Louisiana Creole cuisine
While the building has been occupied by bars and restaurants since early in the twentieth century, Clancy's itself was founded in the late 1940s by Ed and Betty Clancy. Its original incarnation was that of a po' boy restaurant and bar, the typical variety of the era. In 1983 the Clancy couple, themselves having borne no heir, sold the restaurant to a group of New Orleans businessmen led by Billy Slatten, Bryan Wagner, and the late judge, Marcel Livaudais. The restaurant was transformed into a fine dining, "white tablecloth"-style restaurant, eclipsing its humble beginnings. It was one of the original Louisiana Creole cuisine bistros that sprung up in the 1980s, now the pre-eminent restaurant style in New Orleans.