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Two Sun Ray Grill locations have new owners and fresh new menus, Ian McNulty reports. Former owner Dana Deutsch and family are heading to Vietnam to work for a Cafe Reconcile-style nonprofit operation called KOTO, and have been steadily selling off their restaurants to make the move—Sun Ray Grill in the Warehouse District recently became home to Sac-A-Lait. The cool thing about these last two locations? They're now owned by Deutsch's former employees.
GRETNA— The original Sun Ray Grill location is now being run by Tom Hinyup, longtime chef here (since 1999), and is still called Sun Ray Grill. Hinyup has kept the menu essentials, but added a breakfast menu, and added breakfast and is bringing in some quality, locally-sourced seafood and his knack for fishing camp style cooking with lots of specials. Status: Open at 2600 Belle Chasse Highway. Mon-Thurs: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fri: 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sat: 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Sun: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (504) 391-0053.
OLD METAIRIE— You may recall back in 2014, that Will and Kinsey Varas were operating Aloha Sushi inside the Sun Ray Grill, while planning to take over the restaurant from Deutsch. Those plans called for an eventual renovation, menu reboot, and new name, all of which has finally happened this summer in the form of CoNola Grill & Sushi. The newly rebranded spot fuses "Southern staples, a full sushi bar and even an undercurrent of green chile-powered, Colorado-style Mexican cooking." The name refers to the Varas' cooking history in Colorado and New Orleans. Status: Now open at 619 Pink St. on Tues-Sun 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. (504) 837-0055. Full Menu below.
