Frankie & Johnny’s on Arabella Street has been feeding Uptown New Orleans since 1942, and every spring the picnic tables out front fill up with people doing the same thing they’ve been doing here for generations: peeling crawfish, drinking cold beer, and staying way longer than they planned.
Johnny Morreale and his brother-in-law, Frank Gaudin, opened the place to feed longshoremen and dock workers near the Tchoupitoulas wharf. The men who built their clientele worked hard, ate big, and didn’t need tablecloths. More than 80 years later, the place still runs on that same logic: fresh seafood, no pretense, and crawfish boiled the way they’re supposed to be.
The boil is the main event. Crawfish come out hot, deeply spiced, and stained red from a seasoning blend refined over decades. The shells are slick with it. The potatoes soak it up. A pile lands in front of you, and the only reasonable response is to roll up your sleeves and get to work, because the table is covered in newspaper and nobody here is keeping score on manners.
The picnic tables outside fill up fast once the season kicks in, typically running from late January through early summer, depending on water conditions in the Atchafalaya Basin. Regulars bring cash, bring patience, and bring a group, because crawfish eaten alone is a missed opportunity. The menu runs well beyond the boil, too, with roast beef po-boys, red beans and rice, charbroiled oysters, and a bread pudding that pulls people back long after crawfish season ends.
Frankie & Johnny’s is at 321 Arabella Street in the West Riverside neighborhood, a few blocks from the river. Hours run Monday through Saturday, 11 am to 9 pm, and Sunday, 11 am to 8 pm.
Call (504) 243-1234 to confirm crawfish availability before making the trip, since the season and daily supply can vary.
