Picture a po-boy filled with chicken fried steak, or another holding a clutch of New Orleans-style hot tamales, just gushing grease. Conjure the prospect of a chicken parmesan po-boy under a thick cap of chunky meat sauce. And how about a po-boy filled with sliced wieners all soaked with pepper gravy, or yet another encasing slices of hog headcheese fashioned in the form of gumbo?
Where to get such creations? A boundary-pushing pop-up, a modern food truck on the make?
Nah. I found all those examples at different po-boy shops inhabiting some of the city’s old suburbs. I’ll name them in a minute. But you probably already know the type of shop I’m talking about.
These are the unsung backstreet joints. They keep a low profile. They’re not likely to make it onto any of those crowd-sourced best of lists of visitor favorites or celebrity chef picks. But, they maintain a strong tradition, show gregarious character, enjoy loyal followings and have added some distinctive signature sandwiches to the po-boy pantheon.
I’ve been on the hunt for this type of po-boy shop lately and have turned up a particularly rich haul outside the city, where lower real estate costs and a highly local clientele can have a certain preservative effect for old school eateries.
They can feel like time capsules, but they are not unchanging. They evolve, and sometimes change hands. Their spirit feels as lively as the first-name-basis banter between customers and staff. And their menus, while anchored by time-honored standards, make room for distinctive house creations that truly stand out.
That’s the case for Sam’s Po-Boys, tucked away in Old Jefferson near Ochsner hospital, a one-time grocery dishing out big breakfast po-boys early in the morning and unique submarine-style cold cut po-boys at lunch. Come on Wednesdays for the don’t miss specialty – that chicken parm po-boy with meat sauce. If you can find your way to Parenton’s Po-Boys well off Jefferson Highway, and it happens to be a Thursday, well, you’re right in time for the chicken fried steak po-boy, a long slim slab of crunchy-crusted meat with well seasoned edged peaking out from the lip of the loaf.
On any given day, a trip two blocks off Airline Drive in Metairie can yield the hot tamale po-boy, dressed with onions and melting cheddar, the specialty at Guillory’s Deli. For that weenie po-boy, sopping with its sorta-sweet, somewhat peppery sauce, you have to head to the West Bank, to Juneau’s Sandwich Shop, an old time place right in view of Marrero Middle School.
And the only place I’ve ever even heard of for a gumbo-style hog headcheese po-boy is Tag’s Deli & Meat Market, right by Chalmette High School. It’s gumbo style because each slice reveals rounds of smoked sausage, green peppers and onions all suspended in the gelatinous embrace of the headcheese, and melting back into the crags of the warm French bread.
Something else is revealed too, and it’s this. The realm of the po-boy runs deep and wide through New Orleans food culture, and there can be delicious surprises within any loaf and behind any door.
Parenton’s Po-Boys
4304 Ellen St., Jefferson, 504-846-3545
Lunch Mon.-Sat.
Guillory’s Deli & Tamales
3708 Derbigny St., Metairie, 504-833-1390
Juneau’s Sandwich Shop
4016 7th St., Marrero, 504-341-6879
Lunch Mon.-Fri.
Sam’s Po-Boys
260 Brooklyn St., Jefferson, 504-835-0689
Breakfast and lunch Mon.-Fri.
Tag’s Meat Market & Deli
1207 E. Judge Perez Dr., Chalmette, 504-277-6594
Lunch and early dinner (until 7 p.m.) Mon.-Sat.
