Farewell to Loulou

This is some incredibly sad news, courtesy of The Local:

LouLou, the French restaurant at 222 DeKalb Avenue is, in fact, closing today. And the increasingly familiar combination of growing rent, shrinking revenue and new opportunities elsewhere are to blame, an owner says.

“We’re down 50 percent from last year,” said William Snell, LouLou’s chef and part owner along with his wife, Christine. “It’s gotten to the point where I could work for someone else and make more money.”

But rather than shuttering LouLou and taking a job at another restaurant, the Snells said they are moving to the Lake Champlain region of Vermont — their three kids in tow — and opening shop there. The new restaurant, Tourterelle, is slated to open in early September.

Longtime readers know that Loulou is one of my favorite local restaurants, and this is quite a shame. I wish them luck in their new endeavor, and hope they know they'll be sorely missed.

Andy also lets us know that they'll be serving free drinks from 6-10 tonight, so stop by and bid them farewell if you're in the area.

Here are some of my past posts about the joint:

Loopy for Loulou

Loulou Redux

First Loulou...