After more than 50 years serving Mexican food on Airline Highway, the Karides family plans to close the doors of La Fonda for good Saturday. Mary Ann Bolger’s 76-year-old mother, Panagiota Karides, has been working at La Fonda for more than three decades and is the sole family member left at the restaurant. Bolger says other members of the Karides family, which is of Greek descent, have tried to help with the business from a distance.
The restaurant has survived three moves since opening in 1961 and has seen a decline in business, says Bolger, who once worked there as well. She says La Fonda is not only the first Mexican restaurant in the Baton Rouge area, but a local landmark. “We’ve been using the same recipes all these years,” Bolger says. “Some waitresses have been here since they were 18 years old. It will be sad it see it go.” Already, Bolger says she’s getting emotional about the final week. “I walked in here last night and was like, ‘Oh my God. This is it,'” she says. “It’s a good thing to move on, but sad, because all of the customers are asking, ‘Are you going to give us that bean dip recipe?'” If the family can move the restaurant into a smaller, more prime location, Bolger says, they will consider it—but a suitable location has yet to be found. —Matthew Sigur
