At the corner of Pauger and Marsais streets, First & Last Stop Bar has been a quiet anchor of New Orleans’ 7th Ward, where regulars trade small talk over drinks as old jazz hums from a jukebox.
But on Nov. 10, it closed suddenly. As a mainstay for second lines and Mardi Gras Indians, the bar sold to a new owner and there has been a dispute with its operator, according to a report by The Lens. Now a famous name in New Orleans music, Kermit Ruffins, is stepping in to help.
Ruffins — who owns Kermit’s Treme Mother-in-Law Lounge — said he was initially offered a lease on the space and agreed. But he later learned that Carolyn Cushenberry, who has operated the bar for over two decades, would no longer be running it…