Creole Landmark Cafe Sbisa Makes a Comeback in The French Quarter

Historic French Quarter restaurant Cafe Sbisa, which dates back to 1899, is now reopen under new ownership, Ian McNulty reports this week. Actually, the eatery is being run by two of its alumni, Craig Napoli (whose family owns the building) and chef Alfred Singleton (most recently chef du cuisine at Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse). Per Advocate:

Napoli owns the building and his family had operated Café Sbisa from 1992 until 2005. Singleton first walked into Café Sbisa in 2000 to work as a prep cook. Napoli eventually promoted him to run the restaurant, and he was its chef before Hurricane Katrina.

The restaurant had two short-lived resurrections in 2008 and in 2013 under two different management groups.

Now Singleton has stepped in to return Sbisa to its former glory with a menu of classic Creole, house signatures and new dishes including the shrimp, crawfish, and crabclaw-topped Trout Eugene, turtle soup, a daily gumbo, duck confit with truffle fries, and Oysters Sbisa, a Rockefeller like dish with “Herbsaint creamed spinach and bacon.”

The restaurant also offers brunch, per Gambit, with Pain Perdue, grits and grillades and more on the menu.

As for the space itself, no big renovations to expect here. The cafe still features a main dining room with a large mahogany bar and George Dureau’s artwork downstairs and private dining upstairs, along with balcony views of Decatur.

Status: Certified open at 1011 Decatur St. for dinner Wed-Sun at 5:30 p.m. and for brunch Sat-Sun, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 504-522-5565.

• "Lost" Creole restaurant Café Sbisa reopens in Quarter, and a chef’s story comes full-circle [Advocate]
• Cafe Sbisa Reopens [Gambit]
• All Comebacks [ENOLA]