Our History
1991
On March 28. 1991. Southside Cafe was opened for business by Dan & Sharon DeBlanc, bartender Chris Legrand (now the managing partner) and the help of good friends. The idea was to create a neighborhood restaurant like the ones Dan, Sharon, & Chris grew up with in New Orleans. With comfort food like ya' Mamma makes, a bar chock full of your favorite libations & frozen mugs of beer, you could easily imagine yourself to be in any neighborhood restaurant from the 9th Ward to Uptown New Orleans.
2005
On August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina devastate South Slidell. It pushed 3 feet of Lake Pontchartrain into the restaurant. Again, with the help of good friends and staff, Southside was renovated and was set to reopen in early November 2005.
In the early morning hours of October 23rd, the restaurant burned to the ground, destroying all the memorabilia and pictures. The fire had derailed the hard work and effort that had been put into the renovation and it almost broke the spirit of everyone involved. Almost....
2006
Fiercely determined, construction started over, rebuilt and reopened in May of 2006. Now bigger and better than ever, Southside never looked back. Southside is a success story because of very loyal customers, staff and a special group of friends who helped through the most difficult times. We hope you enjoy it as much as we enjoy serving you. And remember Never, never, ever Give Up!