The unthinkable almost happened. Central Grocery, famous for its muffuletta sandwich though generations, may have disappeared, nixing another landmark of the French Quarter. That’s because the damage of the family owners faced in the wake of Hurricane Ida back in 2021 was also unbelievable to them.
The adjacent building had collapsed, sending a torrent of masonry through the market’s roof. Rain damage furthered the wreckage. Frank and Tommy Tusa, the two cousins who own it, both in their 70s, looked at their family legacy in ruins and thought maybe it was time to hang it up.
But it was the very longevity and family roots of the business that swiftly directed a different course. The thought of closing was quickly replaced by resolve to return. That finally happened, and a new chapter is underway for an institution that’s seen many already.
Central Grocery was first opened in 1906. That’s when the French Quarter was the epicenter of Italian immigration, earning the old neighborhood the nickname “Little Palermo.”
This is when the muffuletta became a New Orleans staple, and the specialty that Central Grocery would be known for forever more. It was the item that has kept the shop going while so many other Italian groceries closed amid the changing identity of the French Quarter.
Since the Hurricane Ida disaster, the store’s muffuletta has remained available through other retail outlets around the area, the old business has learned other new tricks, shipping the sandwich nationwide too.
But bringing back the historic store was important. It’s a part of French Quarter and New Orleans history that people can connect with as easily as making a sandwich run. It’s been painstaking rebuilt, along the same lines of what was here before. So there’s imported groceries and olive oil cans, high ceilings, a deli counter and, once again, a line of people eager to get their hands around a muffuletta.
You can get it whole, or by the half. Either way, it’s another slice of local history told through food and family.
