Frady's One Stop

3231 Dauphine Street
New Orleans, LA 70117
(504) 949-9688

The blessing and the curse with New Orleans is that there is a great place to eat on nearly every block. Frady's is a neighborhood staple of the Bywater (or Bi-wuder for us Philadelphian's) and has been a corner store of some kind since 1871. Its current iteration (as Frady's One Stop) has been in operation since 1968. There is a reason this place has stuck around so long...

It serves as a neighborhood meeting spot, and many people pass through, some for a pack of smokes, some for a chat with Frady himself. and some for the INSANE po' boys that are cranked out.

I had the opportunity to speak with Frady at length while my food was prepared. He was incredibly nice, offering up the history of the building and his store, and we even got to nerd out on the Civil War, a particularly favorite subject of mine (and his). He made this damned Yankee feel right at home.

Frady's son and daughter (twins!) do the cooking here, and my word, do they ever do it right. The kitchen is open to the store, giving you a bird's eye view into where the magic happens.

Frady will offer some critiques, and an off-the-wall question/remark when he feels it's appropriate. I love this place beyond belief.

Although it was (by all accounts) still breakfast, I needed to try the oyster po' boy, the roast beef with debris, and a good old fashioned fried egg sandwich to round it all out. I was originally intending to walk somewhere to eat with a view, but I was so hungry/fat that I made it a block before settling on a picturesque wall outside of a factory, next to a chain link fence.

Fried egg, cheese, bacon, tomato, mayo on wheat toast to begin. This came at the recommendation of Frady's son – I gave him free reign on its construction – and there is no better combination in the history of breakfast than these items. Oh, wait, some hot sauce. Yes indeed.

This was about the best breakfast sandwich I have ever eaten in my life. Perfectly runny yolk, creamy mayo, buttered toast, crunchy salty bacon, and some acidity from the tomato and hot sauce combined for the ultimate breakfast experience.

The fully dressed, fried oyster po' boy was served on a perfect Leidenheimer roll which is synonymous with po' boy, it is literally THE only roll that should carry a po' boy. Airy in the middle, with just enough crispiness on the outside to keep it all together, there is no other way.

My $8.50 half was MORE than enough to feed one person.

I absolutely love that they shred the iceberg here. It makes sense, and adds to a coleslaw-like effect with the mayo and hot sauce mix. The fried oysters were delicious, and had a well seasoned breading, housing a briny jewel underneath.

The heavy hitter of this party, however, was undoubtedly the roast beef. My god, this is an amazing sandwich.

The debris was the stuff dreams are made of. Rich, deep, and velvety, I wish this was served in a fountain. And that I was free to slurp it at will, and little pieces of beef could be picked off of the ledge around the fountain, with bites of roll if you so desired. It's that good.

The thinly sliced beef was a thing of beauty, and I deem this one of the top five things I ate in 2013. Two others were also in New Orleans (details coming soon).

If you happen to find yourself in this neighborhood, you would be doing yourself a huge disservice to not stop here and eat. Just be sure to tell Frady I sent you.

Mother's Restaurant

401 Poydras St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 523-9656
Website

Mother's is like the Pat's and Geno's of the po' boy. It's the landmark, the one everyone has to try, and one of the originals. I spent a blurry weekend in New Orleans, for the first time a little while ago, and I managed to hit some of the more famous places. Given my penchant for eating sandwiches and my undying love for a good po' boy, they were the main focus of my trip. Oh, and the music and beer.

There is a walk-up counter where you order your food. They offer a variety of hot foods and po' boys. I went with the roast beef. This was based solely upon a recent recommendation by the esteemed Hawk Krall, and I was not disappointed.

The dining room is a 'seat yourself' type of event, and they will bring your food out to you. It's pretty much perfect.

Of course, po' boys aren't the only thing on the menu. There's a wide variety of home cooked selections that are "prepared daily from scratch," including jambalaya, gumbo, étouffée - the list goes on...

Pickled chili peppers and Crystal hot sauce make for a nice kick, one of my requirements on a po' boy.

Now don't look for fancy seeded rolls here. They are called po'boys for a reason.

The beef was tender and juicy, soaking the bread with au jus, and lending a nice salty dipping pool. The bread holds up okay, but it's not the kind of thing you can take to-go. It's an "eat it and get out" type of meal. Couple it with a cheap domestic and you have great base to go out drinking 'til all hours of the night. Which is pretty much the norm down there.

Next time, the baked ham will be mine.