Wit’s Inn is a popular sports bar that has been operating at the entertainment strip on North Carrollton Avenue for over a decade and will close this month and reopen with new owners in April.
Former owner Ivan Hinson confirmed the sale of the business on Tuesday afternoon and said he received a competitive offer that could not be denied. The hand change comes a year after Barr was publicly accused of becoming a “hub” of lawlessness after death by security shootings.
Hinson said the Witt accommodation will be reopened with new names, menu items and ownership, but the next business will retain two popular specialty drinks on the menu: Mid City Monsoon and Bahamamama.
“Witzinn has been a member of New Orleans culture for decades… We have been blessed with a very iconic cultural experience there,” Hinson said in a text message. “Memories are endless.
I’ll be back after Katrina
Witt Inn was one of the first institutions to return to North Carrollton after Hurricane Katrina destroyed the city in 2005. A year later, then-owner Dennis Schüyermann told Gambit Magazine that the bar had been renovated as it was essential that the business not only reopens in the medium term but also returns after that.
Dennis Scheuermann has renovated Wit’s Inn Bar and restaurant in Mid City, adding amenities such as full kitchen service to make it even more comfortable for customers.
Scheuermann said it was slow at first to retrieve the once-tired boulevard, as many of the Mama and Pop facilities owned the building for years and paid off their mortgages completely. As a result, they were no longer needed to maintain flood insurance.
However, by 2008, the company’s Mecca was operating again along with Witt Inn. Some of them have reopened or replaced restaurants that could not be revived after the storm.
Witt Inn eventually became known as a late-night hotspot where soccer fans gathered to eat fresh pizza and watch the Saints game.
Year of complaints and crime
Just before midnight on a Sunday in April 2024, 53-year-old Dariel King and security guard Witt Inn were shot dead while running the front door. King had denied the suspect, who was under the age of need for a bar, at 30, but entered before he was shot.
King’s murder sparked new debates about the future of Whitzin and Carrollton Strip. At the time, nearby businesses and local politicians said last year they were plagued by crime.
New Orleans City Council member Joe Giarsso said he received complaints about hundreds of patrons, parking issues, Witzinn accommodation and raucous events, and a bar across the street.
According to data collected by the New Orleans Police Department, calls for services to the 100 block of North Carrollton more than tripled in 2023, increasing from 33 calls in 2022 to 110.
NOPD will be seen at Whit Inn on Friday, April 12, 2024, on Dariel King’s profits in New Orleans. King worked at the front door at Whit Inn on North Carrollton Avenue, where he was shot and killed while preventing others from entering the bar on April 7th.
Mayor Latoya Cantrell issued a statement two days after King’s murder, saying a month ago the city inspected the Witt accommodation without discovering “a documented violation that guarantees the pursuit of enforcement action.”
“The owners of Witt Inn made every effort to keep their staff and patrons safe,” Cantrell said in a statement. “As a community, we have to stand up and speak strongly for heroes like Dariel King, and we have to recognize the Carrollton area business owners who work every day to do the right thing in the city of New Orleans.”
In January 2025, another fatal shooting occurred in the 4100 block of Iverville Street, near several bars and eateries in Carrollton, killing the 33-year-old victim who was later identified as John Williams.
Closed for business
The Witt hotel is now silent. The red door closed and the lights went out.
The crowd surrounding the mint green building was replaced by construction dumpsters. The back neighbourhood, where customers often park, is empty than usual.
The bar announced its closure on social media on March 10th, thanking its customers for years of support and good memories. A series of comments were posted under the announcement. This is the nostalgic of the pizza, staff and Revelly that was announced.
