Our Story

Liuzza’s Restaurant & Bar can trace their lineage at least all the way back to 1947 when Mr Vincent Liuzza wanted to have a place that paid homage to his Sicilian roots. He felt it necessary to have an establishment where local immigrants could gather and feel at home with food that would whisk them back to their homeland.

Fast forward to 1957, when young Theresa Galbo began waitressing at the Liuzza family’s establishment, the youngest of 12 children whose father operated a grocery several blocks away on South Hennessey & Ulloa streets, Galbo raised her family in the neighborhood and eventually purchased the restaurant in 1981.

With daughter Shanette Edler joining as a partner, Galbo’s diminutive yet warm presence became a fixture at the hostess’ lectern at the dining room’s entrance, where her trusty megaphone suspended by wire cut through the barroom din to alert waiting patrons to claim their tables. Theresa’s joint became a Mid-City epicenter for successive generations of New Orleanians and their ritual meals — before and after prep-football shootouts, Saints games, Jazz Fest, Carnival parades, high school graduations, bachelor parties, and funerals.

By the year 2000, Galbo was on track for retirement; her son Michael Bordelon came on as a partner; and Liuzza’s was firing on all cylinders, with lines snaking outside the door and a devoted crowd of eccentric regulars dominating the barroom, its wall adorned with the autographed photos of Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack, “Vic and Nat’ly” cartoonist Bunny Matthews, and other local icons.

Everything changed on Aug. 29, 2005, when the levees failed in Katrina’s wake, drowning the restaurant (and much of the surrounding neighborhood) in almost 9 feet of murky water.

Nonetheless, the family was determined to reopen. “Our hope is this will help the rest of the community, that seeing us open will give them the faith and belief that, ‘Hey, we can do this, too,’” Shanette told The Times-Picayune in May 2006. “We have an obligation to the community; it’s like we realized that people are watching us.”

Liuzza’s eventually would reopen, on May 6, 2006, and as testament to its recovery, the dining room was even featured in a 2011 episode of HBO’s “Treme.” But just as the business was hitting a post-Katrina stride that year, a drunk driver robbed Michael of his ability to work, and a relapse of cancer claimed Shanette’s life. Her husband, Raymond, a retired New Orleans firefighter, staunchly kept Liuzza’s afloat for as long as possible before quietly putting the business up for sale.

Enter Theresa Galbo’s older son Frank Bordelon, who took over the business operations, along with his wife Lori and son lil Frank, thus keeping this beloved institution in the family.

Frank and his family continue to serve up many of the standout dishes that have made Liuzza’s famous: the Italian pastas with red and white sauces, spinach lougia, fried-seafood platters, roast-beef poboys, heaping plates of onion rings and fried pickles, stuffed artichokes, and the “Frenchuletta,” a muffaletta on French bread with a special olive salad. And behind the bar, the frozen Bushwacker daiquiri machine still whirls in perpetual motion.” (Liuzza’s history- credit to Camellia Brands blog)

In 2022, the Bordelons passed the torch to business partners Erin Clark, George DeCastro, Jason DeCastro and Michael Shelow. who had an infinite passion for New Orleans culture and more importantly; its cuisine. But the Bordelons were not just interested in ending an era; they wanted the new owners to carry on the traditions Liuzza’s has held since 1947. After several gatherings, Erin and George passed the litmus test and another chapter of a New Orleans started. They believed in keeping menu the same. They didn’t look to modernize the restaurant, Erin and George understand that they are the curators of history and want to do everything to keep it from being forgotten.

Come visit us - nothing has changed… the culture is still preserved and you’ll still hear the shout “Draw one!” ringing in your ears!!!