Popular French Quarter restaurant closing

French Quarter restaurant closing

NEW ORLEANS —

Stanley of New Orleans, a popular restaurant in Jackson Square, closed permanently on Labor Day.

The owner told WDSU it was a tough decision, explaining that their lease is up and construction and food costs contributed to the closing.

“We just hope to see that the neighborhood still embraces whatever comes next,” said Tanya Boswell, owner, “and not saying this is for permanent, we might maybe move somewhere else in the future but the end of an era for us here.”

Stanley was originally located on Decatur, but moved to the corner of St. Ann and Chartres after Hurricane Katrina.

The restaurant has garnered a strong community of loyal customers, who were emotional on its final day.

“We live around the corner. We eat here three times a week,” said Chan Roark, customer since 2010, “We know Scott and Tanya well. They are so welcoming. They’ve always made us feel like friends dropping by.”

Boswell said that the supportive outpour from the community is something she didn’t expect to see when they made the announcement over the weekend.

“We have a lot of visitors that aren’t just local. So I’m getting emails and people that are hearing now that it’s made their trip. It was their first spot when they came to town,” said Boswell, “So things were you really don’t know that you’ve affected people’s lives just by serving food, which this is a very personal industry that we’ve made people’s birthdays, holidays all of those things that you people cherish, that you really are going to miss those moments of taking care of the people that have taken care of you.”

Owners Chef Scott Boswell and his wife, Tanya Boswell, are known for featuring breakfast all day, delicious sandwiches, Italian sodas, house-made ice creams, milkshakes and Louisiana favorites.