In December 2025, Maggie and McClain Balmer took the McClain's Pizzeria sign down from their building on Girod Street. For 13 years that building had been one of the best-known pizza counters in Old Mandeville, a short walk from Lake Pontchartrain. A photo of the moment ran in The Times-Picayune | nola.com's report on the move, and it looked like a goodbye.
It wasn't. Ten months on, the fire has turned into two openings. McClain's is back in a larger room on Highway 22 with a bar and space for parties. The old building at 115 Girod St. now belongs to the family behind Aperitif Spritz & Bites, and they're rebuilding it as a looser, cheaper sibling to their dressier lakefront restaurant. Each address ended up with something it didn't have before October 2025.
How one kitchen fire became two projects
- Late October 2025. An electrical fire broke out early on a Monday morning and damaged the McClain's kitchen on Girod Street, as WDSU reported that week. A Mandeville fire department official estimated the damage at 40% of the kitchen, and the restaurant said on social media that it was "indefinitely closed."
- The weeks after. A GoFundMe raised $33,970 from 275 separate donations.
- End of December 2025. That money helped the family sign a lease on a new space at 5404 Louisiana 22, near Bigener Road.
- Before the reopening. Restaurateur and caterer Cayman Sinclair bought the Girod Street building McClain's had rented. The previous owner had held the property for 19 years.
- Saturday, August 1, 2026. McClain's held its grand opening on Highway 22.
- September 1, 2026. WhatNow reported that renovation was underway at 115 Girod St. and that Aperitif Terrace would open "later this year."
The owners had first aimed to reopen McClain's by June 1. It opened about two months later. Balmer's description of the wait, quoted by nola.com's Where NOLA Eats, was "a very long nine months."
McClain's had outgrown Girod Street before the fire
The fire forced the move. The bigger room was already on the family's mind. "We'd kind of grown out of that place," Balmer told nola.com about the space they'd rented for 13 years. The business runs on one extended household. Maggie and McClain run it with her parents, her brother and her brother's wife, so a small kitchen meant a lot of people working in tight quarters.
Here's what the Highway 22 space adds, according to nola.com's reopening story:
| Girod Street, through October 2025 | 5404 LA-22, Suite 100, since August 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Seating | The original Old Mandeville dining room | More indoor seating |
| Bar | Not described in coverage | Full bar with 16 beers on draft |
| Private events | Not described in coverage | Private room for more than 30 guests |
| Menu | Homemade pizza and pasta from family recipes | Mostly the same, plus Brussels sprouts, deviled eggs and gluten-free carrot cake |
| Kitchen | Closed by the fire | Open kitchen, where McClain and Maggie's father still make the dough and red sauce early each morning |
The recipes themselves made it through. The family cookbook survived the fire with only a few charred pages. Every employee came back when the doors reopened, and Balmer called that "very validating and encouraging."
The family is still putting its stamp on the new room. Balmer told nola.com they plan to paint the walls a soft purple, inspired by a trip to Prince's home in Minnesota. They're also adding a hot sauce bar stocked with bottles collected on their travels. Before the grand opening, the restaurant had already booked two private parties.
Highway 22 already had some draw for casual food. Bub's Burgers, the New Orleans smash-burger shop, has a Mandeville location at 3847 La. 22. With McClain's now on the same corridor, that stretch of La. 22 has a second casual sit-down spot.
What 115 Girod St. is turning into
Cayman and Sara Sinclair already run Aperitif Spritz & Bites at 1943 Lakeshore Drive, just around the corner from 115 Girod St. The restaurant's own website calls it an old-school New Orleans restaurant with the feel of a Parisian sidewalk bistro. Sara Sinclair told WhatNow that people tend to treat the flagship as a dress-up, special-occasion place.
They're building Aperitif Terrace for the opposite kind of visit. "We're hoping people will come in from riding bikes or taking a walk," Sinclair told WhatNow. "They can feel a little more casual in their attire and approach."
Here's the plan as WhatNow described it on September 1, 2026:
- Menu: shareable appetizers and small plates in place of the flagship's entrée focus, from the same culinary team, at a more attainable price point
- Building: cosmetic updates downstairs, and a down-to-the-studs renovation upstairs so the second floor can handle full table service
- Capacity: about 150 guests across indoor and outdoor seating, which Sinclair said makes it a good fit for private bookings
- Location: 115 Girod St., half a block in from the lake
Sinclair also described the operation as a family one. She and Cayman run it with their son, and a niece works with them. So the block keeps a family-run restaurant in the same two-story building, just with a different family and a different menu.
What isn't settled yet
Aperitif Terrace has not been confirmed open. The most recent report is WhatNow's from September 1, 2026, which said "later this year," and no firm opening date has been published since. The plan has also shifted somewhat in the telling. In spring, nola.com reported Cayman Sinclair describing a rooftop cocktail bar, a large balcony over Lake Pontchartrain, downstairs lounge seating and a fall opening. That same article spelled the name "Apertif Terrace." The September report spells it "Aperitif Terrace" and describes an upstairs being rebuilt for full table service. It doesn't repeat the rooftop wording.
The timeline has stretched as well. In spring, Sinclair estimated renovations would take two to three months once work began, since the fire damage wasn't too extensive. By September the upstairs was down to the studs. The best way to know when the doors open is to watch Aperitif's own channels and local food coverage. Count on small plates and a casual dress code. Hold off on assuming a rooftop until the owners describe one again.
The lakefront this fall, while 115 Girod is still under construction
The lakefront stays busy in the meantime. The Mandeville Trailhead, just a few blocks from Girod Street, has four free Mandeville Live! Fall Free Friday concerts left on the calendar:
- Friday, October 23
- Friday, October 30
- Friday, November 6
- Friday, November 13
Food trucks sell food and drinks at each one. The day after the October 30 concert, the Old Mandeville Business Association's WideWater Music & Arts Festival takes over the Mandeville lakefront on Saturday, October 31, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with food among the festival offerings.
For now, a Friday on the lakefront means food trucks at the Trailhead or dinner at the Aperitif flagship on Lakeshore Drive. A pizza night means the drive out to McClain's near Bigener Road, where the dough is still mixed from the family cookbook. Once Aperitif Terrace opens, 115 Girod St. will be serving small plates half a block from the lake.
The team at Amanda Stevens Property Group keeps up with moves like these on Girod Street, Lakeshore Drive and Highway 22 because our neighbors ask about them. If you're curious how changes like this play into your own part of Mandeville, Request a Free Market Consultation and we'll walk you through what we're seeing.
