Last week, I went on a winter vacation with my wife Jun to New Orleans and Florida. I haven’t been to New Orleans since 2015, and Jun has never been so I wanted to show her around this absolutely charming city where I got to enjoy its distinct food, drinks and culture on my first visit. Of course, this was an opportunity to stop by some of the restaurants in the Big Easy I haven’t had a chance to visit yet. To my embarrassment, last time in 2015 I never had a chance to get my hands on po’ boy, a classic Louisiana sandwich with meat or fried seafood, so in my itinerary I made sure to include a po’ boy place as the first stop of our meal once we landed in New Orleans. After much searching for the best po’ boy of New Orleans lists, I picked Parkway, an unassuming tavern outside the touristy French Quarters neighborhood. The verdict: if you want to get a taste of one of these sandwiches, I don’t see many places beating Parkway.

The list of po’ boys at Parkway, called “poor boys” according to the menu, is quite expansive. I chose golden fried oysters largely because they were only available on Mondays and Wednesdays (we arrived on a Monday), and Jun chose surf and turf version, a combination of slow cooked roast beef and golden shrimp covered in gravy (Jun is not a huge fan of gravy and asked to get it on the side, which the staff kindly accommodated), and we split the two sandwiches. They were both fantastic, especially the surf and turf one that packed so much delicious flavor and the texture of beef and shrimp working in tandem on every single bite that I had. I honestly can’t recall I’ve had a more delicious sandwich, not to mention po’ boy, in a very long time, perhaps since my visit to Cochon Butcher in New Orleans couple of years ago (https://kenscale.com/2015/06/22/cochon-butcher/). Fried oysters were also impressive as the oysters weren’t too thickly battered or aggressively seasoned to my liking. If you want, add a side of French fries with cheese and chili and you have a decadent lunch that you will feel good about how matter the health effects of these rich ingredients in one place, at a tremendous value (other than the fried oysters poor boys, no single sandwich costs more than $10 for its regular size, which is probably more than enough for one person).

Parkway doesn’t accept reservations, but even if you show up during peak times at lunch, you are not likely to wait too long. In addition to the front tavern space, there is also counter and a larger dining space at the back where you can order take-outs and sit at one of the tables. There is full bar with a variety of beer and cocktail options you should take advantage of to wash down all the deliciousness. Jun and I were really glad that we stopped by Parkway; it was a perfect lunch with decadent sandwiches to kick off our trip to New Orleans.

KenScale: 8.0/10

• Creativity: 7.0/10
• Execution: 8.5/10
• Ingredients: 8.0/10
• Flavor: 8.5/10
• Texture: 8.0/10
• Value: 9.0/10

Address:  538 Hagan Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70119

Telephone: (504) 482-3047

Website: http://parkwaypoorboys.com/