Today on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon (March 27, 2012) I made my way down Bienville Street, heading to WOW Café & Wingery in Mid-City.  Immediately, I noticed what was happening right across the street from WOW café.  The demolition process had begun for the construction of the Winn-Dixie shopping complex, which will include Office Depot, Neighborhood Pet Market by Jefferson Feed, Felipe’s Taqueria, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, Pei Wei Asian Diner, and Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt.

As I entered WOW Café, I immediately began to take in the sports-themed atmosphere.  Flat screen TVs lined the walls displaying various sports channels.  Also, local high school football helmets are lined throughout the restaurant, along with sports-themed pictures, such as a NASCAR vehicle decorated with the WOW Café & Wingery logo.  It was not very busy at this time, but it did begin to pick up quickly as lunchtime approached.  There was music playing in the background that was mixed with the humming sound of the daiquiri machines that were located behind the bar.  The bar also served many local beers, such as LA 31, Covington Strawberry, Tin Roof Amber Ale, and Tin Roof Blonde Ale.

After I soaked in the atmosphere of WOW, I decided to take a seat at the bar.  The friendly waitresses then greeted me and then took my drink and food order.  I asked them if I could speak with the manager who was working at this time.  The manager working today was Ross McStay.  I introduced myself to Ross and explained to him about our Restaurant Row Recovery project.  He was very nice and said that he would be glad to answer any questions I may have had for him.

After eating my West Coast Veggie sandwich on Texas Toast, I preceded to ask Ross a few questions.  First, I briefly told Ross about the new plans of development in this Mid-City area.  He said that he was aware of the plans, and was quite thankful that something new was finally being built in the area across the street from WOW.  He said that he was tired of having to look at an abandoned building through the windows of WOW every time he was working.  I asked Ross what his opinions were on the construction of the new complex.  Ross replied that he was looking forward to the new complex and that he was happy to have other businesses built because it will bring more people to the area.  He also said that he was not worried about the competition of Five Guys Burgers and Fries, because the majority of WOWs sales come from their wings.

Speaking of wings, as we all know wings are very much associated with football season.  Ross said that he would definitely say that the busiest time of the year for WOW is football season, and not only when the Saints are playing (even though he said that it can get pretty crazy in WOW during a Saints game!).  Any Sunday or Monday night football game always brings in a decent amount of people into WOW Café in Mid-City.  Ross also told me that there is around a one thousand dollar difference in their sales when you compare football season time to other parts of the year.  I also asked Ross if he felt that the majority of their clientele are residents from the surrounding Mid-City neighborhood.  While he might not have known for sure, he felt that, yes, the majority of the clients are from the surrounding area.

I had a very nice and relaxing time speaking with Ross at WOW Café in Mid-City today.  My partner, Mark Paternostro, and I will also be researching El Rinconcito and Kjean’s Seafood.  More to come about our restaurants in the future!  Next time we hope to present some interviews from the owners of our restaurants.  Thanks for following our Restaurant Row Recovery blog and have a wonderful day!

-Rachael Horn

Hello! My name is Jennifer Frerichs. Among the many attributes that makes New Orleans one of a kind are its restaurants and I will be exploring some of them. Although I am not a native New Orleanian and it was not the food that drew me here, it should have been. To my luck, I signed up for a class, taught by David Beriss, called “Applied Anthropology”. In this class, my fellow students and I were given an assignment called, “Restaurant Row Recovery.”

 The goal of the “Restaurant Row Recovery” project is to analyze and interpret the transformations of the restaurants within a specific community. This assignment has given me the opportunity to study a small sample of the vast assortment of restaurants within New Orleans. More specifically, this project covers restaurants along the streets of Canal and Carrollton. Together, my partner Deyna Cimino and I have been assigned a quest for understanding of two locations, Venezia (134 N. Carrollton Ave), and Lemonade Parade (4709 S.Carrolton Ave).

Venezia Restaurant

“Since 1957, Venezia Restaurant has been serving up piping-hot pizza pies and Italian cuisine at its best. Our staff averages 15 years of experience, and they are waiting and willing to offer you a memorial dining experience”

Quote:www.venezianeworleans.com/index.html)

Picture: (by: Jennifer Frerichs) 

Venezia is well known for its family atmosphere and traditional Italian food. My partner and I were fortunate enough to interview the owner and a bartender recently. The enlightening resposes from the owner will be seen on our next blog. Since I arrived early for the interview that our group had established with the owner, I decided to have a seat at the bar and get to know the employees and customers. Starting with the bartender, I asked for the reasons he worked at Venezia. Apparently he has been working at this restaurant for approximately 5 years and he enjoys working with a company that is like a family, rather than working with a commercial chain. He also seemed eager to help me in my research, considering that he too was a UNO student, which I greatly appreciated. He explained that the effects of Katrina caused a lot of damage and resulted in changing some of the interior decoration of the restaurant. Unfortunately, as he began to descripe the history of Venezia in depth, our interview was cut short with the sudden rush of customers. As he walked away, a couple joined me at the bar and after they got their drinks, I decided it might be a good time to spark up a conversation. I started by asking them why they enjoy this particular restaurant. The man stated that he had been coming to Venezias for many years and him and wife always got the same thing and that was the “artichoke dip.”He also went on to say that he has established a relationship with the people working at the restaurant. I refrained asking much more as to not interfere with their experience. For me, the interviews emphasized both the quality of the food and the family atmosphere within the restaurant. It appears the family appeal of this place is what brings the locals back time and time again due to the comfort of the atmosphere. 

Picture: (http://www.nola.com/sites/venezia/)

Lemonade Parade

“The bright exterior is a pretty good indication of what is going on in the inside. Like a cheerful clown, Lemonade Parade dispenses happiness to all who stop in.”

Quote:(http://www.gonola.com/2010/10/08/lemonade-parade-a-trip-down-memory-lane.html).

Picture: (http://Jonathanlevinegallery.com)

Lemonade Parade seems to exhibit a similar quality as Venezia, in its aim for “family atmosphere.”  From the outside, their art feels as compelling as an ice-cream truck and they remain very popular to a variety of different age groups. Unfortunately, my partner and I have not been given an opportunity to interview any of the staff, although we have tried to contact them through email and facebook. Due to these circumstances, we will likely have to depend on the history of the business, client opinions, as well as our own observations.

Before Lemonade Parade was in the picture, this location was held by a restaurant named “Manual’s Hot Tamales”. Manuals was founded in 1932 and its name was generated from the well known fact that they were popular for their tasty tamales. “For generations of New Orleans people, the sight of a Manuel’s vending cart at a street corner up ahead, lit by the dim glow of a railroad lantern and emitting aromatic steam on cold nights, was the embodiment of the peculiar regional version of hot tamales. Simmered in an oily slurry of drippings and tomato sauce, they were a far cry from the traditional Mexican tamales steamed in cornhusks” (http://wwno.org/post/tamales-today). Unfortunately, like many other businesses, Katrina inflicted too much damage for the restaurant to reopen. While Lemonade Parade does not serve the same tamales as Manuels, they still please the crowd with their own version of the snack. On review read, “ I love Lemonade Parade! What’s better than a cool, freshly squeezed beverage on a hot day in the neighborhood!? I love the simplicity of their plain iced lemonade, it usually never lasts the 3 blocks back to my house– it’s that good! They also have a wonderful selection of fun coffee drinks and smoothies named after New Orleans songs and events. Let me just say all in all, darn cute and tasty!” (http://www.yelp.com/biz/lemonade-parade-new-orleans-2).

Picture: (https://foursquare.com/v/lemonadeparade/4c44b4202d3ec9b687402fae)

I believe this study should be guided by questions such as:

• What is the history of this location, more importantly the restaurants within it?
• Why are these restaurants so successful?
• Does the introduction of the Laffite Greenway Project pose a threat to the traditional locally owned businesses in this area?
• In what ways do these restaurants reflect New Orleans traditions?
• Based on the knowledge we have obtained about these restaurants, what can be said about their future?

http://www.witsinn.com/

Situated on the corner of Iberville Street and N. Carrollton Avenue, Wit’s Inn is in the perfect location to grab a drink; the food is pretty good as well.  When Haley and I went into Wit’s Inn around 6pm on a Tuesday, we were impressed by all that this neighborhood bar had to offer.  It is a well kept bar and restaurant, arranged with a comfortable amount of open space and appropriately placed bar room games and attractions.  While there are tables placed in the front of the building that seem like they are used more for restaurant purposes, the bar tables that line the right- hand wall continue to the back of the room.  Each table has about four tall chairs and a flat screen TV docked to the wall.  There are two large, flat screen TV’s on either side of the bar that were showing a basketball game and an MMA fight.  Traveling towards the back of the room, a pool table is positioned in the middle of the floor, and a darts board hangs on the back wall.  Wit’s Inn has a pool league; interestingly enough, the building was a pool hall before Wit’s Inn established itself there.  Haley’s and my favorite amenity was the digital jukebox.  The bartender told us that people can choose what songs the jukebox will play by using a phone app, they don’t even need to get up from the bar!

Equipped with a well stocked bar and satisfying menu, the specials that Wit’s Inn offers are worth checking out.  Among them are a free beer with the purchase of a pizza on Monday, and a 3 for 1 drink special on Wednesday.  There are six beers on tap, of which, the most popular seem to be Abita Amber and Blue Moon. The service was excellent; our bartender was attentive and helpful when we asked to talk to him about the establishment.  While Haley and I were there, the crowd seemed to be mostly composed of polished couples who were headed to dinner, small groups out for a drink, and men who looked to be stopping by after work for a drink and some dinner.

Wit’s Inn was in business before Hurricane Katrina, but when it reopened, following the storm, a pizza kitchen was added to the establishment. While the food they offer is surprisingly more restaurant- like than I expected to encounter, it is somewhat over looked.  Alongside the pizza, fries, and sandwiches, you will find salads, appetizers, and seafood entrees. Haley ordered a salad, and I ordered a small pizza.  We would both eat there again.

It would seem that the Lafitte Greenway development has the potential to increase business at Wit’s Inn in proportion to the increase at the surrounding restaurants.  While we heard that they are trying to encourage more people to try their food, business seems to remain predominately around the bar.  In addition, many of the drinkers are stopping by at some point around dinner plans.  Whatever the outcome of the development may be, I will definitely revisit this tucked away bar, and I suggest it to anyone who is looking for a pleasant and entertaining night time outing.

            New Orleans has well deserved its superlative status in travel guides and top ten lists.  From most romantic destination to best place to party, the city works hard to present itself an interesting and inviting city.  When operating within a tourism economy, the standards regarding entertainment are tremendously high; locally owned restaurants, bars, and music venues have to offer something spectacular in order to remain in business despite increasing competition.  Our specific area of study focuses on 23 restaurants (excluding national chains such as Domino’s and Quizno’s) grouped within an area a little less than one square mile.  For example, there are no less than five restaurants serving pizza within spitting distance of each other.  In theory, such drastically intensified competition would drive potential businesses away, however, the clustered nature seems to have the opposite effect.  New restaurants are continuously opening in and around the area, while many of the restaurants we are studying have been in operation for decades. 

            The primary purpose of this project is to study what makes this particular intersection so desirable to restaurant owners.  Is there a relationship between the restaurants within the area? How do the excluded ‘fast food’ restaurants factor into these queries?  How do the post-Katrina restaurants fare in relation to those with historical ties?  Is there a relationship between ‘the restaurant row’ and the surrounding neighborhood?  Do these restaurants have an influence outside of mid-city?  What, if any, specific audience do these restaurants cater to?  Are they attracting more locals or tourists? 

            With better understanding the connections within the area, we can better speculate how new development will change things.  Construction will soon begin on “the last dead strip” located in the 300 and 400 blocks of North Carrolton Avenue.  The proposed Mid-City Market will incorporate four new restaurants into the area- Pei Wei Asian Diner, Pinkberry frozen yogurt, Felipe’s taqueria, and Five Guys burgers and fries.  Each of these restaurants are national chains and have no direct connection to the city, and many fear that the increasing amount of chain restaurants will cripple the individuality of the existing restaurants.  However, in conjunction with The Lafitte Corridor project, the surge of new development will inevitably attract more visitors and locals alike to the area.  Our project aims to determine how these developments will impact the delicate ecology of the restaurant row.

         Moving on! For my portion of the project, I will be writing about Cafe Minh and Angelo Brocato’s along with my research partner, Chelsea Hines. Being that this is a revisited project, the history of Cafe Minh has already been covered, and is accessible here.  Cafe Minh is located at the corner of Canal and David, therefore removing it from direct spotlight.  With only a small sign hanging above the door, it can be difficult to differentiate Cafe Minh as a restaurant from the surrounding homes.  With the exception of the large windows, it appears that the exterior of the building was not renovated at all; Porch lights still illuminate the front step.  On the contrary, the interior of the restaurant was very clean and modern. The decorations seemed to be purchased wholesale from an IKEA-type store.  Poster sized prints of flowers and butterflies lined the walls, mixed with hazy black and white scenes of New Orleans more frequently seen in tourist brochures.   In accord with the large, illuminating windows, smooth jazz soundtrack, and freshly cut flowers arrangements the place felt more like an art gallery than an Asian-fusion restaurant.  We arrived late for lunch, and only a few tables were occupied.  The apparent crowd was that of business professionals on a break for lunch.  The staff was exceptionally friendly, and over the course of our lunch three different servers (not including our own) refilled our drinks.  Being a picky eater, I ordered only jasmine rice, while Chelsea got the duck soup.  Chelsea, along with the general population of yelp, said that the food was plentiful, though not fantastic, and therefore not quite worth the price.  Many reviews from locals claim that the quality of the food has decreased over the years, while reviews were more favorable from people who were visiting from out of town. 

            In my opinion, Cafe Minh is one restaurant that could potentially be negatively affected by the Mid-City market development.  For one, neither the décor nor the food itself particularly stood out. The cost of an entrée put Cafe Minh out of the price range to be a neighborhood favorite, while the prints along the walls seemed more relevant to pleasing tourists than drawing in locals. Although, in theory, Cafe Minh has the perfect formula in place for pleasing visitors, its location makes it easy to miss. In its defense, Cafe Minh is one of the few restaurants in our area of study that offer the white linnen experience, and the only of it’s genre do so.  Those who are just looking for a quick meal between office hours, or a cheap bowl of soup might be drawn more towards Pei Wei. Cafe Minh is the perfect venue for a date or a formal meeting, but it isn’t the type of place that you can bike to in the heat of the summer without feeling smelly and out of place.

Hello all, I’m Austen Dooley and this is my first ever blog post so please bear with me. During this semester we have been assigned a research project for Applied Anthropology with Dr. Beriss that deals with the cluster of restaurant in the Canal and Carrollton area of New Orleans. This project is titled the Restaurant Row Recovery Project and our main objective is to discover why this cluster of restaurants exists in this particular neighborhood and why it is so successful. In addition to answering those questions we will also look at the Restaurants progression since Katrina and their feelings towards the Laffite green way project and the new big box retail that is set to break ground as well as the new Mid City Market.  The last question which is more holistically is what the individual restaurants believe the future of this restaurant row will be.  To answer these we have split the class into groups of two and each group was assigned at least two restaurants to research. We will conduct interviews with managers and owner as well as the wait staff, and possibly some regulars if we’re lucky. We will also do some research on the history of the buildings that the present restaurants occupy and in addition do some observations in the restaurants and what I’m most excited about…eating food!

My research partner, Kathleen DeMajo and I were assigned Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza and Canal St. Bistro. I have been a resident of the New Orleans most of my life and to be honest I haven’t been to any of the restaurants in the Canal and Carrollton area with the exception of Juan’s Flying Burrito. Needless to say I was a little nervous and intimidated by the project. However once I started to visit the neighborhood and get acquainted with my assigned restaurants, I began to understand why this particular area is so special, and my fears began to dissipate as we jumped in to our research.  First Kathleen and I visited Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza.  We unintentionally went on a Tuesday afternoon which as it turns out is one of their busiest night due to their 1$ draft beer special. This turned out to be blessing and a curse for us because we able to see a lot of regulars as they came in for their weekly Tuesday visit but the staff in turn were busy and did not have much time to chat with us. We did get to have a quick interview with a server Candice who had been with the restaurant for three years. She explained to us the sincere relationship between the restaurant and the customers which is the foundation of Theo’s Neighborhood Pizza.  While we were doing our initial observation I decided to try Theo’s new Bacon and Blue Cheese Pizza (check out their menu), if you’re a fan of bacon, blue cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and garlic (which are some of my favorites) this pizza is the right one for you, however you might need a breath mint after. I was amazed by how friendly everyone was both the costumers and the staff. Numerous people smiled and nodded as they passed by sometimes an awkward wave or a slight nod. When we first arrived we observed a group of older men setting at the table eating. At first we thought nothing about it just men getting a late lunch or early dinner, however after an hour they were done with their meal and still drinking 1$ draft beer. As the dinner rush came in they greet numerous people coming in and had extended conversations about families and politics. Like I said they did this on numerous occasion, and when we asked Candice about them she told us that they frequented the restaurant many times a week and over the years had established many relationships with Theo’s other customers as well as the staff. This was the first indication to me that this restaurant cluster in the Canal and Carrollton area were more important to the community than just a typical restaurant, this cluster brings people together and that’s something special.

We are still awaiting a response from the owners of Theo’s (which at the moment is not looking promising) to ask them some of the broader questions of our research. But if they do not reply the manager said he would be happy to assist any way he can.  That all for now on the next blog I will comment on my amazing interview with Seth Gray the general manager of Canal St. Bistro and a former researcher of the Restaurant Row Recovery Project.