C'est Bon Kitchen & Libations, one of the only sit-down restaurants serving North Tulsa, is packing up from its home at the Shoppes on Peoria and searching for a new address elsewhere in the city. Owner David Franklin announced the move on Facebook, telling followers he plans to close the North Peoria Avenue location and reposition his Cajun and Creole eatery for what he calls a better customer experience.
Franklin has not set an official last day of service at the restaurant, located at 1717 N. Peoria Ave. Suite 7, according to Tulsa Flyer. He pointed to recurring operational issues at the North Peoria venue, specifically ongoing landlord conflicts, as the primary reason for the relocation, and he said he regretted letting those leasing problems drag on as long as they did before finally taking action.
“I allowed certain issues to continue longer than I should have,” Franklin said, according to the outlet's report. He added that his brand and product have built a large footprint in Tulsa, and he expects loyal customers to follow the restaurant wherever it lands next. Since announcing the closure, Franklin said he's received a wave of texts and social media messages from people asking where the new location will be.
A New Orleans Story, Retold in North Tulsa
Franklin, a native of New Orleans, spent more than 20 years working in accounting and finance before the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic pushed him to pivot into hospitality, according to TEDC Creative Capital. He scouted Oklahoma City before ultimately choosing Tulsa for its community feel, the CDFI notes, and he opened C'est Bon Kitchen & Libations in July 2025 with financing and technical support from the organization, which provides microloans and business incubation for under-resourced entrepreneurs.
The menu pays homage to Franklin's late grandmother, Helen C. Franklin, with signature dishes like the “Highway 23” Cajun catfish topped with Creole crawfish sauce and the “Who Dat” egg rolls, according to The Oklahoma Eagle. Franklin grew up between Belle Chasse and New Orleans, learning prep work from family members starting at age eight, the outlet reports. That specializes-in-Louisiana-flavors identity, per Tulsa Flyer's reporting, helped the restaurant carve out a devoted local following as one of the few sit-down dining options in North Tulsa.
What Comes Next for the Space and the Chef
Franklin has not ruled out opening a pop-up restaurant in the interim, depending on how the search for a permanent site unfolds, per the same Tulsa Flyer account. C'est Bon will remain in Tulsa and continue delivering what Franklin describes as an authentic New Orleans experience, even as the North Peoria doors close.
The departure leaves a notable vacancy at the Shoppes on Peoria, a 17,235-square-foot retail complex built in 2012 by TEDC Creative Capital in partnership with the City of Tulsa specifically to stimulate commercial investment in North Tulsa, according to TEDC Creative Capital's community partner profile. The strip center is anchored by Oasis Fresh Market, a 17,000-square-foot grocery store that opened in May 2021 as North Tulsa's first full-service supermarket in over a decade, according to the City of Tulsa. The commercial corridor along North Peoria Avenue sees nearly 20,000 vehicles pass through daily and sits along Tulsa Transit's Aero Bus Rapid Transit route, which launched in late 2019 to connect North Tulsa with downtown and southern commercial hubs.
A Second Setback for North Tulsa's Dining Scene
C'est Bon's exit follows the August closure of Prism Cafe in North Tulsa's Heights neighborhood, where owner Aimee Hunter cited staffing strain and industry volatility after three years in business, as Hoodline previously reported. Together, the two closures further shrink an already thin sit-down food ecosystem in an area where city and community statistics gathered during the Oasis Fresh Market project found that 93 percent of North Tulsa District 1 residents lived with limited access to fresh food, compared to 19 percent across the rest of the city, per the Tulsa Dream Center's 2020 findings. District 1 has historically lacked sit-down dining options relative to other parts of Tulsa.
It remains unclear where C'est Bon will land permanently, whether a pop-up will bridge the gap before then, and how TEDC Creative Capital intends to fill the prominent vacant restaurant space left behind at Shoppes on Peoria. For now, Franklin says his focus is on finding the right site to reposition the restaurant and deliver what he calls a better experience for the customers he expects will follow him.
