NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - It’s not a typical Thursday at MRB Bar and Kitchen. With the Saints set to face the Pittsburgh Steelers in Paris on Sunday, staff members are preparing for an unusually early kickoff and an even earlier start to their day.
“We’re overstocking for everything. We’re gonna have beer, food, drinks,” said MRB manager Isaiah Porter.
With Paris seven hours ahead of New Orleans, Porter plans to open the bar at 8 a.m., just 30 minutes before kickoff.
It’s the earliest the bar has ever opened, and Porter is preparing for a big crowd.
“We gotta make this first time a big time,” Porter said.
“We’re getting our food inventory and we’re prepping our gumbo and our collard greens,” Porter said.
The Saints are set to play in the first NFL game hosted in France, and Porter believes fans have plenty to be excited about.
“We are the home team in another country. Hopefully, fingers crossed, we do good,” Porter said.
Across town, managers at Walk-On’s are making similar preparations. The restaurant will also open at 8 a.m., with food and drinks ready for fans.
“Burgers, waffle cheese fries, whatever you want,” said server Summer Sims.
Sims and fellow server Joshua Diaz said the restaurant typically opens at 11 a.m., but the earlier kickoff isn’t expected to slow the usual rush of Saints fans.
“Hopefully a big crowd,” Sims said.
“We get packed, like all the tables you see in the building, they are filled, and we usually have like a 50-minute wait time to an hour, hour 20,” Diaz said.
Saints fan Nick Randazzo is already looking ahead to Sunday’s matchup.
Asked to predict the final score, Randazzo said, “I think it’ll be Saints 34, Pittsburgh 27.”
Randazzo said last week’s win against the Giants gives him reason to be optimistic.
“I like their energy. I think Alvin Kamara is ready for phase 2 of his career with the Saints,” Randazzo said.
“Absolutely, we always hope and pray that they win. They are the golden children of New Orleans, and we support them through and through,” Diaz said.
For Porter, opening the doors before sunrise is more than an early start. It’s a chance to turn a Sunday morning in the French Quarter into a Who Dat watch party.
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