A beloved Italian restaurant known for its quirky decor and hearty pizzas is being evicted from the French Quarter building it has called home for nearly 40 years.
Farrow Stephenson and Tom Moore, owners of Mona Lisa Restaurant, were left in shock Thursday morning by a notice giving them 60 days to vacate their longstanding pizzeria on Royal Street, near the Golden Lantern bar.
The realtor wrote in a text message that the new owner would not renew the lease, Stephenson said Friday. He and Moore knew there was a chance this might happen when the building went up for sale in March. Still, the notice came as a surprise for the married couple, who have owned the restaurant for 20 years. Mona Lisa first opened in 1987.
“We just didn’t know it would be so sudden,” Stephenson said.
The realtor also offered to help them find a new building to house Mona Lisa. Though the co-owners would consider the offer, Stephenson doesn’t think anywhere else would quite compare to their cozy space filled with comical and intricate replicas of the famed 16-century masterpiece that is the eatery’s namesake.
“It’s such a good mix of tourists and local people,” he said. “To replicate it somewhere else would be really difficult.”
Over the years, the co-owners managed to bring an already tight-knit community closer, which is why residents were equally shocked — and upset — to hear about the eviction.
“Everybody has been so, so, so overwhelming,” Stephenson said. “They’ve been so nice… I can’t even begin to express how appreciative we are of everybody.”
Stephenson brought joy to the historic neighborhood at the height of the pandemic in 2020, when he started decorating the restaurant’s front door window with hand-drawn signs that featured a parody of the Renaissance muse and satirical messages about local and national politics.
He created a sign when the building was for sale earlier this year to address rumors about the restaurant potentially closing. This one showcased a sketch of a button-nosed Snoopy version of “Mona Lisa” drawn with blue crayon.
“Addressing the elephant. Yes the building is for sale…the restaurant is not for sale,” the note read.
And on Friday morning, Stephenson addressed the eviction the only way he knew how — using a sign of yellow-eyed dinosaur with long hair in the style of Mona Lisa.
“In case you haven’t heard…” the sign read in black marker. “We’ve been told by the new owner’s minion that we have 60 days to vacate… Now I’ll have time to make that podcast about the titanic like existence of independent restaurants.”
Dining and Cooking