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For Brooks Reitz it was the similarities between New Orleans and Charleston that made the town an apparent alternative when his group determined to open a restaurant exterior of South Carolina.

However the seek for the proper location for The Bell was lengthy.

Reitz, who owns a number of eating places in Charleston, together with Leon’s Oyster Store, Little Jack’s Tavern and Melfi’s, determined to open a restaurant in New Orleans after one in all his two enterprise companions moved to the town about eight years in the past. Reitz mentioned that they had been in search of one thing that “was much like what we’ve got in Charleston, usually sort of a neighborhood sort of setting (in) a novel or attention-grabbing constructing.”

They lastly discovered the proper location with the home at 3125 Esplanade Ave., which has a big patio and central location within the Fairgrounds. Reitz cites its proximity to Jazz Fest, Metropolis Park and a lot of basic New Orleans eating places within the space as to why it was match.

“We hope that we will create one thing dynamic sufficient to each please probably the most instant neighbors, but additionally entice folks from different elements of the town,” mentioned Reitz in regards to the general ethos for all their eating places.

The area principally required beauty updates because the location had beforehand been a restaurant known as The Put up. The intensive beauty renovation included refinishing the wooden flooring, updating the structure of the bar, including wallpaper and portray the outside. Updates to the patio included a forged iron doorway shipped in from Charleston for use as a part of an outside oyster bar and hanging planters full of flowers, much like what you’d discover exterior many basic British pubs.

Reitz says they need the texture to be a “cozy pub vibe” impressed by the basic English pubs which can be historically “neighborhood gathering locations usually with a warren of rooms…pubs have cozy little nooks they usually have little rooms. So, this being an previous home, a pub felt like the proper vernacular to work from.” The restaurant features a pub room, eating room, bar and patio.

Whereas the menu isn’t an actual copy of what you’d discover at a conventional pub, it does embrace dishes impressed by pub fare, like a fried fish sandwich with celery root remoulade. Native seafood, like Louisiana shrimp cocktail with Marie Rose sauce and broiled Gulf oysters with Neal’s Yard Cheddar, are additionally featured.

Reitz particularly highlights their salads, a lot of that are nicely cherished and a few of their bestsellers at his Charleston eating places.

“We like when eating places have choices at varied ends of the spectrum. So, you might eat one thing richer and fried maybe, however you might even have a terrific salad,” Reitz mentioned. “I sort of really feel like salads get uncared for loads in eating places.”

A celery and arugula salad with cheddar pistachio and olives, in addition to an endive salad with apple, Stilton and walnut are at present on the menu.

The restaurant opens at 5 p.m. (closed Tuesdays). Reservations will be made right here, the restaurant solely accepts bank cards.