Nick’s Original Big Train Bar has been a New Orleans drinking institution loved by generations of local patrons, visiting celebrities, and tourists. On any night one could find businessmen and college students, politicians and barmaids perched atop aged wooden beer crates savoring “Mr. Nicks” creations. Every visit  to Nick's Bar was certain to become an unforgettable memory.

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The derivation of the “Big Train” name remains a mystery.  It could have been that Mr. Nick's last name was as long as a train, or because the bar was located near the last train stop from Baton Rouge and or on the direct path from a big train station to bustling Tulane Avenue, or because Mr. Nick would lead and other's followed.  Regardless, everyone who visited remembers the famous Dixie 45 train mural that stretched across the rear of the bar. “Mr. Nick” continued to operate the bar until his death in 1979 when his wife, Miss Dora, kept the “store” operating. The Castrogiovanni descendants continued to operate the business after Dora passed in 1990, but Hurricane Katrina and the challenges that followed finally wiped-out the original structure of the nearly 100-year-old family business.

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Nick's grandson, Albert Kattine, has brought the Castrogiovanni family back to it's original home. The new Nick's will bring back the original traditions of this New Orleans landmark, celebrating the spirits of New Orleans.  Reopening is planned  100 years after its original beginning, the return of Nick's Bar will include all of the flavor of the past.