Dominic Massa / Eyewitness News
NEW ORLEANS - Change doesn't come very often at Galatoire's, so the news that the owners of the venerable French Quarter restaurant have purchased an adjacent Bourbon St. building, with expansion plans slated, is headline-making news.
Owners of the 107-year-old restaurant announced late Friday that they have completed a deal to purchase the property at 215 Bourbon St., next to the building which has housed Galatoire's since its opening.
Once renovations are completed sometime before the end of the year, the three-story building will include a private dining space to accomodate more than 200 guests and two full-sized galleries overlooking Bourbon St., the restaurant said.
The purchase price for the building, owned for more than 100 years by the Randon family, was not disclosed. It has been vacant since Hurricane Katrina, when Mike Anderson's Seafood restaurant closed.
The building features 11,500 square feet of space and total seating of more than 800, when combined with Galatoire's existing dining rooms, according to a news release.
Clearly aware of the intense relationship many patrons have with their favorite restaurant, the statement included the sentence, "The legendary main dining room at Galatoire's will not change."
