Scuttlebutt: End of an era at several local eateries … New website lists restaurant health violations

Several local eateries are saying good-bye this week; either to their business, or aspects of it. Brunet’s Cajun Restaurant, a longtime Flannery Road seafood spot, is set to close Saturday. Owners Robert and Billy Brunet decided to retire and shut the restaurant down after a couple of years, says Natasha Waugh, a manager. “Business has not been as good for a while; it was a combo of many things,” says Waugh. Brunet’s had been open for 38 years and was famous for its fried seafood dishes, boudin balls and Cajun dance nights. Meanwhile, neighborhood favorite Ronnie’s Ribs will soon be switching owners—longtime chef and operator Veronica “Ronnie” Carter says that she’s looking for someone to buy out the equipment and continue running the restaurant as it is now. Never fear, however—the doors to the restaurant will remain open until the business is sold. And fans of the “Swine Market” at Marcello’s Wine Warehouse have to bid farewell to their rich Reubens and mouthwatering muffulettas, as the liquor emporium ran into issues with permits related to food service, which would have required additional construction on site in order for Marcello’s pressed sandwiches and other lunch goodies to be served. The Warehouse will continue to sell alcohol. Fans of Italian fare and imported wines can still find plenty of both at owner Gene Todaro’s  full-service restaurant, Enoteca Marcello’s, next door. And speaking of codes, the Louisiana Office of Public Health is enabling consumers to make sure their favorite restaurants are keeping it clean in the kitchen with a new website, eatsafe.la.gov. The agency is responsible for licensing more than 30,000 retail food establishments throughout the state, from fine dining establishments to snowball stands—and now the public can read their sanitation inspection reports online for free, without having to schlep to the nearest municipal building. Find out if that neighborhood hole-in-the-wall is really a hole in the wall, or if a fancy restaurant is hiding a few skeletons—or just confirm that your faves really are as clean as a whistle. Check out the site for yourself!