A’gathering a cuppa . . . Algiers Point java destination Congregation Coffee Roasters recently launched a second location Uptown on the corner of Jefferson Avenue and Magazine Street. Ever since former owner Eliott Guthrie sold the coffee house and roastery to Patrick Brennan in 2023, they’ve promised a reach into the French Quarter and beyond. “Our goal is to expand with intention and never sacrifice on outstanding quality,” says Brennan. “We’re here to create outstanding coffee coupled with quality customer experiences as unique as our home here in New Orleans.” Located in the Queen Anne Victorian once home to CC’s Coffee House, the second cafe is serving Congregation’s traditional coffee menu (beans roasted just down the way on Tchoupitoulas Street) featuring rotating single origin coffees, and sweet and savory breakfast pastries from the Ralph Brennan Bakery.
900 Jefferson Ave., 504-420-3636, congregationcoffee.com
All together now . . . Omar Lugo, founder of the Habaneros brand, and chef Adolfo Gosálvez recently opened Social, a modern Peruvian restaurant across the lake in Madisonville. A dramatic renovation has transformed the former bar space into a stunning, high-end restaurant with porchside views of the Tchefuncte River. Menu items include several ceviches (surprise, surprise) featuring fresh catches paired with sweet potatoes, octopus, calamari and shrimp, Crab Causa or a chilled squid ink mashed potato crab salad, slow-cooked short ribs with kabocha squash puree and “Lomo Saltado” with filet mignon, tomatoes, red onions, snow peas in a soy/oyster sauce.
708 Water St. Madisonville, (985) 206-9034, socialrestaurant.co
Twice as hot . . . Local entrepreneur Larry Morrow recently opened yet another restaurant just in time for Essence Fest 2025 dubbed Spicy Mango. Located on the corner of Frenchmen Street and Esplanade Avenue, the Creole-Caribbean fusion restaurant is recreating a space that’s been home to The Yard, NOLA Cantina, Miss Jean’s, Mojito’s, and pre-Katrina, the much-missed Marisol. Spicy Mango’s menu offers dishes such as Joshi Bread, a fried bread made from cornmeal and flour served with guava honey butter, coconut shrimp, grilled elote, stewed oxtails, jerk lamb chops and paella.
405 Frenchmen St., spicymango.com
A winning combo . . . Frankie & Johnny’s owner David McCelvey has joined forces with restaurateurs Hicham Khodr and Tarek Tay of Byblos to launch Boil & Barrel, a new seafood concept in Lakeview. Located on Harrison Avenue in the building that formerly housed Outpost 45, the Western-themed pub fare spot which closed in March, Boil & Barrel features lots of shareable, seasonal boiled seafood (ie. crawfish, shrimp, etc.); New Orleans staples like po-boys, boudin and raw oysters; a few brews on tap; and plenty of bourbon.
900 Harrison Ave., boilandbarrel.com
Spine-chilling spirits . . . Halloween-themed cocktail pop-up the Black Lagoon is returning to New Orleans this month. It first emerged from depths of The Dungeon (which isn’t closing, as you may have heard) in 2019, a “wickedly unique and deliciously dark” event by founders Erin Hayes and Kelsey Ramage. Today, the Black Lagoon pop-up has spread across the country and beyond, expanding to 39 locations for the 2025 spooky season, including Denver, Miami, Galveston, St. Louis, and San Francisco. In New Orleans, the spirited event will be popping-up at Anna’s in the Marigny from Wednesday, October 8th to Saturday, November 1st with signature imaginative and spooky cocktails and hauntingly themed interiors. Nightmares never tasted so good.
blacklagoonpopup.com
So sad to see you go . . . Rising food costs, import tariffs, and a significant decline in tourism have all played a part in a wave of restaurant closings over the past year. Dickie Brennan’s flagship restaurant Palace Cafe shuttered after 34 years of business on Canal Street. Located in the former three-story, Werlein’s music shop, the famed restaurant closed due to a legal dispute with the building’s owners who sought to quintuple the rent. Hopes are high that Palace Cafe may one day reopen elsewhere in the city if not on Canal Street.
Ancora Pizzeria & Salumeria, a 14-year-old Neapolitan-style pizza purveyor on Freret Street, one of several restaurants to open after the corridor’s post-Katrina revitalization, closed its doors at the end of July. In an Instagram post, proprietor Bryn Thompson decided to move on instead of “caving in to uber eats or changing what we do to cater to a different demographic.”
Tatlo, a witchy cocktail bar and restaurant that recently opened on Bourbon Street closed over the summer. Launched by Filipino chef Cristina Quackenbush, the speakeasy space behind the Old Absinthe House catered to the spiritual with cuisine and cocktails created to manifest the divine, from prosperity and virility to fertility and abundance. Quackenbush hints at a new chapter (or location?) for the bewitching bar, but we’ll have to consult the Tarot to confirm.
Opened only less than two years ago, Mid-City restaurant Rosella also closed at the end of July. Serving “Creole and Cajun cuisine with a twist,” the neighborhood restaurant operated by Romney Richard and her husband Charley (initially Alix Petrovich and Paul McCaige), was popular for its corndogs and bean salads created by Chef Tal Jones, who previously headed the kitchen at Lola’s Restaurant.
The bubbles are no longer being poured on Rampart Street as the sparkling wine and caviar bar Effervescence shuttered at the end of August. In an Instagram post, owner Crystal Hinds announced the restaurant’s “retirement” with effusive thanks to both guests and staff for nearly a decade of decadence at the high-end, French Quarter hangout. We raise a glass to what was and what yet may be.
*Article published in the October 2025 issue of Where Y’at Magazine
