6 March 2023
Station 6 in Bucktown has new owners. | Josh Brasted/Eater NOLA
Plus, Topgolf is approved the second time around, roving carts return to Mister Mao, and Lakeside gets some new food
Station 6, Bucktown’s family-friendly seafood haven opened by Allison Vega-Knoll and Drew Knoll in 2016, has changed hands, reports the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate. The new owner will be familiar to fans of Uptown’s upscale French bistro Patois — that restaurant’s 2007 founder, Aaron Burgau, has purchased Station 6 with a group of business partners. Since Patois, Burgau has partnered with pitmaster Rob Bechtold to open the casual Central City BBQ, one of the city’s top destinations for barbecue, and more recently, purchased and reopened the iconic Charlie’s Steak House with the same partners he is joining forces with on Station 6. He’s also a partner on forthcoming Metairie Tex-Mex restaurant Las Cruces.
It sounds like Burgau and team are content to keep the acclaimed Station 6 much the same, including keeping in place chef Jeremy Latimer and general manager Dawn Michel, according to the newspaper.
Riverfront Topgolf is back on, unfortunately
The first New Orleans-area Topgolf has been approved for a riverfront development owned by the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center after failing to receive approval a few years back, the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reports. The massive international chain that combines golf-centric entertainment with a sports bar atmosphere will join a number of other “eatertainment” venues set for the city, including a French Quarter complex from Punch Bowl Social founder Robert Thompson, a pickleball venue with a restaurant and bar, and a different golf-entertainment project planned for a few miles away from this one, called 504 Golf.
Roving carts return to Mister Mao
The delightfully quirky Mister Mao will soon bring back one of its original distinguishing elements — roving, dim sum-style carts serving small bites, retired in the early days of the pandemic. Beginning Thursday, March 9, the “Here Comes the Chuck Wagon” selections return, offering items like Filipino chicken lumpia; Covey Rise sugar snap peas with sesame yum yum sauce; crispy popcorn shrimp with honey milk mayo; pork siu mai with leeks and ginger; Bright Side oysters; and and “meat on tiny sticks” with garlic yogurt and cucumber pickles (many of which are gluten-free).
Miister Mao
Lakeside gets new dining options
Mall food holds a special, nostalgic place in the hearts of Americans, chains and all. So it’s good news that Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie is gaining four new restaurants to its food court soon. The additions include one locally-born spot, pizza favorite Reginelli’s, with the rest national chains: DosBros Fresh Mexican Grill, Haagen-Dazs, and Pei Wei Asian Kitchen. There’s also a Louisiana-born chain in the works for the mall property, though not in the food court — Habaneros is taking over a space previously occupied by Chez Pierre and Poke World, both of which closed earlier this year.