Lowpoint left Poland Avenue this year for a corner of St. Claude that is three times as big. Once Around the Kitchen used to sell its jams and pickles as a pop-up, at markets and through other shops, and on Sept. 25 it opened its own door at 1919 St. Claude. That same night the Hi-Ho Lounge brought its old name back to 2239 St. Claude. Between Elysian Fields and Poland Avenue, a lot of what's new in the Marigny and Bywater this fall started somewhere else and ended up on the avenue. That stretch is now where the season's coffee, provisions, music and its biggest Nov. 1 tradition all are.
One Friday, Two Doors
Mayor Helena Moreno declared Friday, Sept. 25 Dolly Parton Day as a nod to "9 to 5." The Krewe of Dolly's second line started at Louis Armstrong Park, stopped at the New Orleans Jazz Museum for the mayor's proclamation, and went up Frenchmen Street to the Blue Nile. The official afterparty was on St. Claude, at the Hi-Ho Lounge.
Three blocks up toward the Quarter, Once Around the Kitchen had its first official day of business that morning. It was open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with ham sandwiches, pickle lemonade, homemade Italian sodas and its own jams and pickles, and it gave 20% of the day's proceeds to Parton's Imagination Library.
Dré Glass's preserves business had been working toward that door for weeks. An Aug. 7 report on WhatNow expected a soft opening in early September and a full launch in October. On Sept. 16, Axios New Orleans still listed it as a pop-up planning a permanent St. Claude spot "soon." Its website still points shoppers to the online store, markets and stockists and doesn't post regular hours for the shop, so check before you walk over.
The Name That Came Back to St. Claude and Marigny
The Hi-Ho was a fixture at the corner of St. Claude Avenue and Marigny Street until owners Alice Blackwell and Michael Oilar moved on at the end of October 2024. The room reopened quickly as No Dice and kept booking bands and DJs for two years. No Dice announced it was wrapping up on Sept. 12 and said it would honor shows already booked through the handoff.
The new operators, New Orleans residents Mike Davis and Melissa Eckert, have been clear about what they're doing.
"We didn't take over this space to change it; we took it over to bring it back."
That's from their press statement. They said they'd take their time getting the stage ready for "the local independent talent, artists, and neighborhood regulars who made this room magic." The building's owner hasn't changed. John Hartsock bought it after Hurricane Katrina, renovated it, and opened the original Hi-Ho with Lori Bernard. The soft opening was Sept. 25, and the bar was set to be in full swing by Oct. 1.
Here's the weekly schedule they've planned, along with live music:
- Monday: free red beans and rice
- Tuesday: cumbia and taco night
- Thursday: '80s night with DJ Shane Love
- Sunday: game-day drink specials
DJ Soul Sister is also bringing her HUSTLE! party back to the room on Halloween, which falls on a Saturday this year.
Why Lowpoint Made the Move
Lowpoint is the clearest example of a business leaving a side street for the avenue, because its owners explained exactly why. Co-owners Mik Grantham and Potter Debella opened the cafe five years ago on Poland Avenue, in a space whose earlier owner had closed during the pandemic. They told Gambit that last summer was their worst ever. Repairs on the St. Claude Avenue bridge backed traffic up along Poland, and "People literally couldn't get to us," Grantham said. The landlord was also raising the rent.
"This place is three times the size and was still $100 less," Grantham said of 3700 St. Claude Ave. "We had to take it." The permitting process was tricky. They had everything in hand by January.
The bigger space let them add things. The new location has a large patio and more room for Debella and baker Cate Alber. It also runs on two schedules, which matters if you're deciding when to stop by.
| When | Hours | What's on |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday to Wednesday | 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Fresh biscuits, pastries, Leo's Bread bagels, breakfast sandwiches like the Big Edith on a flaky biscuit, and the vegetarian Chickpea-tita on Leo's semolina toast |
| Thursday to Saturday | 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. | Debella's evening menu, based on his extended Italian family's weekend dinners, with a pasta every night and a rotating seasonal salad |
In late July, the nightly pasta was a baked ziti with bechamel and Calabrian chili honey. Gambit described that as the dish "for now," so the menu may have changed since.
The Rest of the Stretch, Block by Block
Walk from Once Around the Kitchen out to Lowpoint and you pass most of the year's other new stops on the avenue.
Tacos Diva opened July 1 at 2633 St. Claude Ave. Iris Cardona owns it, her son Elvin Garza works there, and the menu covers Mexican, Honduran and Salvadoran dishes. Further down at 3304 St. Claude, Gaijin Sandos has been serving Japanese-inspired dishes since May.
One move this season went the opposite way, for a similar reason. Glass Half Full, the recycling company started by Franziska Trautmann and Max Steitz, ended its Louisa Street drop-off on Sept. 30. The company is still running and has moved its operations to a larger facility in Chalmette. Like Lowpoint, it moved because it needed more room. Lowpoint found that room on the avenue, and Glass Half Full found it across the parish line, so anyone who used the Louisa site will need a new routine.
Fet Gede Has Always Been on the Avenue
The newest storefronts are arriving at a stretch that already hosts the neighborhood's oldest fall tradition. On Sunday, Nov. 1, the New Orleans Healing Center at 2372 St. Claude Ave. holds its 46th annual Fet Gede, the Haitian Day of the Dead. The Healing Center organizes it with La Source Ancienne Ounfo, the New Orleans Vodou society that conducts the ceremony every year. The Bywater-Marigny Business Organization lists it as free, from 5 to 10 p.m.
Here's how the evening runs:
- Arrival and happy hour, 5 to 7 p.m.: ancestor altars, an art market with local vendors, food, and a bar that runs by donation.
- The ceremony: initiated members of La Source Ancienne Ounfo lead a sacred Vodou ceremony with Haitian master drummers.
- The procession: described by the organizers as feeding the Dead, naming the Beloved Dead, passing flame and praying.
The organizer's listings give slightly different times for the ceremony, so plan around the full 5 to 10 p.m. window and confirm the procession time on the Healing Center's page closer to the date.
Five nights later, on Friday, Nov. 6, Cafe Istanbul in the same building hosts "…into the MAGICAL realm," a dance performance by Karla Marie Shimmy Soul and Studio Shakti, from 7:30 to 10 p.m.
A Fall Week on St. Claude
Put it all on a calendar and one stretch of St. Claude covers a whole week. Lowpoint's biscuits are there Sunday through Wednesday mornings, and the Hi-Ho has free red beans Monday night. Tuesday is cumbia and tacos, and Thursday brings both Debella's pasta and DJ Shane Love's '80s set. Saturday, Oct. 31, is HUSTLE! on Halloween, and the Healing Center's altars go up the next evening. Every address in that list is on St. Claude Avenue.
If a home a few blocks off St. Claude is part of your plans, it helps to understand how this fall's new storefronts change the walk to coffee, dinner and the season's events. New Orleans Luxury Living follows these Marigny and Bywater blocks closely and can walk you through them in person. Request a Private Consultation.
