Iconic Pat O’Brien’s Announces Closure

(KMDL-FM) If I mention the word hurricane and Jim Cantore is nowhere around, chances are your thoughts might drift to a lively courtyard where flickering flames dance to the second line strains of a New Orleans-inspired piano lick. That is the image that most of us conjure in our brains when the name Pat O'Brien's is mentioned.

I am sure that at the sound of that name, for at least some of you, your Palovian response of drooling has kicked in as your brain connects that iconic French Quarter name to the popular drink, the Hurricane, the bar helped to make famous.

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I think almost all of us have a Pat O'Brien's story. Some of us don't mind sharing those stories and the laughs connected with them in public. While others like to keep "what happened at Pat O's" out of the light of day.

The New Orleans, and most iconic location of Pat O'Brien's, opened on December 3rd, 1933. It was right after prohibition was repealed that the iconic bar got its start at the corner of Royal Street and St. Peter.

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In Orlando at the Universal Theme Park on Universal City Walk, you can find a replica of Pat O'Brien's. That was the first franchise location of the establishment to open outside of Louisiana. Then in 2003, another Pat O'Brien's franchise location was opened in San Antonio on the famed River Walk in that city.

Which Location of Pat O'Brien's Is Closing?

Sadly, we have to report that after some 23 years of operation, the San Antonio River Walk location of Pat O'Brien's is closing.

Owner Cory Neal suggested through his comments that the restaurant had faced many hardships that several downtown San Antonio businesses have been facing. Specifically, he cited recovery from COVID and the ongoing construction around the Alamo and the River Walk.

Why Is Pat O'Brien's Closing its San Antonio Location on the River Walk?

Neal also referenced changes in tourism and convention bookings in the city and the ever-increasing threat of higher prices and operating costs as reasons for the decision to shutter the business.

As of now, the plan is for Pat O'Brien's San Antonio to serve its last Hurricane on August 31, 2025. It will be the end of an era and a cultural loss to the melting pot community of businesses that make the San Antonio River Walk such a unique place to visit and explore.

For our friends who love Pat O's in New Orleans, it seems to be doing just fine and will not be going anywhere anytime soon. But why don't you sneak down to the Quarter for a Hurricane just in case, right?