Popular Lexington Cajun restaurant closing its doors for a bit. Here’s why.
Fans of Cajun food are going to have to get by without one popular local restaurant. At least for a little while.
Bourbon ‘n’ Toulouse will be closing on July 1, according to co-owner Kevin Heathcoat.
He said that as road construction nears their end of Euclid Avenue, they just won’t be able to continue with their all-take out service.
“Bourbon n’ Toulouse has proved that they can survive a pandemic. They’ve also survived road construction projects in the past, but they can’t survive both at the same time,” the restaurant said in an email.
With bulldozers and dump trucks taking over the 800 block in July, it seemed best to close.
“The restricted traffic flow on Euclid Avenue and removal of metered parking spaces will destroy our current business model,” Heathcoat said.
They will stay closed during the construction, which will last at least a month, he said, with reopening scheduled for August.
There is some good news: The Chevy Chase Inn next door, which is also co-owned by Heathcoat and Will Pierratt, along with Bill Farmer, will be reopening on July 1.
Chevy Chase Inn has been operating as a liquor store, with a tongue-in-cheek attitude: Every Saturday Heathcoat posts a Facebook video with the specials for the “Chevy Chase Inn and Out” sidewalk sale, which included bloody Mary and mimosa kits, high-end bourbons, craft beer and lots of gimmicks.
“The most successful promotion we’ve had was when, unbeknownst to us, there was a glitch in our online ordering system allowing us to order many, many cases of Woodford Reserve Kentucky Derby Bottles when we were only supposed to get one case,” Heathcoat said. “That allowed us to survive May. We have been selling commemorative Chevy Chase Inn and Out T-shirts to let us financially limp to our re-opening of the bar on July 1.”
The limited edition shirts are available Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through June 27 or online at ChevyChaseInnAndOut.com. The shirts will not be available when the bar opens again.
This story was originally published June 19, 2020 at 3:00 PM.
