After a home-grown brand for fried chicken closed its Lakeview location, a different local restaurant will expand in its place. It’s bringing burgers back to an address that was long known for them.
The Red Bird Fried Chicken at 911 Harrison Ave. has closed.
Taking its place will be Desi Vega’s Prime Burgers & Shakes, a second location for that Harahan restaurant (640 Hickory Ave.). It’s slated to open in early October.
Red Bird fried chicken expanded into the former location of Three B’s Burgers and Wine Bar on Harrison Avenue in Lakeview. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
“We’re really excited about the location,” said partner and namesake Desi Vega, best known for his Desi Vega’s Steakhouse locations around the area. “We’ve been looking to expand and this ideal.”
The location is a familiar location for burger outings too. For 25 years, the address was home to Lakeview Harbor, a family-friendly tavern known for its thick burgers. After losing its lease in 2018, Lakeview Harbor relocated to the West End (8550 Pontchartrain Blvd.). Last summer, Lakeview Harbor opened a second location at 8201 Oak St., but this closed over the summer.
Prior to Red Bird, it was a restaurant called Three B’s Burger & Wine Bar. The owners of that restaurant later created Red Bird and last year turned Three B’s into another Red Bird location.
More than burgers
Vega said the new Lakeview location of Desi Vega’s Prime Burgers & Shakes will evolve the concept, with an expanded menu and added features. It will be more than a burger joint, he said, with full table service and an emphasis on the large bar already in place from previous concepts here.
Who Dat shrimp are a specialty at Desi Vega’s Steakhouse in New Orleans, Metairie and the Northshore. (Advocate staff photo by John McCusker)
It will serve some specialty drinks from his steakhouse menus, and some dishes from those more upscale menus. For instance, Who Dat shrimp (wrapped in bacon, stuffed with crabmeat) is the best seller on the steakhouse menus and will be served at the Lakeview burger restaurant too. The new restaurant will also have a dessert station aimed at kids, with cotton candy made before their eyes and other sweets.
Vega also envisions more of these burger restaurants in the future, possibility through franchising.
“This will be the blueprint of the next ones to come,” he said.
Red Bird expanding
The fried chicken at Red Bird has a crisp crust and either a mild or hot spice level. Dinner rolls (top right) are fried, and resemble savory beignets. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Red Bird is a new brand, founded in 2023, and it’s growing. Red Bird’s original location is in Covington (70437 Hwy. 21), and was developed by the brothers Blake and Brandon Bennett and their cousin Jay Morris. The Lakeview location followed a few months later, and this year Red Bird has expanded in Gretna (145 Lapalco Blvd.) and Denham Springs (2660 Sac au Lait Lane).
Who Dat shrimp are a specialty at Desi Vega’s Steakhouse in New Orleans, Metairie and the Northshore. (Advocate staff photo by John McCusker)
The two newer Red Bird outposts are smaller and have drive-thru windows. That’s proven a better formula for expansion, said Brandon Bennett, so they decided to close Lakeview and look for future locations that fit their model.
“We were trying to fit a round peg in a square hole,” Bennett said. “But it’s a great location. I think (Desi Vega’s) will be great there.”
Last year, Red Bird won top honors at the National Fried Chicken Festival in New Orleans, and will return to defend that title when the fest returns Oct. 5 and 6.
Desi Vega’s Prime Burgers & Steaks
640 Hickory Ave., lunch and dinner daily
911 Harrison Ave., slated opening early October 2024
This article was originally published by a www.nola.com . Read the Original article here. .