Tonti’s Cocktail Bar and Bistro bid farewell to Algiers Point in New Orleans after serving plates that emulsified American and French fare for two years.
The eatery, which opened in November 2022, announced its closure on Saturday afternoon in a Facebook post that garnered heaps of goodbyes and confusion from fans. Some social media users reminisced their dining experiences at Tonti’s. Others asked when its last day was, to which the bistro responded that its doors were already closed.
Its Facebook account has been deactivated since. Tonti’s did not respond to comment Wednesday afternoon.
The restaurant identified as a French bistro, though its menu went well beyond such cuisine, from its patty melt with Swiss cheese and caramelized onions griddled on rye bread to beer-battled fish served with chips. Its French offerings were just as vast: French onion soup covered in a bubbling cheese and roasted chicken sitting atop a mountain of peas drenched in gravy. The cocktail menu featured bourbon, brandy and rum-based drinks.
French onion soup from Tonti’s Cocktail Bar and Bistro, an Algiers restaurant that announced its closure on Facebook Saturday afternoon. (Photo from Tonti’s Instagram account)
“We aren’t trying to invent something new,” Freddy Augustin, the former chef, told Gambit in 2023. “The menu is designed to work in our compact kitchen.”
Surrounded by neighborhood homes, the restaurant — formerly named Tonti’s Hand after the French general Henri de Tonti — was located inside a quaint building with a white facade and blue-trimmed windows. Its interior was haute, yet artsy with walls that were decked out in French advertising posters. On its website, Tonti’s described itself as “a tribute to a city that never stops celebrating.”
Tonti’s hosted various events for the community, including what it called “Drink and Drag” on Fridays, featuring cocktails and drag queen performances. The restaurant wrote in the Facebook post that they hosted weddings and participated in local charities.
“We are serving our neighborhood,” A.J. McAlear, the ex-manager, told Gambit. “Locals don’t want a destination restaurant. They want a place they can go to multiple times a week and feel comfortable.”
In the announcement posted on Facebook, the staff of Tonti’s did not disclose if they had future plans in New Orleans’ culinary scene, though the chef, Chet Henderson, told a commenter that he would be transitioning to a new opportunity in Austin. The post did not specify the reason for Tonti’s closure.