store and it was at the same time Mr. B’s opened,” she explains. “One day my aunt Ella says, ‘Why don’t you stop doing that and come host at Mr. B’s while we get things settled in?’
“That’s how it all started. It wasn’t really what I intended. I remember I had a giant electric typewriter and I didn’t know how to type!”
After working in the sales department at Commander’s Palace, spending many a late night teaching herself how to navigate the staccato rhythms of a typewriter, Cindy (later joined by her brother Ralph) was tasked with confronting the myriad challenges that faced Mr. B’s in its opening phase.
“They [family members] were considering closing the operation, and they sent us down there and said, ‘Figure it out, make it work.’ So that’s what we did.”
Mr. B’s Bistro opened in 1979 on the ground floor of a multi-story parking garage built in 1962 on the former site of Solari’s, a century-old specialty market. The garage, named Solari’s in tribute to the historic grocer, remains one of the restaurant’s little-known perks. Through the valet service, Mr. B’s diners can pay $6 for up to three hours and enter the restaurant directly through a rear entrance connected to the garage.
Celebrated chef Paul Prudhomme, who at the time was the chef at Commander’s Palace, helped design the restaurant’s original menu with Ella Brennan, before he moved on to work at his wife’s restaurant K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. Prudhomme also worked with Creole chef Jimmy Smith at Mr. B’s and perfected their Gumbo Ya-Ya recipe with its silky, dark roux.
“Then we brought in Gerard Maras, who is super talented,” says Brennan. “He was just terrific.”
Inspired by Pascale’s Manale’s legendary barbecue shrimp, Maras put his own spin on the New Orleans classic, creating the signature dish that has defined Mr. B’s for decades.
Maras also mentored his successor, Michelle McRaney, who began working at Mr. B’s on an externship program through Delgado Community College. In 1995, she came back to Mr. B’s, this time leading the kitchen.
Over the next three decades, Michelle and Brennan brought the farm-to-table concept into sharp focus at Mr. B’s and together they weathered some pretty hefty hits faced by the local hospitality industry, not the least of which being Hurricane Katrina, an event that shuttered the restaurant for over a year.
“There was so much rain that leaked down the building and a lot of the wood had buckled. We had to completely rebuild the property. We were closed for 594 days.”
Sadly, McRaney passed away from an illness in 2021. In her absence, longtime Mr. B’s cook Vincent Sciarrotta has stepped up to the range. Mentored by both Maras and McRaney for nearly 20 years, it’s been a long time coming for Sciarrotta and he has happily embraced his new role at the restaurant where “he has earned his way.”
Over the years, there has been one constant: Brennan’s enduring support of the restaurant – and the French Quarter – where she lived for more than two decades, raising her children a few blocks down Royal Street. She says they treasure the experience so much, both wrote their college application essays about growing up in the neighborhood.
As for her dedication to Mr. B’s, she been called the “heart and soul” of the restaurant. She is ever-present, and on any given day you’re likely to find her there, working behind the scenes or greeting the customers out front.
“I think it’s important to be present. You’re only as good as the people who work with you. You have to be there to support them and connect with them.
“It makes them feel like they’re a part of the whole – because they are.”
*Article originally published July 2026 in French Quarter Journal
*Lead photo courtesy of Ellis Anderson
