NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Uptown restaurant Gris-Gris on Magazine Street will close at the end of July, owner and chef Eric Cook announced on social media Monday.
Cook said the decision came down to finances after weighing the slow summer ahead.
“Eventually…you take emotion out of it, and you just say, ‘Well, it’s a business,’” Cook said.
Cook added non-controllable costs continued to climb, leaving him with limited options.
“What we’ve been doing is just passing it on the consumer with prices,” Cook said. “The only way you stay competitive is to raise prices…but that can only go so far.”
Cook also cited added taxes, intermittent street closures and what he described as marketing focused primarily on downtown restaurants as contributing factors, particularly in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a joint statement on social media Monday, Eric and Robyn Cook said the decision came with heartbreak.
“Of all the posts we have made [and we have made a lot], this one is the toughest,” the statement read. “This is a decision that has come with a tremendous amount of emotion, and our hearts are broken, but at the end of the day, this is a well thought out business decision.”
The Cooks said they will release additional details Thursday about the restaurant’s final weeks in operation. The restaurant will take its regular Tuesday and Wednesday off this week.
“We will do all we can to make sure our friends, family and loyal customers have their last chance to ‘dance at the funeral,’” the statement read.
Gris-Gris regular Joni Arentz, who lives down the block, said she changed her plans Monday to visit the restaurant before it’s too late.
Arentz pointed to other summertime closures during what she described as a notoriously slow period for stores and restaurants.
“The thing is… I would say everyone support your local businesses, but everyone’s feeling the economy at the moment,” Arentz said.
Cook previously sold his downtown restaurant St. John. He said he will need some time with family at home before deciding what comes next.
“It was our turn in these old buildings to give it a chapter, and we did the best we could,” Cook said. “It’s somebody else’s turn.”
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Dining and Cooking