Hot Stuff, the meat-and-three plate lunch spot from the team behind Turkey and the Wolf, will close its doors on Maple Street around the start of October. Co-owner Mason Hereford says the restaurant simply wasn't doing enough business to continue, even as he holds out hope that its steam-table dishes will find a second life somewhere else in the city.
A Two-Year Run Near the Universities
Hereford opened Hot Stuff with chef Nate Barfield in May 2024 at 7507 Maple St., on the restaurant row near Tulane and Loyola universities, according to NOLA.com. The concept leaned on the meat-and-three format, offering a long steam table where diners picked main dishes and sides for a quick, home-style meal. Menu staples included stewed chicken, red beans and rice, fried pork chops, smoked wings, fried chicken marinated in buttermilk and hot sauce, and bananas foster pudding for dessert, per the same account.
The space itself carried local history. Hot Stuff took over the spot that had been Favori Deli for years. Turning the space into Hot Stuff — complete with a new kitchen, indoor dining, and patio seating — cost roughly $323,000, with NFT Group LLC and Graham Hill Architect LLC managing the buildout, the outlet reported.
Recipes May Find a New Home
Hereford told NOLA.com that plans are already developing to give Hot Stuff's recipes new life and a new home, and that Hot Stuff staff will move into positions at other restaurants across the group's family of concepts. He framed the closure as more than just an ending, writing, “We're looking at this as an opportunity rather than just a transition or shutter.”
Hot Stuff's decor reflected the same playful sensibility found across the group's restaurants, filled with plastic toys, neon signs, old commercial brands, and inside jokes, per the report. Barfield, who grew up in rural southern Alabama, previously cooked alongside Hereford at Turkey and the Wolf and High Hat Cafe. Hereford has said the two have more fun and less stress working together than separately, the outlet noted, and the group's past expansions have consistently come from partnering with talent already inside its own kitchens.
A National Reputation Built on Turkey and the Wolf
The closure marks a rare stumble for a team with an outsized national profile. Turkey and the Wolf, the Lower Garden District sandwich and cocktail restaurant Hereford founded in 2016, was named the number-one Best New Restaurant in America by Bon Appétit in August 2017. Hoodline itself ranked the restaurant fourth among the best cocktail bars in New Orleans back in January 2020, based on Yelp reviews and local transaction data.
Hereford's reach extends well beyond one restaurant. In January 2025, the James Beard Foundation named him a semifinalist for Outstanding Restaurateur, citing his portfolio that includes Turkey and the Wolf, Molly's Rise and Shine, Hungry Eyes, and Hot Stuff, according to the James Beard Foundation. His cookbook's release was delayed after an incident involving the MV Madrid Bridge, as reported by Business Insider.
Molly's Rise and Shine, the breakfast cafe associated with Hereford and located on Magazine Street, was named one of Food & Wine's 10 Best New Restaurants in America in 2020, and its co-chefs went on to earn their own James Beard semifinalist nod in 2023. In April 2023, Hereford, his wife Lauren Agudo, and chef Philip Cenac opened Hungry Eyes on Magazine Street, a martini and fancy drinking food restaurant, according to Axios.
Part of a Bigger Shake-Up on Maple Street
Hot Stuff's exit adds to a broader wave of turnover along the Maple Street corridor near the Uptown universities. In 2026 alone, the strip has also seen Origami Sushi relocate from Freret Street, underscoring that Uptown restaurant real estate is in flux even as its highest-profile new entrant prepares to shut its doors.
