Freret Street has multiple places for tacos, more for burgers and a few options for pizza. Soon, though, the Uptown restaurant row will get its first Thai spot.
Thai’d Up is planning to open at 4520 Freret St. It will be the second location for the restaurant from Thai-born Saowanit “Kate” Welch and her partner Ryan Walsh, who run the first Thai’D Up across town at 1839 Gentilly Blvd.
They are working toward opening in October, and eyeing the Freret Street Fall Festival on Oct. 31 as an official debut.
“We’re planning this as our second location, and we’ll see what the response is like and how we can juggle both,” said Walsh.
The couple, who met in New Orleans, opened their first restaurant in 2022 in a tiny storefront near the Fair Grounds Race Course. Its menu of Thai standards and its friendly, mom-and-pop feel has made it a neighborhood standby for flavorful, affordable meals.
There are a few Thai restaurants in the vicinity around Uptown, but this will be the first on the ever-changing ranks of Freret Street dining options.
They had initially looked at restaurant spaces on Freret Street before finding the Gentilly spot, so they see the move as coming full circle.
On Freret Street, the new address had long been home to the Cuban/Mexican restaurant Sarita’s Grill, a low-key place that was one of the first of the post-Katrina generation to begin the revival of Freret Street. It more recently had a short run as La Catrina Mexican Cuisine.
To begin, the menu on Freret Street will be similar to the Gentilly restaurant, running through a range of noodle dishes and soups, moo yang (grilled pork), Thai beef jerky, papaya salad and fried tofu, with the house nam jim jaew chili dipping sauce on hand to accentuate the flavors.
Jazz Fest vendor ‘shifts gears’
When the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival opens each day during its spring run, many people beeline to the food booths. For a loyal fan base, the first bite of any festival day is the cochon de lait po-boy from vendor Walker’s BBQ/Love at First Bite.
For those in the know, the epic sandwich has long been available year-round as well at Walker’s Southern Style BBQ (10828 Lincoln Beach Blvd.), the takeout restaurant in the Little Woods stretch of New Orleans East run by the same family as the fest booth.
Now, though, that has changed.
Proprietor Jonathan Walker and his family have shut down the restaurant after 22 years, saying it’s “time to shift gears.”
Don’t worry, they will maintain their perennial presence at Jazz Fest and other local events, including French Quarter Festival and the Oak Street Po-Boy Festival.
But between staffing woes, the rising cost of supplying the restaurant’s meat-laden menu, and the workload for parents in their late 70s, Walker said it was time to stop daily restaurant operations.
Now, they are ramping up catering, from football tailgates to corporate events and other festivals. They’ll continue to work out of the same shop, next to Castnet Seafood by the lakefront levee.
“The restaurant is closed, but the smoker is still going,” Walker said.
The restaurant opened in 2004, and it was among the first businesses back in action in the neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina, largely feeding work crews in the early months of recovery, Walker recalled.
His parents, Wanda and Skip Walker, started the family business back in 1992 by catering an event at Uptown Square.
From small events, they made the leap to Jazz Fest. Their sandwich, made with pulled pork, cabbage and horseradish sauce packed into a Dong Phuong pistolette, became a sensation, drawing long lines and often selling out at the festival.
The catering operation includes po-boy trays and many other types of smoked meats, sides and barbecue sandwiches.
Dining and Cooking