Serving Since

New Orleans

Serving since

1941

85 years in New Orleans

Dooky Chase's Restaurant

Tremé · Creole

Go here for
Fried chicken · Red beans and rice
Why go
The Tremé Creole restaurant where civil rights activists met upstairs, still run by the Chase family.
Local character
Locals + visitors. WWNO (Jan 2026) describes a lunch crowd of regulars and civic leaders, plus some tourists.
Good to know
Lunch Tuesday to Friday; dinner Friday and Saturday only.
Directions Official website

The restaurant gives 1941 as its opening. The Chase business began in 1939 as a po-boy and lottery-ticket stand across the street and moved to this corner in 1941.

Why it matters

Emily and Edgar "Dooky" Chase Sr. started the business in 1939 as a stand selling po-boys and lottery tickets. In 1941 they moved across the street to the corner of Orleans Avenue and North Miro Street, where it remains. In 1946 their son Edgar Jr. married Leah Lange, and Leah Chase turned the bar and sandwich shop into a sit-down restaurant known for Creole cooking and African American art.

The upstairs dining room hosted civil rights activists who met there to plan. The restaurant was listed in The Negro Motorist Green Book. After Hurricane Katrina it closed for two years to rebuild. It remains family-owned and operated.

The story

  1. 1939Business begins as a po-boy and lottery-ticket stand across the street2
  2. 1941Moves to Orleans Avenue and North Miro Street2
  3. 1946Edgar Chase Jr. marries Leah Lange1
  4. 2022Louisiana Civil Rights Trail marker unveiled2
  5. TodayStill serving New Orleans

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Notes on the record

  • The restaurant dates itself to 1941. The National Trust for Historic Preservation dates the business to 1939, when it began as a stand across the street.

Details

Address
2301 Orleans Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70119
Neighborhood
Tremé
Ownership
Family-owned
Status
Open · verified Sep 2026

OldScore

A secondary, editorial measure. The founding year above is the fact that matters most. How it works.

Age24/ 35
Continuity5/ 20
Local significance20/ 20
Local food culture15/ 15
Independence10/ 10
OldScore74/ 100

Local character: Locals + visitors. WWNO (Jan 2026) describes a lunch crowd of regulars and civic leaders, plus some tourists. This is separate from OldScore: a place can be popular with visitors and still belong here.

More like this

Sources

  1. Dooky Chase's Restaurant (official site, home and History) Founding year, Ownership, History, Address, Current status
  2. National Trust for Historic Preservation, "At Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans, Layers of History Run Deep" (Preservation, Summer 2022) Founding year, History, Ownership, What to order
  3. U.S. Civil Rights Trail, "Dooky Chase's Restaurant" Founding year, History
  4. WWNO, 'Where Y'Eat: At Dooky Chase's, Hospitality Flows Back' (Jan 22, 2026) History