Cameron Young

Bruno’s Tavern sits empty on April 29.

Convicted fraudster Isaac Sylvester’s alleged two-week stint running Bruno’s Tavern, a beloved Uptown college bar, came to an end following his arrest on April 3. As litigation between former owners progresses, the bar sits empty. 

With a fake New Zealand accent and what one former employee described as “reckless” spending habits, 41-year-old Sylvester claimed to be the owner of Bruno’s in early March, according to former employees. 

The New Orleans Department of Safety and Permits records do not reflect a change of ownership in March. 

“It’s freaky how charismatic [he was] and how easily he won all of us over,” Audrey Gotham, Tulane University sophomore and former Bruno’s employee, said. “All of us had [on] our little rose colored glasses.”

Isaac Sylvester arrives 

According to former employees, Bruno’s was in a state of financial decline as early as 2023. Public record indicates that a motion to foreclose the property and collect millions in missed mortgage payments was filed this March. 

“Our checks were bouncing,” former Bruno’s employee Brandon Barry said. “We found out that the auto gratuity was being used to subsidize the manager’s base pay instead of going to the bar staff.”

Amid the bar’s apparent financial troubles, Sylvester arrived, claiming to be a New Zealand-born bar magnate named Ian McKinzie. Bruno’s management introduced Sylvester as the bar’s new owner, and he was included in a staff meeting and employee communications on March 22, according to former employees.

Public record does not reflect an official change of ownership in March or April. 

“He was very charismatic, seemed like he [had] a lot of ideas and really [wanted] to make this place better,” Gotham said. “Me and all my co-workers were so excited about this guy.” 

Former employees said Sylvester was quick to dole out cash.

“He was very reckless with money. Anytime someone would say something or do something that he liked, he would give you 100 bucks,” Kate, a Tulane junior and a former Bruno’s bartender, said. Kate asked to only be identified by her first name.

Still, the embattled bar seemed to have turned a corner.

Gotham said that during Sylvester’s alleged ownership, Bruno’s saw a higher volume and quality of supplies, such as beer on draft and significantly higher wages. 

“We were very excited for what was gonna happen, because … we were beginning to see the change,” she said. 

However, as staff got to know Sylvester, the act began to slip. 

“The more he would get drunk, the less his accent would be there,” Gotham said. Another employee said Sylvester sounded “too good to be true.” 

On April 3, Sylvester was arrested near Bruno’s on an out-of-state bench warrant after a staff member called authorities. The warrant, active since 2017, was for failing to appear at a sentencing hearing in New York after pleading guilty to forgery. 

Sylvester’s criminal history dates at least back to 2012, when he was arrested in Florida on charges of credit card fraud and uttering forged bills.

After serving time in Florida and New York, Sylvester was living in New Orleans in 2018 when the New Orleans Police Department obtained a warrant for his arrest for identity theft and fraud charges. Sylvester pled guilty to resisting an officer and computer fraud in 2020.

In 2023, Sylvester arrived on the docket in Nashville, Tennessee, where he faced a criminal impersonation charge, which prosecutors ultimately chose not to pursue. He also faced a hearing for being a fugitive, which was dismissed.

Following his April 3 arrest, Sylvester voluntarily agreed to return to Orange County, New York, where he was remanded without bail on April 23. Sylvester is now being held in Orange County where he awaits sentencing from the judge he absconded from in 2017. He is scheduled to appear at the Orange County Courthouse on April 30. 

Who really owns Bruno’s? 

In 2019, David Melius of BCI Properties sold Bruno’s to Tim Spratt and James Brown III, but retained ownership of the land itself. 

A few years later in 2023, Spratt and two others entered into a commercial mortgage loan with BCI Properties under a limited liability company, Maple Mint I, to finance buying the Bruno’s building and land from BCI. 

But then, according to legal documents reviewed by The Hullabaloo, Maple Mint I missed monthly payments on Bruno’s mortgage in 2025. The documents further alleged that the defendants failed to purchase property or liability insurance for Bruno’s and failed to pay municipal property taxes.  

BCI Properties filed a motion to foreclose the property in March 2026 and collect nearly $2 million in missed payments. 

On April 16, BCI Properties filed a motion to sequester Bruno’s and all of the equipment and assets in the bar; the motion was granted that day. A motion to sequester is a legal request to take temporary control of property during ongoing litigation.

Former employees received a message on April 21 stating that Bruno’s was closed indefinitely. 

“The locks were changed last night … We can all assume that this will mean that we are closed until further notice,” a former Bruno’s employee said in a text message obtained by The Hullabaloo.