Wit's Inn, a popular sports bar that has been operating in an entertainment strip on North Carrollton Avenue for well over a decade, closed this month and will reopen in April with new owners.
Former owner Ivan Hinson confirmed the sale of the business Tuesday afternoon, saying he got a competitive offer he couldn't refuse. The change of hands comes nearly a year after the bar was publicly accused of becoming a "hub" for lawlessness following the shooting death of a security guard.
Hinson said Wit's Inn will be reopening with a new name, menu items and ownership, though the next business will keep two popular specialty drinks — the Mid-City Monsoon and the Bahama Mama — on the menu.
"The Wit's Inn served the New Orleans culture for decades ... We've been blessed to have some very iconic cultural experiences there," Hinson said in a text message. "The memories are endless."
Returning after Katrina
Wit's Inn was one of the first institutions to return to North Carrollton after Hurricane Katrina ravaged the city in 2005. A year later, Dennis Scheuermann, who was the owner at the time, told Gambit magazine that he renovated the bar because it was essential for businesses to not only reopen in Mid-City, but to come back better than ever.
Dennis Scheuermann renovated Wit's Inn bar and restaurant in Mid-City and added amenities such as full-kitchen service to give his customers more comfort.
Scheuermann said recovering the once-bustling thoroughfare was slow at first because many of the mom-and-pop establishments had owned their buildings for years and fully paid off their mortgage. As a result, they were no longer required to maintain flood insurance.
But by 2008, a mecca of businesses was once again operating alongside Wit's Inn, some of which had reopened or replaced restaurants that could not revive after the storm.
Wit's Inn eventually became known as a late-night hot spot where football fans gathered to eat pizza and watch Saints games.
A year of complaints and crime
Just before midnight on a Sunday in April 2024, 53-year-old Darriel King, a security guard at Wit's Inn, was shot and killed while working the front door. King had denied the suspect, who was under the bar's required age of 30, entry before he was gunned down.
King's killing sparked a renewed debate over the future of Wit's Inn and the Carrollton strip. At the time, neighboring businesses and local politicians said it had become plagued by crime over the last year.
New Orleans City Councilmember Joe Giarrusso said he had received complaints about unpermitted events filled with hundreds of patrons, parking issues and noisiness at Wit's Inn and Red Door, a bar across the street.
Calls for service to the 100 block of North Carrollton had more than tripled in 2023, according to data collected by the New Orleans Police Department, increasing from 33 calls in 2022 to 110.
NOPD is seen at Wit's Inn during a benefit for Darriel King in New Orleans on Friday, April 12, 2024. King was working the front door at Wit's Inn on North Carrollton Avenue when he was shot and killed after attempting to prevent another person from entering the bar on Sunday April 7. (Staff photo by Brett Duke, The Times-Picayune)
Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued a statement two days after King's killing, saying that a month prior, the city had inspected Wit's Inn without discovering any "documented violation that warranted pursuing enforcement actions."
"The owner of the Wit's Inn has made every effort to keep his staff and patrons safe," Cantrell said in the statement. "As a community, we have to stand up and strongly speak out for heroes like Darriel King ... We must also recognize the business owners in the Carrollton area who are striving every day to do the right thing in the City of New Orleans."
In January 2025, another deadly shooting occurred at the 4100 block of Iberville Street, near several bars and eateries on Carrollton, killing a 33-year-old victim who was later identified as John Williams and wounding another.
Closed for business
Wit's Inn is now silent; its red doors closed, and its lights turned off.
Crowds surrounding the mint green building have been replaced by a construction dumpster. The neighborhood behind it, where patrons often parked, is emptier than usual.
The bar announced its March 10 closure on social media, thanking customers for years of support and good memories. A string of comments was posted underneath the announcement, nostalgic of the heralded pizza, staff and revelry.
