Carl Huling, owner of iconic Fat Harry's bar in Uptown New Orleans, dies
Times Picayune 02-02-2010


************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://usgwarchives.net/la/lafiles.htm
************************************************




Carl Huling, who owned the landmark Uptown bar Fat Harry's and West End Cafe on the lakefront
, died Saturday of cancer at Ochsner Foundation Hospital. He was 57.

Mr. Huling was born in Cleveland then raised in Berwyn, Penn.. He moved to New Orleans in
1970 to attend Loyola University, where he received an undergraduate degree as well as a
master's in business administration, said his wife, Deborah Magnon Huling.

He first worked at Fat Harry's with Dickie Unangst, a Phi Kappa Theta fraternity brother at
Loyola. Unangst bought Fat Harry's, formerly Gerald's Key Club, and quickly brought on Mr.
Huling as a cook. From there, Mr. Huling moved to bartender then manager, although he set out
on interviews for other jobs after getting his business degree, Unangst said.

"But it didn't take long for him to see how well he was doing at Fat Harry's, so he took that
suit off and never put it back on," Unangst said

Mr. Huling was the driving force behind the success of Fat Harry's, which catered to locals
of all types during the day and was primarily a hangout for college students at night,
Unangst said. Located just steps from Napoleon Avenue, near the beginning of the Uptown
parade route for Carnival krewes, Fat Harry's and the sidewalk outside were packed during the
Mardi Gras season.

"It was all Carl," Unangst said Monday from Honolulu, where he now lives. "He's the glue that
held everything together, and he's the guy that kept me in check while he watched over the
budget."

Huling was a no-nonsense businessman "who was a very stern teacher for all the people who
worked for him," said Clay Musacchia, a close friend and former general manager for the
Anheuser-Busch brewery. "Fat Harry's was like the starting grounds to get into the bar and
restaurant business in Uptown New Orleans," Musacchia said.

Unangst said Mr. Huling met his future wife while she was working at Fat Harry's. But there
was a problem: Mr. Huling did not want Fat Harry's employees to date each other.

"So on the altar at our wedding he said, 'I do, and you're fired,' " Deborah Huling said.

Huling bought Fat Harry's from Unangst around 1980. About six years later, the two set out
with Fat Harry's cook Nick Lacour to open a family restaurant and decided on a location in
West End. Mr. Huling operated West End Cafe for 18 years.

"He wanted a place where entire families could go," Deborah Huling said. "The family and Fat
Harry's -- that was his life."

Mr. Huling was a parishioner at St. Matthew the Apostle Church in River Ridge.

In addition to his wife, Huling is survived by two daughters, Amanda Huling Aucoin and
Gabriela Caitling Huling; and a son, Kyle Magnon Huling.

Visitation will be held today from 9 to 11 a.m. at Greenwood Funeral Home, 5200 Canal Blvd.,
New Orleans. A funeral Mass will follow at 11 a.m.