The Bell, a Very Plaid Pub From a Charleston Restaurateur, Opens on Esplanade Avenue

The new restaurant and bar from Brooks Reitz has Animal House vibes — and a forthcoming outdoor oyster bar

In the last few years, trends like grandma-chic and Barbiecore have infiltrated dining rooms across the U.S. as restaurants embrace a distinctly feminine aesthetic. You won’t find any hint of that at the Bell, a new restaurant and bar opened by a popular Charleston restaurateur. Here, set along New Orleans’s tree-draped Esplanade Avenue, the vibe is unmistakably masculine, with decor that wouldn’t be out of place in a 19th-century U.K. gentleman’s club and a menu that’s more laddish English pub than flirty Parisian cafe.

Brooks Reitz, who owns popular Charleston restaurants Leon’s Oyster Shop, Melfi’s, and Little Jack’s Tavern, and his New Orleans-based business partners, Tim Mink and Andrew Bell, have taken over the Bayou St. John building (3125 Esplanade Avenue) formerly home to the Post and Nonna Mia. It’s a cozy space known for its outdoor patio and front porch, one that could easily be mistaken for someone’s home rather than a restaurant. Reitz and company have leaned into the building’s homey nature, repainting it and decking out the small, three-room interior with tartan fabric, Union Jack flags and pillows, black-and-white rugby photos, croquet mallets and wooden racquets, dark wood, squat leather stools, and library-esque antique lamps.

The British influence is apparent, thanks to British-born Bell and Mink and Reitz’s affinity for England. Bell is the primary New Orleans-based partner (Mink is largely based here too, but Bell runs the restaurant’s front of house and lives in the neighborhood); Reitz remains based in Charleston. While the menu was developed by Reitz’s Charleston team, there is one familiar, highly regarded name in the kitchen: Marcus Jacobs, the chef behind former restaurants Marjie’s Grill and Seafood Sally’s, and current co-owner of Porgy’s Seafood Market in Mid-City.

The menu is a succinct mix of hearty, elevated pub food and Southern favorites. There’s the Indian staple bhaji, described on the menu as curried onion and carrot fritters, which are also popular in England. A classic shrimp cocktail is served with Marie Rose sauce, a British condiment made from a blend of ketchup, mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, and pepper. A smoked trout dip is accompanied by ever-popular fried saltines, and broiled Gulf oysters are topped with bubbly cheddar rather than Parmesan. Fried mussels on the half shell and crudite with a dill and fennel dip complete the appetizer offerings.

From top left: Smoked trout dip with fried saltines, fishmongers pie, endive salad, and fried fish sandwich.

The salad section of the menu is important to Reitz, he says, as his Charleston restaurants are somewhat known for their salads. There’s one with celery, arugula, pistachio, and olive; a classic endive salad with apple, Stilton, and walnuts; and a Siam salad with cabbage, crispy onions, avocado, and herb — this last one is a favorite at Leon’s Oyster Shop. Reitz is excited about the handful of British staples that make an appearance, like a crispy fish sandwich with fries to satisfy fish and chips-seekers and a fishmonger’s pie, served with a browned and bubbling cheese crust. Other entrees, for now, include a horseradish, onion, and arugula steak sandwich; seared shrimp cakes with lentils and an herb salad; and a pork chop with braised fennel. Sides like peas with shallot and mint round out the menu.

Then there’s the eight-seat bar, which, along with the small front “pub room,” is first-come, first-served (the dining room is for reservations, though not exclusively). Reitz wants the Bell to be a “Guinness bar,” a place that knows how to pour and serve a proper pint of Guinness. That means it should be ice cold, says Reitz, in the proper branded glass, with foam that’s “proud” of the rim, or settles just at or above it. A frozen drink machine dispenses a frozen gin and tonic, and the cocktail menu includes a negroni, a margarita, a Little Bird (tequila, grapefruit liqueur, lime, rosewater), a Gold Rush, a breakfast martini (orange marmalade, gin, lemon), and a “club style” gin and tonic. Wine, about 20 varieties, skew old world but includes an Argentinian sparkling chardonnay, a Chilean red blend, and an orange from Croatia.

The most exciting element of the Bell, arguably, is still a few months away. That famed side patio, a slide of land set along what is widely considered New Orleans’s most beautiful thoroughfare, will eventually house a horseshoe-shaped oyster bar, the restaurant’s centerpiece. For now, the nicely landscaped area contains about eight four-top tables. Towards the back is a lovely vintage wrought iron garden entryway, which will separate the patio dining from the oyster bar. The bar, which will be covered, will serve beer and three to four rotating oyster varieties each night: one from the Gulf, one from the West Coast, and one from the East Coast. This too will be first-come, first-served.

The Bell, at 3125 Esplanade Avenue, is open Friday and Saturday from 5 to 10 p.m.; Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday, and Monday from 5 to 9:30 p.m.; and closed Tuesday. Check out more of the Bell below.

The dining room at the Bell.