TV Restaurants

What Happened to Upperline Restaurant After Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 4 New Orleans, Louisiana Closed March 2020

Current status

Closed

As of October 2026, Upperline Restaurant has closed — confirmed via fox8live.com, May 30, 2022.

What the source shows: Fox 8 and Yahoo Lifestyle, citing the New Orleans Advocate, document owner JoAnn Clevenger's November 2021 announcement that Upperline would not reopen, followed by a 2022 sale listing. How we decide a status →

What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate?

Upperline was a fine-dining restaurant in Uptown New Orleans, housed in a yellow townhouse at 1413 Upperline Street near the St. Charles Streetcar line, according to Wikipedia. The restaurant blended Cajun, Louisiana Creole, and Southern cooking traditions and was owned by JoAnn Clevenger, who opened it in 1983 with her son Jason Clevenger as its first chef and her husband Alan Greenacre. The Clevenger family closed Upperline's doors at the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. According to the New Orleans Advocate, as reported by Yahoo Lifestyle, Clevenger announced in November 2021 that the restaurant would not reopen after nearly 40 years, telling the paper she felt she could no longer recreate the happiness the restaurant once gave its guests.

Fox 8 reported on 2022-05-30 that Clevenger, then 83, had listed the Upperline building and business for sale at $1.725 million. What Now reported that the owners of La Petite Grocery later purchased the former Upperline space from Clevenger for a different restaurant concept.

The episode Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 4

Episode 9
Air date not confirmed
Title: Crazy Good · What was featured: Upperline's blend of Cajun, Creole, and Southern-inspired dishes

Also in Season 4 Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season 4: 60 of 102 still open · 3 renamed, moved or under new owners

  • Ep 8Gotham Bar and Grill

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  • Ep 9Di Fara Pizza

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  • Ep 9Fentons Creamery

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  • Ep 9Jar

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  • Ep 9Locanda Verde

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  • Ep 9Marin Joe's

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  • Ep 9Sweet Surrender

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  • Ep 9Valentino

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All 13 Season 4 episodes →

Nearest open restaurants By distance from 1413 Upperline Street

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Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 4 references

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upperline_Restaurant
  2. fox8live.com https://www.fox8live.com/2022/05/30/its-been-my-life-upperlines-clevenger-83-lists-restaurant-sale-1725m/
  3. yahoo.com https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/upperline-joann-clevengers-iconic-orleans-164620704.html
  4. whatnow.com https://whatnow.com/new-orleans/restaurants/la-petite-grocery-owners-purchase-upperline-space/
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Record btiea-0365 · checked by Cal Marchetti.