The building by the Alabama River that has been home to many different restaurants during its time is getting another facelift.

What once housed Diego’s and the Fish House will now have a new name and menu as The New Orleans Bar and Grill.

Owners Chris Patel and Moe Aziz have been working hard for five weeks to realize their dreams of what the restaurant could be.

“It’s a beautiful place,” Patel said. “It’s got a lot of potential, but it has just been wasted. It has got a lot of work left to do, but we are getting there.”

With the hard work being put into the building, the partnership and their crew have high expectations of a starting date.
“There is a lot more work to go, but we want to be ready to open by July 1,” Patel said. “We are working hard to be open by then, but right now we fully expect to be open by then.”

The two have special plans for the building, right now; they are incorporating a New Orleans style paint scheme inside and out, have redone the downstairs bar area and are opening the main dining room area with glass doors.

“We want to make it nice here,” Patel said. “We have had to do a lot, but it will be worth it.”

With a name like New Orleans Bar and Grill, you can correctly assume that seafood will make up a large portion of the menu, but other items will be available as well according to Aziz.

“Of course we will have things like gumbo, crawfish etouffe and different kinds of fish,” Aziz said. “But we will also be serving steaks and New Orleans style Po-boys.”

Aziz said one of the main attractions to the partners was the lack of seafood restaurants in the city.

“They didn’t have any in the area,” he said. “I think there was one. We have wanted to come before but the crime in the area scared us off. It’s better now and we are excited to have it.”