Should New Orleans restaurants just close for the summer — not take a vacation for a week or two, but shutter for the season? It’s a question more have been forced to mull as summer has grown more onerous for them.
For the Carrollton-area restaurant Boucherie, the answer this year is yes, at least partially. It will close for all of June and July, with plans to return in August. One important factor in the decision for chef Nathanial Zimet is that he can keep his staff working at his adjacent casual restaurant Bourrée, and on other projects he has in development.
Boucherie is a cottage-sized restaurant in New Orleans for a modern blend of Southern and global flavors. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The question of how local restaurants can manage summer arrives this time of year with urgency.
Memorial Day weekend ushers in the slow time in New Orleans. Many restaurants simply don’t see enough business in the summer to cover their costs, and so lose money by staying open.
Even at small restaurants, operators say losing $70,000 to $100,000 through the summer has become normal. Building up cash reserves to counter the loss has grown harder in the face of rising costs industrywide and local issues, like the skyrocketing price of Louisiana’s insurance crisis.
Temporarily closing could shield them from such punishing losses. But if seasonal restaurant closings become commonplace, it would make New Orleans less attractive for the visitors who do come in summer and more barren for the locals.
Some are testing other answers, combining hustle, collaboration and a different seasonal mindset.
Cuts, collaboration, ‘jams’
Last year, chefs Amarys Herndon and Jordan Herndon closely considered a summer closing for Palm & Pine, the small, modern New Orleans restaurant they opened on the edge of the French Quarter in 2019. Ultimately they decided to push through again.
Jordan Herndon and Amarys Herndon are co-chefs and proprietors of Palm & Pine, at 308 N. Rampart St. in New Orleans.
STAFF PHOTO BY MAX BECHERER
“Our priorities and vision for this restaurant are taking care of the people who work here, and there isn’t a way for us to do that being closed three or four months a year,” said Amarys Herndon.
Instead, they’ve created a new seasonal business model, a summer trim to reduce costs until the upswing in the fall.
“Everything flips,” said Jordan Herndon. “There’s one model for how we’re profitable during the busy season and a new model for how we stay afloat in the summer, and it’s about how little money can we lose.”
Palm & Pine offers a casual approach to fine dining at 308 N. Rampart St. in New Orleans.
STAFF PHOTO BY MAX BECHERER
Starting in June, Palm & Pine will close on Wednesdays and put Saturday brunch on hiatus, and it will close an hour earlier on weekend nights. Staff is reduced at the bar and in the kitchen, where one of the co-owners often covers multiple stations normally handled by individual cooks.
Jordan Herndon works in the open kitchen of his restaurant Palm & Pine at 308 N. Rampart St. in New Orleans.
STAFF PHOTO BY MAX BECHERER
But it’s not all about cutting back. Palm & Pine now hosts a summer guest chef series to boost interest during the doldrums.
The chefs also created a campaign called Palm & Pine Essential Jams. Online, and on printed materials for the dining room, it lists other independent restaurants, bars, taprooms and pop-ups that the chefs “can’t imagine New Orleans without,” encouraging their own customers to support them too.
MoPho restaurant closed in the spring of 2025 after more than a dozen years in Mid-City. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Since starting the campaign, though, one did close, MoPho, news that surprised many New Orleans dining enthusiasts this spring.
“What keeps people coming back to New Orleans is the food and the music,” Amarys Herndon said. “If all you have left are the big out of town companies and chains, what’s the point of coming to New Orleans?”
Year-round effort
New Orleans is now frequently touted in the travel media as a top destination, in particular for its food. But in the summer, all bets are off and the pressure on restaurants grows.
There are citywide restaurants promotions in summer, including by Restaurant Week (June 16-22) and Coolinary (Aug. 1-31), and some summer events bring a burst of business.
But making it through the season is now a year-round effort, as restaurant operators try to build a bulwark of cash for the summer.
That’s the reason Prince Lobo, chef at his family’s Ethiopian restaurant Addis NOLA on Bayou Road, worked in overdrive during the spring at special events, including as a food vendor at French Quarter Festival.
Prince Lobo is known for the exuberance of his greetings and daily affirmations at Addis NOLA, his family’s Ethiopian restaurant on Bayou Road in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
“You really, really, really have to get active,” Lobo said. “When it’s busy, bask in it, but keep in mind in a few months you’re going to need every penny to turn the corner into summer.”
He’s trying to get into more events, and he’s creating a special late-night service for summer around cocktails with a streamlined menu. He’s also drawing on experience from the pandemic, by working on summer collaborations with other brands and chefs.
A modern feel and touchpoints to the homeland define the new Addis NOLA, the Ethiopian restaurant on Bayou Road in New Orleans. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
“It’s hot, but there are still people here and we want to serve them,” Lobo said. “You have to foster community and give people great reasons to be in your establishment, more than just going out to spend money on dinner.”
Summer as preseason
Larger restaurants and hospitality groups generally have more resources to weather summer losses. But running parallel to the financial strain, there is a drain on the spirit for people in hospitality facing empty reservation books and sparse dining rooms, one that cuts across the city’s dining scene.
“You wonder if people still like you, you start changing things up, your team starts second guessing itself, it creates pressure, stress and doubt that you don’t need,” said Robért LeBlanc, founder of the hospitality group LeBlanc + Smith.
The courtyard at the restaurant Sylvain is an atmospheric space in the French Quarter. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
But he’s found ways to transform summer. He treats the slow months as something akin to preseason training camp for his company, which now has a diverse portfolio including Sylvain and Mahony’s Po-boys, the hotels The Chloe and The Celestine and the bars The Will & The Way, Barrel Proof and Anna’s.
It’s a time to focus on processes and operations, training for staff and refining the guest experience, he said. There are town hall meetings for staff feedback and team-building events, often at other local venues, to spread more support.
A busy night has the bar and dining room bustling at Sylvain restaurant in the French Quarter. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
The company now ends its financial year in summer, so that the next cycle can start with projects and initiatives that might otherwise get lost in the shuffle of the busy time.
“Even though you’re not super busy, you still have productive work to do, you alleviate that pressure and you get better results,” LeBlanc said.
Summer is long, but the upswing will come again in the fall, and restaurants need to be ready for the renewed opportunities.
“If you cut too much in labor and programming, you’re vulnerable when things get busy again, and that can happen quickly,” he said. “If you didn’t prepare or go dormant, you miss out on the uptick and you need that big October to make up for the losses.”