The Mid-City neighborhood in New Orleans is struggling to get back on its feet after three to six feet of water from the 17th Street Canal flooded the area. It's a tough road, but there are a lot of folks determined to get back to normal. Now that Mandina's Restaurant is back, Canal Street outside of the Central Business District has yet another reason to be proud.
Like many neighborhood restaurants in New Orleans, Mandina's started out as a grocery store. Sebastian Mandina converted the store on Canal and Cortez Streets into a restaurant, and the rest isn't history, it's tradition. And a tasty one at that.
One of my earliest memories of Mandina's is tied to, of course, a funeral. Just across the street from the restaurant is Jacob Schoen and Sons Funeral Home. Having a big wake is a long-time New Orleans tradition, and when the evening starts to drag along, the men of the family would occasionally sneak out across the street to Mandina's. My dad did that one evening when I was a small boy, as we waited for the streetcar to pass by us, then we dashed across so he could get a beer. As an adult, Mandina's was one of the places my fraternity brothers and I would venture to for lunch when we wanted to get away from UNO's lakefront campus. Grace Episcopal Church was always one of my favorite places to see Carnival parades that passed by on Canal Street, and that always meant we'd run into Mandina's and grab a couple of po-boys while waiting for the floats.
Those green streetcars (the Perley A. Thomas 900-series) are temporarily back on Canal Street while their more modern red cousins are being re-built, sending the 3700 and 3800 blocks of Canal into a mid-50s time warp. The Mandinas I walked into on Saturday wasn't the same smoky place I remembered; between storm renovations and the state's no-smoking-in-restaurants law, Mandina's looks like new in side.
The menu is far from new, though, and that's a wonderful thing. The four of us (myself, the wife, and the two boys) waited about 20 minutes at the bar for a table, where I had an Abita Amber, Helen had a glass of the house Chardonnay, and the boys had soft drinks. When we were seated, the boys devoured the crackers and butter on the table. We started with an order of Onion Rings. Onion rings at Mandina's are excellent, and totally different from those served at their neighborhood rivals, Liuzza's (over on Bienville Street). Mandina's onion rings are thick-cut, deep-fried in a tasty batter. When we walked from the bar to the table, I noticed that they have an Abita "seasonal" tap, so I switched to Abita Red Ale.
Usually I get something Italian at Mandina's, but I was in the mood for a roast beef po-boy, so that's what I ordered. Justin (my teen, who is a freshman at Georgia Tech) has been jonesing for fried shrimp since his return home on spring break, so he got the shrimp plate. Kevin, the 12-year old who eats more than his 19-year old brother, ordered a burger on a bun. Helen got half a shrimp loaf with just butter on the french bread.
In spite of the fact that the place was packed, the timing of the food coming to the table was pretty good. The boys didn't have a lot of time to continue on the crackers before the onion rings arrived, and the sandwiches weren't that far behind.
My roast beef po-boy was just perfect. Good, crunchy french bread, lots of meat, and enough gravy to make the whole thing sloppy without being gross. The shrimp were a hit--one of the best things about a busy day at a neighborhood restaurant like Mandina's is that fried seafood doesn't have a lot of time to sit around. The shrimp were hot and tasty. Kev's burger got a thumbs-up as well. There were enough fries on Justin's dinner plate for the boys to share, so we didn't get an extra order for Kevin.
Service was as good as it can be on a day when a restaurant is packed. Our server didn't miss a beat, even though she was running back and forth between the kitchen and a number of tables. The place settled down a bit after a party of twelve or so left, and we got more of the "Are y'all doing OK?" questions at that point. What was important was that she got the food to us--after that, New Orleanians don't need to be fussed over.
We skipped dessert because Helen and I were stuffed. (We bought the boys off of the notion with the promise that we'd go to Ben & Jerry's later.) The tab was $12 at the bar (one beer, one house wine, two soft drinks), and I tipped to make it $15. The check for the meal was $58, and I left $70. That's $70 as in three twenties and a ten--Mandina's doesn't take credit cards or checks. Let me repeat that for those of you who have forgotten what real cash looks like in this age of debit cards: Mandina's doesn't take credit cards or checks!
One of the reasons that Mid-City residents and businesses put up with the construction of the new Canal streetcar line was the hope that the "Red Ladies" would bring visitors down from the Quarter/CBD. Until they're back on the line, experience the "time warp" of riding the 1929-vintage streetcars up Canal to Mandina's on your next trip to town. Locals, you now have no excuse not to check it out, since they've build a 20+ car parking lot next door!
Mandina's
3800 Canal St
New Orleans, LA 70119
Mon-Thu 11:00am-10:30pm
Fri-Sat 11:00am-11:00pm
Sun 12:00pm- 9:00pm
Tel: (504) 482-9179
Fax: (504) 486-8283
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