NEW ORLEANS — Drago’s Seafood Restaurant had less than a day’s notice to prepare for a visit from the President and First Lady this week.
It was the first time a U.S. President had ever visited the storied restaurant chain, and despite the brief business interruption and some extra security measures, the owner called it “one of the “coolest days at Drago’s Restaurant, if not the coolest.”
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden came to New Orleans Tuesday to announce new funding for cancer research at Tulane University. Their official schedule did not include any other stops.
But one was being quietly planned in the background.
Tommy Cvitanovich, owner of Drago’s Seafood Restaurant, got a call from former White House adviser Cedric Richmond Tuesday morning.
“He says ‘dude, I’m gonna mess up your day today,’” Cvitanovich told WWL Louisiana, “and I tell him ‘no, you gotta get in line to mess up my day,’ and he said ‘how about if I bring the President in,’ and I said ‘you win.’”
Because the stop was unscheduled, Cvitanovich had to keep it a secret, even from most of his own staff. “We told them that the Food Network was coming in to do a photo shoot with a high-profile celebrity,” he said.
It was a believable fib. Drago’s has been a seafood staple in Louisiana for more than 50 years and the Metairie restaurant is its flagship location. “We’ve had Congressmen, we’ve had Supreme Court justices, cabinet secretaries,” said Cvitanovich.
But this was the restaurant’s first visit from a President of the United States. After the parking lot began filling up with Secret Service agents Tuesday afternoon, Cvitanovich finally told his staff who was coming.
The motorcade arrived at about 4:30 p.m. For the main course, the First Lady ordered the Restaurant Week special and the President requested a cheeseburger and chargrilled oysters, the restaurant’s specialty.
The food was prepared by Drago’s staff. Cvitanovich explained that they had to clear all but four chefs out of the kitchen while they were cooking it and two Secret Service agents watched the preparation.
“We gave it to him, and he enjoyed it,” said Cvitanovich. “We do have a good burger.”
He said the party paid its check and left a tip, then stuck around to take photos and meet the staff.
Cvitanovich called the visit the “experience of a lifetime for Drago’s Restaurant,” especially for his mother, Klara Cvitanovich. She and his late father, Drago Cvitanovich, immigrated to the U.S. from Croatia and built the Drago’s Seafood Restaurant dynasty from the ground up.
“For her to be able to shake hands at the front door with the President of the United States, that was one of the neatest things, to see how proud she was,” said Cvitanovich.
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