Located at 720 Bourbon Street, it's a local's bar that sits in the middle of a tourist strip where everyone else is trying to pack 'em in. The space is simple and seats no more than a dozen, without any of the glitzy Bourbon Street decorations or neon signs outside. There are Mardi Gras beads hanging from the doors, but what else would they use to lock the doors?
The 24/7 watering hole gained a place in the national media in the wake of Katrina, when the bar became a safe haven for those who stayed in the area for the storm. Without the locks on the doors and safe on the original high ground, patrons and employees kept the bar open throughout Katrina despite the lack of water or electricity.
Because of that little bit of Katrina trivia, this is the most famous of the dive bars in the Quarter that carry the "Johnny White's" monicker. Unfortunately that won't be enough to save it. I wonder what sort of business will go in that spot now. Maybe one of those national burger chains you see popping up everywhere? I hear there's a Smashburger going in on Magazine Street which, itself has become too high-rent to support anything but large chains.
Rents on Bourbon Street have long been ridiculous and the White's spot on the corner of Orleans is a prime location. Maybe someone will dress it up with a New York style hip "gastropub".. or maybe a designer cocktail destination .. or a combination of both of those fads like the horrifying SoBou over on Chartres.
It was suggested to me earlier that perhaps they'll go the Uptown development route and bring in a Pinkberry or a Pilates studio. And while either of those would make a pretty good name for a strip club, somehow I don't see either happening on Bourbon.
Anyway whatever it is, I'm sure it will be "robust" which, in addition to being the word of the moment around town, is also not such a bad name for a strip club itself.