Hey Blake,
Walking through the French Quarter during French Quarter Fest, I noticed a building on St. Philip near Royal with the words “Ruffino’s Bakery” on the facade. What do you know about it?
Dear reader,
The building at 625 St. Philip St. has been home to several restaurants and bars, but its history as a former bakery is what lives on thanks to the words etched into the building.
Giuseppe Ruffino and his wife Teresa emigrated to the United States from Italy in the 1890s. He later opened a bakery in the 600 block of St. Philip, selling bread to the French Quarter’s sizable Italian community at that time. According to a January 1964 Times-Picayune article, the Ruffinos had ten children. In the 1930s, Giuseppe Ruffino retired and sold his bakery to a son-in-law, who changed the name to United Bakery and later relocated it to St. Bernard Avenue. It remained in business there until Hurricane Katrina, selling muffuletta loaves and Italian breads to customers across the city.
In 1961, Ruffino’s youngest son Vincent opened Ruffino’s restaurant at the 625 St. Philip property. He and his wife Anna offered typical Italian dishes such as lasagna, veal scaloppini, chicken cacciatore and pizza, as well as steaks and other dishes. There was also a lounge and parking garage on the property.
In 1976, the restaurant changed hands, was remodeled and reopened under the ownership of Keith Nelson, an “Australian-born, British-reared fellow with a delightful accent,” as the States-Item described him. Newspaper ads touted the new Ruffino’s as a place for “haute cuisine and continental atmosphere,” with British, Australian and American dishes. It closed in 1978.
In the decades since, the property has been home to the Hotel Royal, Flanagan’s Pub, Café 19, the Elvis-themed Heartbreak Café, Rigby’s, Sweet Willie’s, Alberto’s and a Mexican restaurant called La Sirena.
The Stones’ Superdome show on Dec. 5, 1981, broke the U.S. record at the time for the largest attendance at an indoor concert.
