2006 – 2013 via Flickr | Southern Foodways Alliance
The French Quarter is the beating heart of New Orleans tourism. Millions of people wander its streets every year, drawn in by its jazz, food, cocktails, and culture. But look a little closer, and a glaring question starts to emerge: Where are the Black-owned businesses?
In a city that is nearly 60% Black, the French Quarter—the historic center of Creole culture—is strikingly white-owned and corporate-controlled. While street performers and service workers are often Black, the owners of the bars, shops, and restaurants they work in are overwhelmingly not.
It’s a disconnect rooted in economics, displacement, and a long history of exclusion.
A Quarter Built on Black Labor, But Not Black Ownership
The irony is hard to miss. Much of the French Quarter’s charm—its food, its architecture, its music—exists because of Black New Orleanians, particularly the descendants of enslaved Africans and Afro-Creoles. Yet, decades of redlining, discriminatory lending, and tourism-driven gentrification have effectively priced out Black entrepreneurs from owning real estate in the Quarter.
Even many of the Black-owned businesses that once thrived here in the 1960s and ’70s—like Little Peoples Place, Hickory’s, and J&M Studios—are long gone, replaced by franchises, souvenir shops, and upscale restaurants catering to visitors.
Barriers to Entry: More Than Just Rent
The cost of commercial rent in the French Quarter is astronomical. But it’s not just rent that blocks access. Securing loans, navigating city permits, and meeting the often-unspoken “standards” of the Vieux Carré Commission can be nearly impossible for small, independent Black entrepreneurs.
Black business owners are often forced to set up shop elsewhere—along Broad Street, in Central City, or in Gentilly—where costs are lower but foot traffic and tourist dollars are harder to come by.
The Illusion of Inclusion
It’s not that Black culture isn’t present in the French Quarter—it’s that it’s often performed rather than owned. You can hear a brass band on Royal Street, but the shop behind them selling $28 pralines? Not Black-owned. You can watch a second line parade from your boutique hotel balcony—but the hotel itself? Owned by a hedge fund in New York.
This is what happens when culture is commodified instead of cultivated. Blackness is packaged and sold, but Black people are pushed out of ownership and profit.
Who’s Still Standing?
There are still Black-owned businesses fighting for visibility in and around the French Quarter:
- Community Book Center (just outside the Quarter)
- Willie Mae’s Scotch House (a few blocks away in the Warehouse District) (see Editor’s note regarding intention to rebuild at original location)
- Loretta’s Authentic Pralines (with a small stand at the French Market)
- Meals From the Heart Cafe in the French Market.
- Little Freddie King, while not a “business,” remains a cultural force who performs regularly in venues adjacent to the Quarter
But these are exceptions, not the rule.
What Needs to Change
To address this imbalance, we need more than good intentions—we need policy, funding, and grassroots support. That includes:
•City-led grants and incentives for Black entrepreneurs to open businesses in tourist zones
•Stronger support from tourism boards to highlight and promote existing Black-owned businesses
•Pressure on landlords to make space for community-rooted enterprises, not just chains
•Support from locals and visitors who actively seek out Black-owned spots and spend with intention
We Can’t Just Celebrate the Culture. We Have to Invest In It.
New Orleans can’t afford to keep turning Black culture into a backdrop. If we want authenticity, equity, and sustainability in our most visible neighborhood, we have to center Black ownership, not just Black performance.
It’s time to ask not just what we see in the French Quarter—but who profits from it.
Editor’s note: The original article stated Willie Mae’s was located in Treme. While it is true that Willie Mae’s was established in Treme in 1957, a fire burned down that location in 2023. The owners have stated they are working to rebuild the original location.
