When Loyola business professor Frankie Weinberg is not in the classroom teaching students, he is putting his business knowledge to use at his Magazine Street restaurant Pomelo, which recently celebrated its one-year anniversary.

The Uptown boutique cafe prides itself on serving authentic and exotic Thai comfort food and opened on Magazine Street in November of 2021.

Pomelo, owned by Weinberg and his wife Chef Aom Srisuk, opened its doors after Long Chim, the previous Thai restaurant in their little Uptown space, closed the previous summer.

Last Saturday, the pair celebrated their restaurant’s first anniversary with an open house including some of their finest dishes, which they said highlight their food to the fullest extent.

Srisuk and Weinberg said they wanted to create a space where customers felt comfortable to gather with close friends and family, drawing inspiration from Srisuk’s travels around Thailand and memories of home cooking with her Thai family, the duo said.

“My largest motivation was to support Aom,” Weinberg said. “But it has also been such a fantastic way to become more embedded in our great community.”

Weinberg has worked at integrating his Loyola life and his restaurant, as they have made their way onto the university’s vendor list, meaning they are accessible for catering for any Loyola-associated organization.

Weinberg and Srisuk also hired several college students onto Pomelo’s culinary team, including a considerable number of Loyola students who have taken Weinberg’s classes.

Accounting junior and Pomelo server Dani Milazzo said that she decided to apply after taking one of Weinberg’s classes where he would talk about Pomelo all the time.

“I’ve been with Pomelo since day one,” Milazzo said. “When he mentioned they were hiring, I gave him my resume, and the rest is history.”

Milazzo said that the restaurant has always been accommodating with flexibility and hours due to her status as a full-time student and that she enjoys working with the close-knit team that Pomelo has built.

Weinberg credits Srisuk for balancing all of the classic Thai flavors, such as spicy, sour, salty, and umami, and for developing meals that allow restaurant-goers to appreciate each of these characteristics.
“I love Aom’s expression ‘from our heart to your plate’,” Weinberg said.

With classic Thai dishes like chicken massaman curry and khao soi (curry noodle soup), Pomelo strives to create a new and fresh assortment of the cuisine that owners Weinberg and Srisuk enjoy to eat and serve to family and friends.

“It turns out our community has been craving these balanced yet unique flavors,” Weinberg said.

Srisuk hopes that Pomelo will become a favorite, no-brainer choice for people looking for tasty and fresh home-cooking style meals.

“New Orleans is really a foodie city, so my food could be something fun and novel for the local New Orleans community and our visitors,” she said.

Weinberg wants every diner to feel as if they’ve stepped into the house of a Thai friend, and he wants the restaurant to remain a vital destination for community, comfort, and adventure all wrapped up in one bite.

“Pomelo provides a nostalgic taste of Thailand to those who’ve had the pleasure of visiting and eating their way through the kingdom and a delightful first taste for those who haven’t yet had as much exposure to this delicious cuisine,” he said.