The plate lunch is one of the most democratic institutions in New Orleans: a hot protein, two sides, bread, and a price that assumes the person eating it has somewhere to be in an hour. These four counters have been running that deal, in their own ways, for years.
Cafe Reconcile
Cafe Reconcile opened in 2000 as a nonprofit workforce training program for at-risk youth aged 16 to 24, operated by Reconcile New Orleans out of a dining room on Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard in Central City. The young adults working the floor and the kitchen are paid trainees learning the hospitality industry under experienced supervision, and the food they produce is as serious as anything served by a full professional staff. Everything comes from scratch, including the roux, and the Cooking Channel featured the macaroni and cheese specifically.
The daily specials rotate through the Creole calendar the way they’re supposed to: red beans and rice, smothered pork, fried catfish, gumbo. The bread pudding with bananas foster sauce has won awards and is the thing regulars tell visitors to order before they’ve even looked at the rest of the menu. Prices are among the lowest for the quality available anywhere in the city, which is a deliberate part of the mission.
Cafe Reconcile is at 1631 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, open Tuesday through Friday from 11am to 2:30pm. Call (504) 568-1157 or view the current menu at cafereconcile.org.
Frady’s One Stop Food Store
Frady’s sits on the corner of Piety and Dauphine in the Bywater, a cash-only family-run corner store that has outlasted nearly every other operation of its type in the city. The setup is exactly what the name suggests: a grocery counter in the front, a hot kitchen behind it, and a line that forms before noon on most days. Orders go out in to-go containers. Sidewalk tables and a short walk to Markey Park across the street are the seating options.
The blue plate special changes daily and runs through the Creole rotation of red beans, jambalaya, meatloaf with mashed potatoes, and fried catfish with sides like mac and cheese, deviled eggs, and fries with brown gravy. The roast beef po-boy has a following of its own, as does the muffuletta. The house meatloaf is the most frequently cited reason for a dedicated trip, and the bread pudding closes the meal correctly. Cash only, no exceptions.
Frady’s is at 3231 Dauphine Street, open Monday through Friday from 7:30am to 3pm and Saturday from 10am to 3pm. Call (504) 949-9688 or follow @fradysonestop for daily specials.
Sammy’s Food Service & Deli
Sammy’s on Elysian Fields Avenue in Gentilly grew out of a family butcher shop run by Sammy Schloegel’s uncle John Shambra, where Sammy learned to cut and cure meat before eventually opening his own counter. The transition shows in the quality of the proteins: the roast beef is made in-house, the hot sausage is house-ground, the hamburger patties are hand-formed, and nothing has ever been frozen. Guy Fieri came through for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in 2010, which brought national attention without changing the operation in any visible way.
The daily specials are the reason regulars plan their week around the schedule. The line from the register to the door at lunch features, in the words of co-owner Gina Schloegel, a member of every class and race in New Orleans, which is about as accurate a description of the plate lunch tradition as exists. The Ray Ray Po-Boy, a fried chicken breast topped with grilled ham and melted Swiss, won Best Non-Seafood Po-Boy at the New Orleans Po-Boy Festival. The pumpkin bread pudding appears seasonally and has its own reputation.
Sammy’s is at 3000 Elysian Fields Avenue, open Monday through Thursday from 10:30am to 5pm, Friday from 10:30am to 7pm, and Saturday from 10:30am to 4pm. Call (504) 947-0675 or check current daily specials before visiting.
Liuzza’s by the Track
Liuzza’s by the Track sits on North Lopez Street two blocks from the New Orleans Fairgrounds, which means it functions as the unofficial pre-Jazz Fest headquarters every spring and as a serious neighborhood lunch counter every other day of the year. The menu runs Creole staples: gumbo with sausage and chicken, shrimp remoulade, turtle soup, fried seafood platters, and a corned beef Reuben slowly simmered in-house that has its own devoted following.
The signature dish is the BBQ shrimp po-boy, which is not barbecue in any traditional sense but rather the New Orleans interpretation of it: fresh shrimp sautéed in a garlic and butter sauce with Creole seasoning, stuffed into a French bread pistolette so the bread absorbs everything that drips. The pistolette format is specific to the Creole sandwich tradition and makes the whole thing structurally sound in a way a standard loaf wouldn’t manage. The Bloody Mary with pickled okra is the drink that precedes the sandwich on most visits.
Liuzza’s by the Track is at 1518 N. Lopez Street, open Monday through Saturday from 11am to 8pm. Call (504) 218-7888 or see the full menu at liuzzasbtt.com.
