Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published May , 2006 Click here for the current edition 627 Open, 59 Coming, Take Away 23, Compare With 809 . . . Last week, I gave you the results of my survey of the New Orleans dining scene as it stands eight months after the hurricane. Of 809 restaurants in the metropolitan New Orleans area meeting minimal criteria for consideration, 627 are now back open. There is more data to be mined here, and this is the latest thing I've found. Of the 809 pre-storm restaurant population, 59 are not yet open, but are likely to reopen in the near future--say, before year's end. In making this count, I omitted any restaurant about which there is a serious doubt as to its return. So we do the math, and come up with 686 restaurants open by year's end. That's 86 percent of the pre-storm restaurant population. Which is far better than most expectations. One more little massage, however. I count 23 restaurants now open that were not around before the storm. That leaves us with 663 restaurants open of the ones that were here pre-Katrina--82 percent. Still beats the projections. And, again I tell you: I did not count a restaurant unless I'm almost positive it will open. I expect that many of the doubtfuls will return after all. (Many already have.) And I'm also sure that new dining establishments will continue to open. So I'm thinking that, by year's end, we may be up to 90 percent return for the restaurant community. Most are doing well, except on the staffing front. Please tell that to anybody who asks how the local economy is bouncing back. There are other indicators, of course, but this is an important one in many ways. © 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com