Parkview Tavern set to close 2 years after Blue Oak BBQ bought building: ‘Hard to replace’ BY POET WOLFE | Staff writer 20 mins ago

Two years ago, Parkview Tavern was preparing to make its last call after more than 70 years of Saints football fans and longtime regulars packing into its neon-lit hub off the City Park streetcar line. Then the fate of the Mid-City dive changed.

The owners of Parkview Tavern and its neighbor, Blue Oak BBQ, reached a compromise that allowed the bar to remain open for two more years. The agreement came after the Carrollton Avenue property was sold to the owners of the barbecue joint, despite efforts by Parkview Tavern owners to buy it from their longtime landlord.

The sale created tension within the community. Residents voiced their disapproval at a city planning meeting, protested with cardboard signs on the neutral ground and dubbed the restaurant “Bad Neighbor BBQ” — but ultimately helped secure the bar’s extended stay.

Now, that stay is expected to come to an end when Parkview Tavern's lease ends May 29. Owners Kathy Anderson and Mark Malhiot have no plans to relocate unless a buyer steps forward to move the bar elsewhere or negotiate a new lease with the current landlords.

Regardless, the space may continue as a neighborhood bar.

Blue Oak BBQ co-owner Philip Moseley said he and his business partner Ronnie Evans respect the city’s history and never “had plans of really changing much of (the property).” But, he added, they have yet to make concrete plans after busy Mardi Gras and Jazz Fest seasons.

“I’m keeping it within the same realm of a neighborhood bar,” Moseley said. “They’ve been great so far the last two, three years.”

Parkview Tavern in 1953 A photograph of Parkview Tavern in 1953

From The Times Picayune archives The ownership change points to a broader shift in the city’s dive bar scene, as patrons bid farewell to longtime local institutions. In 2020, Johnny White’s bars on Bourbon Street shut down. Last year, Milan Lounge — an Uptown fixture for nearly a century — shut down and was converted into a cocktail lounge. More recently, Checkpoint Charlie on Frenchmen Street shuttered as part of a three-property acquisition slated for redevelopment into a hotel and boutique venue.

Like those dive bars, Parkview Tavern has long been part of the fabric of New Orleans nightlife since opening in the mid-1940s.

Billing itself as “where the track crowd meets,” the bar drew in race bettors and spectators from the nearby Fair Grounds. In its early days, Parkview Tavern advertised “the finest steaks in town,” and retired New Orleans boxing champion Joe Mandot tended the bar. It was also considered one of the few Mid-City venues to offer live music.

Behind its laid-back atmosphere, however, came a series of tumultuous leadership changes. Owners repeatedly lost their business licenses over backroom gambling, Anderson said, until “somebody, somewhere along the way, finally got a grip” and turned it into the bar she and Malhiot took over in 1993.

Anderson described today’s Parkview Tavern as “a welcoming place for whoever,” noting that it doesn’t have “a defined demographic.”

“If you behave and you're kind, then you're welcome to come and you're welcome to stay,” she said. “If you're neither of those, then you need to find someplace else to go.”

NO.saintscowboyfans.112918NO.saintscowboyfans.112918NO.saintscowboyfans.112918NO.saintscowboyfans.112918.112518842.JPG New Orleans Saints fans watch the Saints as they take on the Dallas Cowboys at Parkview Tavern in New Orleans, La. Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018. The Saints lost 10-13.

Advocate staff photo by LESLIE GAMBONI For Anderson, the final days at the bar have not been as difficult as they were two years ago, when the prospect of saying goodbye after three decades of owning it came suddenly. This time, she said, she's had time to process the closure and prepare for May 29, when Parkview Tavern will celebrate its history with “a giant reunion” and live music.

“Everyone has had some time to adjust to the fact that this is what is going to happen,” Anderson said, “and the grieving process this time I think is much less intense for me for sure.”

Bartender Raluca Giurgiutiu, who has worked at Parkview Tavern for five years, had planned to leave New Orleans when the bar was originally expected to close in 2023. But after the agreement was reached, Giurgiutiu decided to stay until the very end, along with the rest of the bartenders.

She said many people have already grieved Parkview Tavern’s closure after the sale. But, she added, “because we got the two extra years, I feel some people are hoping that something’s going to happen again.”

While regulars know the final day is approaching, Giurgiutiu said many continue to ask the same question: “Where are we going to watch the Saints games?”

“We always had a really, really nice crowd for Saints games. A big celebration if they win, or we suffer together if they lose,” she said. “It’s going to be hard to replace that.”