As New Orleans Navigates Aftermath of Bourbon Street Attack, Restaurants Offer Support

French Quarter restaurants are fundraising for victims amidst the need to look ahead to major citywide events

New Orleans restaurants have been adversely affected by tragic circumstances, natural and manmade, time and again. But the deadly New Year’s Day attack that killed 14 people just feet away from the doors of more than a dozen French Quarter restaurants and bars has introduced a new realm of devastation.

“We’ve been through [Hurricane] Katrina, the BP oil spill, [Hurricane] Ida, and COVID,” says Róbert LeBlanc, the founder of New Orleans restaurant group LeBlanc + Smith. “But this was the first time New Orleans has been impacted by something like this. It’s like someone came and took a piece of who we are.”

In the early morning hours of January 1, 2025, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, a U.S. citizen from Texas, drove a pickup truck into a crowd of people celebrating New Year’s Eve on Bourbon Street, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. He made it three blocks before crashing into construction equipment at the corner of Bourbon and Conti Streets, where he opened fire and was killed by police.

LeBlanc runs some of the city’s most popular restaurants and bars, two of which are just a few hundred feet away from where the attack ended on Bourbon Street: the Will & the Way and Peychaud’s. Business at LeBlanc + Smith’s French Quarter restaurants has been “incredibly slow” since the attack, but he isn’t thinking too much about that right now.

LeBlanc says his company is lucky to be in a position to give back. On Monday, January 13, 100 percent of all food and liquor sales at LeBlanc + Smith bars and restaurants (Anna’s, Barrel Proof, Sylvain, and more) will be donated to the Greater New Orleans Foundation’s (GNOF) New Orleans New Year’s Day Tragedy Fund, he says. It’s one of several restaurant-led fundraising efforts to benefit the families of the victims and survivors of the attack.

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A collective of French Quarter bars and restaurants immediately near where the attack took place, including Arnaud’s, GW Fins, Galatoire’s, and more (the full list is here), will donate 100 percent of proceeds from certain dishes or drinks — for example, a French 75 at Arnaud’s — sold between Monday, January 13 to Sunday, January 19 to the GNOF fund. They’re calling the fundraiser Fleur du Coeur, or flower of the heart.

For Archie Casbarian, the co-owner of French Quarter fine-dining icon Arnaud’s, the fundraiser is an important symbol of solidarity and a way to feel productive in the face of tragedy. “I think we all as humans struggle to understand something like this so that we can move forward easier, and there’s just nothing to be said or done to make it okay. But we’re trying to do something small, and get people thinking about what they can do in turn to help. Because to help, that is a comfort,” Casbarian says.

Beyond that, there are a lot of unknowns, says Casbarian. “It remains to be seen how things are going to unfold. We have a very large conference coming in town, plus you have the Super Bowl, and Mardi Gras gearing up as well. There may be questions in people’s minds, and [these events] may not be as well attended as they would have been,” he says. “We hope [the fundraiser] can help the French Quarter come back off of its knees and get back to its business.”

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For many people in the hospitality industry, “business” is more than the bottom line, says Steve Pettus, managing partner at Dickie Brennan & Co., a restaurant group that includes Palace Cafe, Bourbon House, Tableau, and more. It’s also how they feel fulfilled. “If the happiness of people, their enjoyment, is important to you, when that is damaged or somehow lessened, it impacts you profoundly,” Pettus says. “That’s where Katy [Casbarian] was coming from,” he says. Pettus credits Katy Casbarian, Archie’s sister, for getting the ball rolling on the fundraiser.

“It’s about bringing people together, but it’s also about creating some sense of normalcy for our team. We’re committed to addressing this head-on — how do we accept this, show compassion to those who are deceased and their families. But also recognize that we have a responsibility to move on. We have 600 employees, and everyone needs a paycheck,” he says.

Such efforts have become almost reflexive in New Orleans, says E.J. Lagasse, chef of Emeril’s. Emeril Lagasse’s flagship restaurant, now helmed by son E.J., is hosting its own fundraising event. Chefs for New Orleans on January 28 is a five-course dinner with a course each from Jackie Blanchard (Sukeban), Tom Branighan (Mamou), Ana Castro (Acamaya), Nicole Cabrera Mills (Pêche), and E.J. Proceeds will benefit GNOF’s New Orleans New Year’s Day Tragedy Fund.

“There is a long history of New Orleans chefs coming together to help our community during hard times, as well as reaching out to other cities who are in need,” says Lagasse. For LeBlanc, the reflex to organize is accompanied by a pull to reflect. “I think 2024 was a great year for New Orleans. The city was busier, we pulled off [hosting a concert from] Taylor Swift. We’ve been getting ready for the Super Bowl. We really had cause for celebration,” he says. That the attack caused “reservations, regrets, or nervousness” around celebrating together is its secondary tragedy, one that demands a collective effort to overcome.

LeBlanc thinks the task of making people feel comfortable in the city coincides with the task of reclaiming some of what’s been lost. “Get to know people individually, and care for them individually. That’s how we’re going to make people feel safe, protected, and most importantly, loved.”