When we watch the Olympics this summer, we’ll see amazing athletes and historic venues in Paris.But you may be surprised to learn that France’s most recognizable monument has ties to the United States, specifically, the Deep South. “It was an entrepreneur who over 40 years ago got the pieces of the Eiffel Tower and brought it over in a barge and opened up the Eiffel Tower New Orleans, an amazing idea and it has become an iconic building in New Orleans,” said Tim Williamson.Williamson is a local entrepreneur who operates Nieux Society at the venue in the Lower Garden District. It’s a collective of trailblazers set out to explore the next wave of innovation. They say the group’s mission is to design a home base to inspire new thinking. As for the history of this structure in New Orleans, it starts in 1981 when de La Tour Eiffel Restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower needed to be taken down because it was weighing down the structure. Opened in 1937, de La Tour Eiffel catered to famous names such as Pablo Picasso and Charlie Chaplin.The restaurant was taken apart, piece by piece, more than 11,000 pieces total, and stored in freighters to be replaced with a smaller, lighter restaurant. According to the New York Times, New Orleans businessmen John Onorio and Chef Daniel Bonnot worked with other local developers to purchase the pieces of the restaurant and rebuild in New Orleans on historic St. Charles Avenue. The restaurant opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1986. “The people walking through and telling us the stories are amazing, everyone who comes through here is like, oh my God, let me tell you what I did here,” Williamson said. “It’s so neat to be part of looking at the history but also having this group, looking at what’s next in the future of New Orleans.” The original New Orleans restaurant closed in 1989. Since the 1990s the property has been home to a series of nightclubs and event spaces such as The Red Room, The Cricket Club and Eiffel Society.Williamson and his collective took over the property in 2023.
When we watch the Olympics this summer, we’ll see amazing athletes and historic venues in Paris.
But you may be surprised to learn that France’s most recognizable monument has ties to the United States, specifically, the Deep South.
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“It was an entrepreneur who over 40 years ago got the pieces of the Eiffel Tower and brought it over in a barge and opened up the Eiffel Tower New Orleans, an amazing idea and it has become an iconic building in New Orleans,” said Tim Williamson.
Williamson is a local entrepreneur who operates Nieux Society at the venue in the Lower Garden District. It’s a collective of trailblazers set out to explore the next wave of innovation. They say the group’s mission is to design a home base to inspire new thinking.
As for the history of this structure in New Orleans, it starts in 1981 when de La Tour Eiffel Restaurant atop the Eiffel Tower needed to be taken down because it was weighing down the structure. Opened in 1937, de La Tour Eiffel catered to famous names such as Pablo Picasso and Charlie Chaplin.
The restaurant was taken apart, piece by piece, more than 11,000 pieces total, and stored in freighters to be replaced with a smaller, lighter restaurant.
According to the New York Times, New Orleans businessmen John Onorio and Chef Daniel Bonnot worked with other local developers to purchase the pieces of the restaurant and rebuild in New Orleans on historic St. Charles Avenue.
The restaurant opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1986.
“The people walking through and telling us the stories are amazing, everyone who comes through here is like, oh my God, let me tell you what I did here,” Williamson said. “It’s so neat to be part of looking at the history but also having this group, looking at what’s next in the future of New Orleans.”
The original New Orleans restaurant closed in 1989. Since the 1990s the property has been home to a series of nightclubs and event spaces such as The Red Room, The Cricket Club and Eiffel Society.
Williamson and his collective took over the property in 2023.
