Axios New Orleans

April 15, 2026
💸 Morning! It's Wednesday, and taxes are due. Hope you're getting a refund.
- It's also the last day to register in person or by mail for the upcoming U.S. Senate primary. Go deeper.
Today's weather: Mostly sunny with a high of 83.
🎂 Happy birthday to our Axios New Orleans member Brian Kern!
🎧 Sounds like: "You Make Me Wanna ..." by Usher, who brings his new tour with Chris Brown to town this fall. Tickets go on sale next week.
Today's newsletter is 987 words — a 3.5-minute read.
1 big thing: 🤑 Tip your servers, folks

Louisianans diners tip less than the national average, according to Toast data.
Why it matters: Tipping expectations are rising, even as diners grow more confused — and sometimes frustrated — about when and how much to tip.
The big picture: Tips in Louisiana averaged 18.6% in the last quarter of 2025, per Toast's latest restaurant trends report.
- That's below the national average of 18.8%.
Yes, but: Cash tips aren't included. The data also only reflects restaurants using the Toast platform.
Zoom out: Delaware, West Virginia, New Hampshire and Indiana are home to America's best tippers, with diners leaving roughly 21% or higher on average, Toast says.
- At the bottom of the list for overall tipping are California, Washington, D.C., and Washington state, where averages are less than 18%.
- Louisiana was in the bottom 10 states.
Zoom in: Louisianans, like other Americans, tip differently based on the type of service.
- At full-service restaurants where a server handles everything, Louisianans tipped 19%, Toast found.
- At quick-service restaurants where you order at the counter, Louisianans tipped 15.9%, the data shows.
- The national average is 19.2% at full service and 15.8% at quick-service spots.
The intrigue: What about tipping for takeout orders? Diners are often unclear on what's expected, Beyond Etiquette founder Bonnie Tsai tells Axios.
- A 15%-20% range is still standard for sit-down restaurants. For takeout or fast-casual, it's "optional and often smaller," she says.
- That means giving a couple of dollars or just "rounding up" is perfectly acceptable, regardless of the pressure a prompt screen poses.
- If an order is large or complicated, consider giving 5%-10%.
The bottom line: "Don't feel guilty, but do be intentional," Tsai says. "Consider the level of service involved rather than reacting to the screen alone."
2. 🍷 Baldwin's new after-dark experience
Baldwin & Co. is opening a New Orleans reading lounge designed for unplugging.
Why it matters: It's part of a national trend of bars and restaurants that are discouraging or banning phones.
The big picture: Baldwin teased the new venue on Instagram as an after-dark experience that's not a party and not a library.
- Think reading lounge combined with a wine bar.
- "Bring a book. Order a glass. Put your phone away. Be somewhere real," the post says. "This is a softer, better kind of social life."
- Devices won't be banned, but the operational hope is that people put down their phones, Baldwin manager Taylor Murphy tells us.
Zoom in: NOLA Art Bar should open next month at 2128 St. Claude Ave, Murphy says.
Zoom out: Phone-free bars and restaurants are emerging across the U.S. as people seek to disconnect from screens and devices.
- At least 11 states have restaurants or bars with some form of phone restriction or a digital-detox incentive.
3. Fully Dressed: 🏀 Drafted then traded
🏀 LSU star Flau'jae Johnson was the No. 8 pick in the WBNA Draft on Monday. She went to the Golden State Valkyries, who then traded her to the Seattle Storm. (Defector, plus Getty photos from the event)
- She'll earn a base salary of $309,622 in her first season, which is nearly four times what last year's No. 1 pick made. (Yahoo)
- She also has her music career, including a song with Lil Wayne.
🛰️ Amazon agreed yesterday to buy Covington-based Globalstar for around $11.6 billion. The deal gets Amazon deeper into the space race. (Axios and press release)
🚮 IV Waste's trash contract for the French Quarter is expected to be extended through 2027. A City Council committee approved it yesterday. It goes to the full council now. (The Times-Picayune 🔒)
🎶 Gretna Fest is canceled this year as the city starts renovating the downtown gathering space. The fest will be reimagined as a fall concert series. (Fox 8)
💰 Tax refunds are up this year but are still falling short of expectations for many Americans. The average check is $3,462. (Axios)
🚧 Demolition could start this summer on the former Lindy Boggs Medical Center, also known as Mercy Hospital. The city finalized a deal with developers that includes $11.5 million in public money. (The Times-Picayune 🔒)
🏖️ The city hosts a community meeting tomorrow to talk about next steps for Lincoln Beach. It's at 6pm at Joe Brown Park's gym. (Instagram)
4. 🐛 A misunderstood pest

Buckmoth caterpillars have gotten an unfair reputation as villains, an Audubon entomologist says, when they are really just "clumsy babies."
The big picture: The stinging caterpillars can't help themselves, says Brad Hiatt, the assistant curator of entomology at the Audubon Insectarium.
- They emerge from the ground near live oak trees as the weather gets warm and climb up the trunks.
- "They're a little clumsy," he says. "They don't see very well. They're exploring."
- When something bothers them, like the wind, they get scared and let go, he says, falling onto the ground or on people.
- Their venomous spines are pressure sensitive, so they sting as a bodily function, not as an act of aggression, he says.
Zoom in: The native caterpillars have been out in full force for at least the past two weeks, which may correlate with the warmer weather, he says.
- Last month was one of the hottest Marches on record.
- Hiatt says last fall also had more adult buckmoths, so it makes sense that this spring would have a bigger emergence of their offspring.
📚 Carlie is reading two book series: "The Casquette Girls" on audiobook and "Mr. Lemoncello's Library" with her son.
🐣 Chelsea is on parental leave.
Tell a big tipper to subscribe.
Thanks to our editor Mike Szvetitz.
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