New Orleans Restaurants Are Closing or Cutting Hours Due to the Heat

New Orleans’s record-breaking heat this week is impacting local restaurants’ ability to stay open. Sidecar NOLA, the Warehouse District oyster destination known for its patio, will be closed for lunch this weekend due to the heat, opening at 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday instead. Plume Algiers, the West Bank’s acclaimed regional Indian restaurant, will close entirely until next week, citing the heat and subsequent daycare closures. While plenty of restaurants close at some point during August for summer break, this might be the first summer restaurants are closing due to unsafe conditions caused by heat — Coop’s Place also closed earlier this summer due to conditions in the kitchen.

Spitfire Coffee is back in new French Quarter location

Spitfire Coffee, one of the first specialty coffee shops founded in New Orleans, has reopened in the French Quarter for the first time since it closed on St. Peter Street in 2022. The beloved shop is now open with temporary limited hours at 307 Exchange Place, Thursday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Customers can check out a sample daily coffee lineup here.

Restaurant R’evolution to undergo multi-million dollar upgrade

One of New Orleans’s most splurge-worthy destinations is closing for more than a month for a fittingly extravagant revamp. Chef John Folse’s Restaurant R’evolution in the Royal Sonesta will close on September 4 for a multi-million dollar renovation to include a redesign of the dining and bar areas, a kitchen upgrade, and a revamped menu. It’s expected to reopen in early October, according to a press release. The renovation sounds similarly comprehensive as the one currently taking place at Emeril’s, which is expected to reopen in late September.

Parklets can remain open for at least six more months

In yet another update to the saga involving bar and restaurant parklets in the Bywayer and Marigny, the New Orleans City Council has officially suspended enforcement of the new parklet regulations — at least temporarily. As the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reported this week, the motion passed on Thursday — just days before the initial August 31 deadline to remove them — will allow around 40 existing parklets to continue to operate for another six months while the council revisits permanent rules.

Two weeks after the city alerted several Bywater and Marigny bars and restaurants to shut down their parklets by the end of the month, City Council member Freddie King says he is working with the city to delay enforcement, reports Gambit. The update follows a community meeting and the results of an online questionnaire that indicated nearly three out of four respondents were in favor of parklets. King says he will work with the city to amend the new rules in a way that allows the current parklets to continue to exist.