Just before 10 p.m. on Monday, January 5, two armed men barged into the front room of Buffa’s Bar and Restaurant.

One man stayed by the door. The other walked directly up to the bartender, forced him behind the bar at gunpoint, and made him open up the cash register.

While the bartender tried to remain calm, the gunman by the door aimed his gun at a patron’s head and robbed him of his wallet.

Sensing a commotion, several members of the kitchen staff stuck their heads through the serving window that opens into the front bar.

One of the gunmen waved his weapon at the kitchen staff, and they scattered.

Approximately 40 seconds after they first entered the bar, both gunmen fled with less than $1,500 from the register.

“By and large, this is an unfortunate event, for sure, but I think and hope it is an isolated incident,” Buffa’s owner Chuck Rogers said. “We have a lot of security cameras and have video from every angle. We’re going to get some signage that tells people we have video surveillance, but to be honest, I don’t think that will help. This is a chronic problem in New Orleans that the city has to address with more police presence.”

Jarret Rogers, Chuck’s son and a chef at Buffa’s, was at an adjoining apartment the family rents for storage and to have a place to rest between shifts when the robbery happened.

“We have our in-house phone set up so that if somebody dials 911, we automatically receive a text alert,” Jarret said. “When I got that alert, I walked over, and it was about three minutes after it happened. The chairs were all barricaded up against the door.”

After making sure everyone was physically unharmed, Jarret told the patrons in the back bar what had happened and began copying and securing the surveillance footage.

The NOPD responded within 15 to 20 minutes, Jarret said.

“One of the robbers was wearing a beanie and the other one had a ski mask on,” he said. “We got good shots of them from several different angles, so we at least know their physical characteristics – how tall they are and everything like that. We just gave all the footage we could get to the NOPD.”

Despite the relative brevity of the encounter, everyone at the normally quiet neighborhood bar was affected by the armed robbery.

“The bartender was very shaken up. He had never been at gunpoint before, much less robbed at gunpoint. His nerves were shaken,” Jarret said. “We also had a dishwasher who was waiting to come on to work sitting at the bar at the time. He feels like his life was endangered, and he’s not coming back to work tonight or tomorrow. He’s taking some time off to collect himself and try to get over it.”

Chuck Rogers said the Twelfth Night Celebration with Buffa’s favorite Davis Rogan will go on as planned tonight.

And while the staff and regulars will be on high alert for a while, in the end, nothing of importance was lost.

“I’m really not concerned with the money,” Jarret said. “I’m just thankful nobody was hurt in any way. It will take time for their nerves to get settled down, but nobody had any lasting damage done.”