Home of the legendary roast beef po-boy and ground zero for New Orleans’ St. Patrick’s Day revelry, Parasol’s Restaurant and Bar will close at the end of August and re-open at some point under new ownership.
Take a minute if you need it to let the news sink in. It’s still sinking in for proprietors Jeffrey and Jaimee Carreras, who have leased the building and owned the business since December 1998. Parasol’s was one of the first po-boy shops in the city to re-open after Katrina.
The Carreras’ started negotiations last March with current owner Billy Hock to buy the building on the corner of Third and Constance Streets.
“The owner put it on the market for almost double what I was willing to offer,” Jeffrey Carreras says. “I wasn’t going to pay that much for the building. I’ve been here for 12 years. I know the condition the building is in.”
On July 28, the Carreras learned that a couple from Clearwater, Florida purchased the building and the business. The new owners could not be reached for comment.
Adding to the Carreras’ heartbreak: the name Parasol’s stays with the building, according to the original lease agreement.
“That was the crusher for me and my wife,” Carreras says. “It knocked the wind out of us.”
Carreras says they will be out of the building by August 31. They are gathering up the memorabilia, the menu and the employees and moving one block north to the space currently occupied by the Irish Garden bar and restaurant at 2604 Magazine Street. They’ll reopen with a new name — Tracey’s — but the same, familiar faces.
When asked if he knows what the new owners’ plans are, the shock and anger in Carreras’ voice is palpable. F-bombs fly. The negotiation to buy Carreras’ liquor license and other operational functions of the business did not go well, he says.
The new owners will have to apply for a new liquor license, which can take 30 to 45 days.
Although he is still working through the details of moving into Irish Garden, Carreras plans to take over the bar’s licenses and re-open within days of leaving Parasol’s.
Carreras may be losing one name in history, but he’s reclaiming another and bringing a legacy full circle. Before Parasol’s opened in 1952, the building had been occupied by a bar called Tracey’s. In 1949, Tracey’s relocated to the building where Irish Garden is now.
“It’s a huge space and its in better shape,” Carreras says. “I know part of the charm of Parasol’s is that it’s so grungy, but it’s also about the local clientele and I know they’ll follow us to Tracey’s.”
“Maybe I’ll poke some holes in the floor and make the building lean a little,” Carreras jokes.
Carreras is organizing a Second Line from Parasol’s to Tracey’s on August 29, and a priest will bless the new space with holy water from Ireland. For details, ask the bartender when you drop by the bar for a cold beer and that signature, sloppy roast beef po-boy.
