The plate lunch in New Orleans lives in corner groceries more than in restaurants, and the specials change with the day of the week.
1. Gloria’s Grocery, Tremé
There is no menu at Gloria’s. Customers walk in already knowing what they want, and Gloria Hilliard cooks it behind a long, low counter.
She moved to New Orleans in 1957 at eighteen for hospital work, married a cement mason named Fisher Hilliard, and rented the apartment attached to a corner store then called Bert’s Market. When the owner retired, the couple bought it. They reopened as Gloria’s Grocery on July 4, 1970, and Hilliard describes the arc herself as going from the back of the building to the front.
The store leans toward food now more than groceries. Hot sausage patties get grilled to order, sometimes dressed with french fries, and the daily dishes rotate through the week with smothered cabbage and cornbread on Thursdays, fried fish, and the Monday red beans. The store holds down the corner of North Derbigny and Conti, one block from the Claiborne Avenue overpass and one block from the Lafitte Greenway. Listed hours run 8:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. most days, with a shorter Sunday. Hilliard turned 83 in 2022, so call (504) 522-6861 before making a special trip.
2. Frady’s One Stop, Bywater
Joseph Frady bought a going-out-of-business meat market at Dauphine and Piety in 1972 with two goals, running a corner grocery and serving the best cold drinks and sandwiches in the neighborhood. Customers kept asking for more, so he installed a small kitchen behind the counter with fryers and a stove and started cooking hot lunches.
The specials still go up on chalkboards on the walls. Red beans and rice, jambalaya with fried fish, meatloaf, and catfish rotate through, with sides running to mac and cheese, deviled eggs, mashed potatoes, muffuletta salad, and fries with gravy. A hot plate costs around $7.50 and comes with more food than most people finish. The meatloaf has its own following.
Nobody eats inside. Orders go out the door to sidewalk tables, where a regular cast of neighborhood characters holds court most of the day. Hours run 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, closed Sunday. Bring cash. The number is (504) 949-9688.
3. Verti Marte, French Quarter
This one has been feeding the lower Quarter since 1968 out of a storefront so narrow that two people cannot pass in the aisle. It sells paper towels, ice cream, and beer alongside the food, which is what makes it a corner store rather than a restaurant.
The hot counter runs daily plate specials with fried catfish, fried chicken, mac and cheese, and Creole-inspired entrees served in styrofoam. The famous item is a po-boy called All That Jazz, which stacks grilled turkey, ham, American and Swiss cheese, fried shrimp, and sautéed mushrooms on grilled french bread. A spicy muffuletta called the Bam-Bam has its own partisans. Most of the menu lands around $10 to $12 with portions to match.
The detail that matters most is the clock. Verti Marte runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 1201 Royal Street near Governor Nicholls, which makes it one of the only real food options in the Quarter after the kitchens close. Everything is made to order in a tiny kitchen, so weekend nights can mean a 20 to 30 minute wait. Cash only. Call (504) 525-4767.
