The owners of Ivar’s Sports Bar and Grill at 2954 Perkins Road have signed a long-term lease for the nearby building under the Perkins Road overpass that was formerly home to Chelsea’s Cafe, and plan to open a restaurant in the site later this year.
Ivar’s, a well-known neighborhood watering hole located just one block from the former Chelsea’s site at 2857 Perkins Road, will remain open, as it serves a different niche and clientele than the new restaurant is aiming to attract.
Brad Watts, who is not a co-owner of Ivar’s but is one of three partners in the new venture, says plans for the nearly 7,000-square-foot space are still being finalized, but it is envisioned as a “nice” though not necessarily upscale restaurant and bar.
“We’re developing a whole new concept for the space,” says Watts, who owns the River Room downtown and has decades of experience in the restaurant business. “We’re coming up with a whole new thing.”
Watts says he and his partners, Ivar’s owners Chad Hughes and Edwin Edwards, a relative of Louisiana’s former governor, plan to bring in a well-established chef to the new restaurant and will release more details about the chef and their concept in the coming weeks. They hope to be open by August or September, though Watts says the building needs work and adds the renovation could take longer than expected.
“It’s a very unique space and we like it,” Watts says. “But it needs some TLC.”
The former Chelsea’s space was vacated at the end of last year, when Chelsea’s owner Dave Remmetter closed his restaurant and music venue after operating it for a decade at the site. At the time, Remmetter cited ongoing frustrations with the property owner over the building’s condition and its leaky roof as among the main reasons behind his decision. Since Remmetter moved out, the building’s owner has replaced the roof.
—Stephanie Riegel
