A Shiny Chicago Arcade Bar Debuts in New Orleans

Emporium Arcade Bar, a chain of Chicago-born arcade and video game bars co-founded by a Tulane grad, has opened in New Orleans’s St. Roch neighborhood (it’s the area’s second arcade bar, Sea Cave being the first). Danny Marks and his brother Doug opened the first Emporium in 2012 in Chicago, followed by locations in the Bay Area and Vegas, drawing crowds of 20-somethings to warehouse-like bars decked out with arcade games, pinball machines, skee-ball, pool tables, and more. The 21-and-over bar is open daily from 5 p.m. to midnight.

Andre Courville/Emporium Arcade Bar

Additional break-ins at two neighborhood restaurants

Before a break-in that left Felipe’s admonishing the entire city of New Orleans to “be better,” it turns out a number of other restaurants in the Mid City also experienced break-ins, including Brown Butter and a new location for Riverbend Mexican restaurant El Taco Loco. Owner Simon Beck of Brown Butter tells Eater the restaurant was broken into late Monday night, with the offenders stealing a register and liquor and leaving a smashed door. El Taco Loco’s new location, near the corner of Carrolton Avenue and Hampson Street, was broken into early Saturday morning, October 1, according to WVUE.

Learn to shuck oysters and bake pies with local favorites

Since opening a few years back, the New Orleans Culinary and Hospitality Institute (NOCHI) has played host to a number of cool hands-on experiences for residents, but the latest roundup of enthusiast classes and professional workshops might be the coolest of all. NOCHI’s Fall 2022 lineup brings in some of the city’s favorite restaurants and chefs for courses, like charcuterie with Graze Dat’s Elizabeth Choto or fall pies with Windowsill Pies’ Marielle Dupré on the enthusiast side, and oyster shucking with Lindsay Allday and Jeff Spoo of Sidecar on the professional development side. Check out the full lineup of enthusiast classes here, and professional courses here.

Local gardener sets Guinness World Record for big okra

A 24-year-old New Orleans resident and environmentalist has set the record for world’s largest okra, reports WGNO. Jack Sweeney’s record-breaking okra stalk measured in at 16.4 feet, officially breaking the existing Guinness World Record for big okra. Sweeney assures the news outlet he used only natural fertiziler.