Holywater: French Quarter Oyster Bar Opens on Conti Street

The French Quarter has a new oyster bar, and this one comes with a homecoming story. Holywater opened September 23 at 622 Conti Street, from Alex and Miles Pincus: New Orleans natives who built their name in New York with the Crew hospitality group (Grand Banks, the beloved oyster operation aboard a historic schooner on the Hudson).

The room

The space is a former 1800s maritime chandlery, and the bones show it: a multi-level dining room organized around a mahogany-and-brass oyster bar. Gulf seafood meets classical French technique, the through-line of the menu, with the Pincus brothers betting that the Quarter’s dining scene has room for a seafood restaurant that takes itself seriously without taking the fun out of it.

The drinks program leans playful: the Mezcal Hurricane and the Purple Jesus are the early signature sips, riffs on classics with enough of a twist to give the bar its own identity.

The building

The address carries weight: 622 Conti Street is a historic 1837 building, a former 1800s maritime chandlery, steps from where Alex Pincus grew up. The bones show, salvaged Louisiana cypress beams, a multi-level dining room organized around that mahogany-and-brass oyster bar, and the concept is built to match the room’s range: “high and low, casual and refined, oysters and po’boys, champagne and Jell-O shots.” Oyster bar, dining room, lounge: one building, three speeds.

The menu

The menu reads like a greatest-hits of Gulf seafood through a French-technique lens. From the raw bar: the Sailor Baby, Holywater’s own custom-cultivated oyster, served cornmeal-fried with remoulade, alongside a classic jumbo shrimp cocktail and a crab dip built on jumbo lump crab, remoulade, and Ritz crackers ($25).

Small plates run playful-luxe: Yacht Tots, tater tots with smoked steelhead trout roe, crème fraîche, and pickled red onion ($29); andouille croquettes with crispy rice and filé; deviled eggs with ancho chili and smoked trout roe; Muffuletta Mussels. The larger plates commit to the surf-and-turf brief: a Maine lobster roll with herb-dulse emulsion ($37), lobster frites ($55), NOLA fried chicken, a buttermilk-brined half bird with charred shishitos and Cholula butter ($36), and a chicken-and-andouille “Baby-Makin’” gumbo ($28). There’s even a two-smash-patty cheeseburger ($23) for the bar crowd. Dessert keeps it local: brûléed bananas Foster and a challah bread pudding with rum sauce.

The homecoming

Alex Pincus grew up in the heart of the French Quarter, around institutions like the Hotel Monteleone and Arnaud’s, learning hospitality from the city’s old guard. He built Crew in New York, most famously Grand Banks, the oyster bar aboard a historic wooden schooner on the Hudson, before opening Holy Water in Manhattan in 2022, the group’s first landlocked venture. Holywater is the circle closing: decades of New York experience, brought home to the block he grew up on.

The culinary firepower

This isn’t a celebrity-chef vanity project, the kitchen and bar have real credentials behind them. Culinary input comes from James Beard Foundation semifinalist chef Alex Harrell, and the bar program draws on James Beard-winning barman Neil Bodenheimer. That’s a serious bench for a first-week opening, and it signals where Holywater wants to sit in the city’s hierarchy: not a tourist trap, not a precious tasting-menu room, but a proper restaurant.

Why it matters

New Orleans’ restaurant scene has been on a tear, and Holywater is exactly the kind of opening that rewards paying attention early. Operators with a proven New York track record, returning to their hometown with local talent in the kitchen and behind the bar, in a historic Quarter building, that’s a combination that tends to produce the rooms people are still talking about in five years.

The French Quarter oyster bar is a crowded category on paper, and the city’s oyster houses are in the news: Casamento’s just announced its final season. In practice, very few do it at this level. Holywater’s bet is that Gulf product, French technique, and a room with real atmosphere is still an underserved combination. We’ll see you at the bar.

The details

• Address: 622 Conti Street, New Orleans (French Quarter)
• Opened: September 23, 2026
• Concept: Oyster bar and restaurant: Gulf seafood, classical French technique
• From: Alex and Miles Pincus (Crew hospitality group, NYC: Grand Banks)
• Culinary team: Chef Alex Harrell (James Beard semifinalist); barman Neil Bodenheimer (James Beard winner)
• Order at the bar: The Mezcal Hurricane, the Purple Jesus
• Instagram: @holywater.nola

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