The Grocery

What's the deal with guys and sandwiches anyway? Well, The Grocery is one of those delis that is indeed packed with sandwich lovers. The Grocery is located in the Garden District on Saint Charles, where the picturesque houses of New Orleans are. Under large oak trees and sandwiched between residential houses and scattered shops, The Grocery was a former pharmacy in the 1800's. This deli has been around for over ten years now, and well, is a placed well loved by locals.

It is bustling during lunch hours, and for good reason. Their service is friendly, sanwiches are delicious, boasting a large variety from po-boys to paninis, a large selection of sodas, and even dessert. Its casual, un-updated ambience with an old-time feel really has this place feeling like what New Orleans did even decades ago. I've realized my love for corned beef, and so I got the Creole Corned Beef (9.25). Toasted bread and delicious meat, the sandwich was exactly what I was craving - a hot sandwich with flavor and character. I'm not sure if the creole coleslaw was just different and unexpected, but a part of me wished it was dressed with the classic toppings. Either way, it was a delicious sandwich, and I will be back for more!

I am always on the lookout for great Cuban Sandwiches. When I read that this place had a great version, I headed over during my lunch break.

The location is very easy to find, and parking was very easy. Inside the store has several tables, and coolers along the wall. I ordered a Cuban at the counter and waited for my sandwich.

The sandwich was decent, but not wonderful. While the sandwich was pressed, and the cheese melted, it seemed more like a regular ham sandwich than a traditional Cuban. I am not sure what it was lacking (maybe more pickles or mustard), but I was not impressed.

One item that did impress me was the fact that they carried Elmer's chee-weez. The bag of baked green onion hat I got to go with my sandwich reminded me of my childhood.

In summary, the location is pretty cool, but I found the sandwich to just be OK.

Note: This is one of the craziest bathrooms in the city. Located in the rear of the place, the bathroom had such a low ceiling, I had to hunch over. Granted, I am much taller than most humans, but I'd avoid it unless you have to.

We had a reservation at Commander's palace but it was a bummer that they didnt allow us inside since we were wearing shorts! We yelped for places to eat around and this one was right around the corner. Once we stepped in, it smelled good! They had some novelty drinks and beers to try. Also, on yelp checkin, we got a free bag of chips which was a good deal!

The pressed sandwich was really delicious, just that we found that it was too much quantity. 2 people could easily share out of one sandwich. The person at the checkout counter was really sweet and patient while we checked in on yelp for the free bag of chips.

In a quaint little house-looking building is this gem of a sandwich shop. The pressed po'boys were excellent. Ranked in order of deliciousness (out of what we ordered) - Cuban, Muffaletta, hot roast beef w gravy, and the last one was a BBQ roast beef. The Cuban was amazing. I wanted more. The bread was perfectly toasted and the meat and cheese inside wonderfully smothered. The Muffaletta was pretty good although much too salty for my taste. The hot roast beef w gravy was messy to eat but pretty tasty. It falls apart completely and the taste was good but not memorable. The shop is great to stop by for a quick bite and the parking is easier to find than French quarters. The BBQ roast beef was actually pretty bad. Nobody in out group could eat more than w bite of it but the other sandwiches were good enough to make up for that one.

As the sign says, "Not Really a Grocery Just Good Food". Instead, it's a funky little deli-style sandwich shop NOLA-style on St. Charles near Washington. We had come here a couple of years ago when stopping in New Orleans, and since we were in the neighborhood, decided to visit it again.

This not-a-grocery features friendly service and tasty creations. As we sat there, most of the customers (a) seemed to be regulars, and (b) were ordering take out. This is probably just as well, as the dining area is quite small and could get packed quickly. This same dining area is festooned with colorful artwork and even more colorful sayings.

I had a muffuletta sandwich, and my wife had the special: a "cajun roast beef" sandwich. Both are large portions and tasty. In particular, I had part of the muffuletta days later, and it held up like a champ. The pressed baguette bread they use for the sandwiches is great. A friend had a shrimp salad, and the shrimps were more plump and generous than you have any right to expect from a sandwich shop.

Although friendly, be warned the service is sloooow. But then again, they make the sandwiches from scratch when you order, and this is NOLA. They are pretty up front about it, though. A colorful sign above the counter proclaims: "If you get your food in 15 minutes it's a miracle". Although somewhat confusingly, another sign below the first states "miracles happen."

It didn't happen for us, however, as it took a good 20+ minutes to get it. But it was worth it, and there's plenty of atmosphere to soak up in the meantime. If you are in a fired-up hurry, calling in advance is probably the solution.

The signs themselves are mainly for vibe, I think, since there are a lot of strange contradictory messages. In the front is a sign for shrimp po'boys -- which they don't serve. :)

All in all, a great experience and somewhere we'll be returning to when we are in the area.

So admittedly, my ALL TIME FAVORITE sandwich place in NOLA is Stein's but sometimes you just can't beat the Grocery--it just has a little extra...what's the word...grease?

Go with someone else and get the Cuban and the Creole Corned beef so you can have half of each. Grab a bag of Zapp's and a cold Abita. Welcome to sandwich heaven.

Exceptional pressed sandwiches! They will also adjust your sandwich order based on request. Can't go wrong with any of the pressed sandwich! I have to make a stop here every time I come into New Orleans.

There is no seating except for a couple of small tables outside. It's truly a place to pick up your sandwiches for take-away.

Great poboys just don't expect anything more than a small grocery store setting.

I'll set the scene.
Walk in and you're looking directly at the giant menu hanging from the ceiling by the counter where your friendly cashier is ready to take your order and you better be ready cuz he is on point!
You finally choose what you want and then you sit and wait (don't be confused you pay after you get your food and not before).
Go pop a squat and wait...chat with friends, grab a drink from the cooler, grab a bag of chips and then enjoy the scenery and relax.
Back to your friendly cashier, once he calls your name you'll walk back up to the counter with your drink and your chips and you'll be ready to pay.
There is some lovely st. charles seating outside and if you're like me you love a lovely day and it's even better with a lovely chicken salad sandwich!
The sandwich was delicious! yum yum yum... :) go enjoy you'll love it too!

Let me say first off, that I REALLY want the new Grocery to do well. I live right down the street so I plan to frequent the place as often as I did the old Grocery.

With that said, improvements do need to be made. They need to add more tables inside and I figured they would have redecorated a bit, but the place looks shabby (and not shabby chic). I waited *30 minutes* for my to-go salad, which is absurd, particularly since it wasn't that busy and they have two cooks on the line. Check out girl must have been having a really bad day because not a smile crossed her face the entire time I was waiting. Definitely room for improvement and I expect that as they find their footing, service will catch up to speed.

The food was AWESOME. My salad was fresh and tasty. Their menu is well-curated with enough options to please a group and interesting enough to please someone looking for a special sandwich. It may be the case that a smaller menu would be better to start with as the cooks find their rhythm, then add more menu items (easy marketing too -- "New menu item!") once service times are reasonable.

Fix up that interior and improve service -- this place will be a goldmine! I have about five sandwiches I want to try so believe me, I'll be back!

Good sandwiches, a little unique in flavor. The prices were high for the amount of food, and it took longer than we expected, but the food was good, and the staff were super friendly! I tried the red velvet cupcakes, but I really wasn't impressed...