Have you ever traveled somewhere new and been entirely captivated by the people, atmosphere, and decor? Over a decade ago, that’s what happened to Justin Clemens in New Orleans.

Clemens began his career as a self-starter, using his charm and wit to work his way through and out of college, but it left him where any new graduate fell.

“I had started several businesses years ago. It was sort of when you get out of college and you can’t get hired, so you wallpaper your entire bedroom with rejection letters,” says owner Justin Clemens.

For those familiar with the Kent State campus, Clemens was the genius behind concepts like Laundry 101, a dual laundromat and vibey hangout joint, and 101 Bottles, the best place to play shuffleboard on that side of town. These “101” concepts have become Kent cult classics and play a significant role in how Clemens fell in love with New Orleans.

Clemens had met a friend through the business who lived in New Orleans, which prompted his first trip down.

A Trip Down South

“Some places you can’t wait to leave, some you’re sort of indifferent, and then other places you just immediately find a connection,” says Clemens. “When I was down (in New Orleans), every time I was down there, there was this aura about it. Not just the people, but the food, the culture, everything.”

After getting several hurricanes deep with his friend, he had, as he describes, a “low-watt lightbulb idea” to bring the New Orleans cuisine to Cleveland. Though it didn’t seem impossible, Clemens had little restaurant experience at the time, and the challenge of figuring out how exactly he’d do it was looming over him.

Still, Clemens was dedicated to his love for what New Orleans had offered to him, and bringing that to Cleveland was a new, treasured concept on the horizon: Bourbon Street Barrel Room.

“I began to fly to New Orleans, taking nearly 900 photos and talking to every street historian. I began to really get an understanding of the history, architecture, and styles of the French Quarter.”

Capturing the essence and history of New Orleans and the French Quarter was integral to, not imitating the experience, but recreating it and honoring what he loved about the city. Clemens went so far as to have the oldest railings from the late 1780s, before the Great New Orleans Fires, replicated by local steelmakers.

When Clemens bought the building that the Bourbon Street Barrel Room currently stands in, at 2393 Professor Avenue in Tremont, it had lived many lives. The Cleveland Police utilized it in the 70s, housing a boxing ring upstairs and a workout facility downstairs. Later, it was overtaken by an eclectic art gallery before it was left to sit.

No matter how daunting the task, he planned to transform the space into an experience that would save patrons the plane ticket to the French Quarter. In a very Ocean’s Eleven style, he had gathered a group of close friends who were tradesmen, and they broke ground on the project.

“If you had looked at these guys, they looked like a rag-tag bunch, but they were Picasso. The main guy running it, Tommy McCarthy, is as close to a genius as I’ve ever been around,” says Clemens. “The guys went to town on this place, and I gave them a lot of free rein to do a lot of their artwork and craft.”

Calling the process an entire remodel is an understatement. The vision was a split-level concept, similar to those popular in the city, which meant the guys had to tear down all center support columns. They had practically reworked the entire foundation of the building that had been concaving in on itself. Even the floorboards lacked support throughout the build and needed to be replaced.

^{The finished product is perfectly New Orleans ornate and beautiful.}

“I’m really proud of the work the guys did. They’re incredibly talented, I can’t take any credit for that,” says Clemens. “I had a vision for what I wanted to see, but having a vision and actually being able to do that level of work are two entirely different things.”

The entire crew felt the project was more profound than a simple remodel. Clemens notes that his friend Tommy had even said that it felt like the building was waiting to become Bourbon Street Barrel Room, every inch serving its purpose.

Capturing the essence and vibe was one challenge, but finding someone to cook truly authentic food rooted in Louisiana's heritage caught Clemens up.

“I was literally ready to fly down and recruit someone, but I’m not sure how the sell would’ve been of moving them from Louisiana to beautiful Cleveland winters,” Clemens laughs.

Luckily, by the grace of the gumbo Gods, Justin Clemens met Johnny Schulze. Schulze, from Baton Rouge, had been a chef in the French Quarter for 22 years, and his wife was a fifth-generation Cajun. His Creole background came from his family and cooking in the French Quarter, his Cajun cooking background came from his wife’s family, and he was the perfect fit for Bourbon Street Barrel Room.

Johnny’s wife had been transferred up to Cleveland, and the stars aligned for Clemens. With some skillful convincing, Schulze happily joined the crew, and thus, Bourbon Street Barrel Room had a chef.

Open to All

“I did not have extensive restaurant experience, to be honest. I had good bar experience, but the kitchen is an entirely different animal,” says Clemens. “I think I was a little bit naive about how difficult it could be, but fortunately, I had Johnny running the show over there, and he assembled a nice team around him.”

Bourbon Street Barrel Room opened its doors in the fall of 2014, officially bringing the flavors of New Orleans to Cleveland. Clemens aimed to absorb as much information about the restaurant business as he could, trying to gain the nuance of what it meant to throw the party every night.

And, Clemens wanted to throw the party the New Orleans way.

“I remember a moment when I was in New Orleans with a friend and we were eating at a place very much like (Bourbon Street). It was a split-level, which is a big feature down there, and I remember thinking that I had never seen so much diversity in one restaurant.”

Clemens recalls seeing men walk in with $500 suits on, and a mechanic sitting a few tables down, still covered in grease and oil, and eating with his son. Despite the opulence of the city, the food was humble.

His priority for Bourbon Street was to cultivate the same culture. He wanted to throw the party, celebrate, invite a diverse group of guests, and serve delicious food.

“I was bussing tables, which is truly what I’m best at, and I looked around and saw that it was the same demographic,” Clemens smiles. “It was old, young, every ethnicity, people dressed to the nines, and some very casual with a ball cap backwards.”

And, only a few months after running this well-oiled machine, a lovely woman named Niki, whom Justin had met through a mutual friend, would reach out to him for a job. The two had met a few times before this, including when their friend had finessed a first look at the restaurant for Niki.

“We got to see a little sneak peek of Bourbon Street before it was complete. That was the first time Justin and I met, and we reconnected a couple of other times over the next several months,” says Niki Clemens.

At the time, Niki was working at Cleveland State University, teaching in the College of Business. With her weekends free, she wanted an opportunity to meet more people. Justin and Niki had seen each other a few times after that first sneak peek of the restaurant, so she gave him a call.

“I decided to reach out to Justin, and he told me, ‘Well, actually, I’m in kind of desperate need of a hostess. Want to start tomorrow?” Niki laughs. “So, I started working in here only a couple of months after he opened.”

“She didn’t have to infiltrate the restaurant; she could have just called me,” Justin joked in response.

This delightful little love story blossomed alongside Bourbon Street’s success. Not only did Bourbon Street host the party every night, but the staff were invited.

“We have longevity with our staff that I think sometimes you don’t often see in the restaurant industry, which is really, really amazing,” says Clemens. “We’ve had one new cook in our kitchen in three years.”

Clemens attributes much of the success to Chef Johnny’s ability to teach in the kitchen. Though Johnny is running the ship back there, he has his hands in everything. First, Johnny mentored Chef Shareef Crawl-Bey, teaching him all of his Louisiana secrets and helping Shareef to become the highly skilled Cajun & Creole Chef he is today.

Next, Johnny scouted Chef Christopher Terry from Edwin’s to join the Bourbon Street kitchen, and, finally, the BSBR culinary team was complete.

He effectively taught everyone on the kitchen staff everything that goes into the recipes, which have been passed through his family. Everyone in the kitchen is committed to maintaining the authenticity that comes with every dish.

“It’s a fun place to be as a customer and patron, but we also strive to create a family feel here at Bourbon Street,” says Niki. “I think that for all of the employees that work here, too, consider it to be a fun place to be. They’re happy to be here and enjoying their time working here, so that has a trickle-down effect to the people that they’re taking care of, as well.”

A Taste of New Orleans

“Johnny always says that true Louisiana food is full of deep flavors, it’s not supposed to burn your mouth off,” says Justin. “People worry they won’t be able to eat anything here, but it’s not like that. It’s just flavorful food.”

If you haven’t been to Bourbon Street yet, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Justin and Niki recommended the must-try items for the perfect meal.

Of course, there’s no better way to start a meal than with a Hurricane and crispy gator bites (yes, with genuine alligator!). Follow it up with a Po Boy of choice or Johnny’s famous chicken and andouille gumbo, and you’re rolling.

“Oftentimes, people from Louisiana will come in with low expectations that a restaurant in Cleveland can do Louisiana food,” says Justin. “Once they try it, they’re amazed and always want to have a conversation with Johnny.”

Gumbo is different no matter where you go, but Bourbon Street’s got a damn good one. Johnny’s famous gumbo even won a contest in the 90s down in the French Quarter for how good it was!

And, you can’t have a complete New Orleans-style meal without a beignet. Warm, pillowy, and the perfect amount of sweetness to round out the savory flavors of entrees. We’ll let you in on a little secret, though…

“Johnny pulled me aside when we were first getting ready to open, although he likes to make almost everything in-house, he said that every chef down in the French Quarter cheats and uses the mix from Cafe Du Monde,” Justin reveals. “I bite my tongue when people say it doesn’t taste like Cafe Du Monde, but the rule of thumb down there is everybody cheats using the mix, so we cheat too.”

^{Is it cheating if they taste so good?}

No flavors cheat your tastebuds, though, we promise. The beignets are the real deal, and you genuinely cannot go a full meal there without ordering them.

And, for the early birds in us all, Bourbon Street offers Sunday brunch every week from 10 am until 2 pm, featuring an early bird happy hour from 10 am to 11 am.

Half-Way to Mardi Gras!

Who can go a whole year without the excitement of Mardi Gras? We definitely can’t, and won’t have to, because next week, from August 13th to the 17th, Bourbon Street Barrel Room is throwing the party.

Bring out the beads and your Mardi Gras best, because it’s a week full of gifts, souvenir glasses, food specials, and giveaways. Never-ending happy hour is happening all week long, so stop on by to get hammered by hurricanes and full of as much gumbo as Chef Johnny can feed you!

Check out the Bourbon Street Barrel Room Instagram and Facebook (linked below) for more information about this week-long celebration!

 

 

 

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2393 Professor Ave, Cleveland

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