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when it comes in New Orleans though boys
are one of the most iconic foods in the
city
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that might be the best sandwich I've
ever had
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hi I'm hearin okay I'm Alana and today
we are in New Orleans to find the best
po-boy in this city right and while
traditionally the po-boy is made with
roast beef we're going to find the best
shrimp po-boy because one we just like
shrimp better and two in New Orleans
shrimp po-boys are just as popular as
the roast beef one and we want to taste
with the bayou and the Gulf have to
offer we narrowed it down to four
different spots based off of top-rated
lists and reviews based on folks Yelp
and some advice and when we're making
our decision we're looking for a super
soft plushy bread the ratio between the
shrimp and the bread has to be great we
don't want like little skimpy bits of
shrimp in that sandwich and it has to be
super well seasoned and we're also
looking for just like a general great
tasting sandwich with all the elements
making sense all together right all
right let's go eat
hey it's not a by relieving by our first
stop is Parkway bakery and tavern it was
established in 1911 that continues to
serve its classic poor boys to locals
tourists and celebrities alike Clark
wait
sonic restaurant City the po-boy started
by the Martin brothers Bennion Clovis
Martin the po-boy didn't come around
till 1929 the height of the Great
Depression
cars were a luxury the main way to get
around the city transit was the New
Orleans streetcar those guys weren't
getting paid so they striped they needed
food they needed clothing so Benny and
Clovis who were former streetcar
conductor said you know what would I
take care of those guys will feed all
poor boys
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[Applause]
the classic po-boy would be the roast
beef oh boy it's a great beat see
another classic is right in our backyard
to go from Mexico Louisiana fried shrimp
for me best po'boy you can get well we
do we do a light flour corn flour season
put it in the fryer 350 degrees having
the ones poke what you got to get in New
Orleans okay because you got to get the
bread this bread don't like leaving a
zip code and the humidity here in the
city is astronomical that helps for
baking bread so the new ones French
breads crispy and crunchy on the outside
but when you cut it the inside soft like
cotton candy
lettuce tomato pickle and mayo it's
dressed that's the New Orleans lingo
little hot sauce and ketchup not the
tongue
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yes yes reason why I acted that way it's
because in 2013 after an epic
performance at the Superdome Beyonce
Giselle Knowles Carter ordered 150 po
boys from this location Beyonce Beyonce
the Obamas came here they're cool too
they run a country right that's pretty
cool oh we go look at this shrimp it's
perfectly breaded and it's almost it's
like a golden brown so you know it's
well seasoned all right there's a
distinct scent of the Gulf briny it's
like a salty kind of please auntie sweet
all right let's dig it if there's
anything that shrimp alone sees it so
good I can only imagine ready
the brightest plate on the outside super
soft on the inside you're getting the
seasoning that's in the batter itself
and the shrimp is just so crispy and
crunchy I love the proportion of shrimp
to full sandwich here I can see how this
is the blueprint of what a po-boy should
be our second stop is Johnny's po-boys
the longest family-operated po-boy spot
in the city
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while their breakfast po boys are
popular the most famous is the fried
shrimp po boy come here like two or
three times a week the way fry it the
batter is really good so I guess it
gives like if it looks whistle it and I
also like cheese and hot sauce online so
it gives the extra wow Johnny's po-boys
started in 1950 with my grandparents
Johnny and Betty to crochet and we've
had it now for three generations the po
boys are fabulous because of the bread
you have to start with fantastic bread
and we get ours from a local bakery
leidenheimer it's always gonna be
crunchy on the outside and really soft
on the inside which just makes your
sandwich and when you can hear that nice
crunch when you bite into it you know
you've got a great sandwich what sets it
apart is it's a local shrimp you have to
have the seasoning and it's in your wash
you have to have it v I mean you know
you can boil it I guess and Grill it I
guess
the secret in New Orleans everybody gets
a dressed
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and you can really taste what do you
think about the breading it's really
good I will say that I do have a couple
of naked shrimps little bit also I'm
gonna need you to pass back recipes
because any hot sauce a little po boy I
agree with you as much as we want a
bigger crunch and bigger breading their
imperfection still make it taste good
I forget what their motto is even our
failures are edible I mean they're
edible I feel like they are delicious
edible is an understatement they put it
on the griddle so that you get that
crunch even on the inside layer and then
because they put the butter on it
it's like crunchy fatty and chewy and
flaky and just all the good adjectives
you can put on carbs not this bread
before heading to our next stop we had
to squeeze into non staples
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our next stop is killer po-boys it's a
modern sandwich shop that offers po boys
and unconventional ways po boy to me is
anything that we can stuff in the middle
of a loaf of French bread there are a
hundred places you get a great fried
shrimp po-boy in this town and for us
it's better to do some little different
that we're more interested in and you
know something a little creative that we
can you know give everybody a change a
base our seared shrimp po-boy is B top
seller a killer little boys I think
they're gulf shrimp po-boy is terrific
it's definitely a new take on a
traditional po-boy but the shrimps are
just really big really juicy really
delicious and super flavorful we've been
featured in numerous magazines bone
Appetit Playboy GQ so we get the
freshest wild-caught the gulf shrimp we
can get our hands on the biggest one
straight off the boat delivered to us
every morning I'd say we go through
about 400 pounds of shrimp every week so
our first we're gonna go ahead and
season up these shrimp it's a little
house blend of coriander lime zest salt
and pepper that I'm kind of like a
southern Asian flavor profile next up
we're gonna go ahead and quick pickles
and vegetables to go along with the po
boy we get our bread from a small
Vietnamese bakery out in New Orleans
East it gives us a little different
flavor profile next thing up we're gonna
go ahead and put our special sauce on it
it's pretty much a sriracha mayo with
some dried shrimp powder some lime juice
cilantro green onion myth
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using the fried shrimp po-boys always
gonna be better
how could it not it's fry when you take
bites of the sandwich you get like pool
entire shrimp that are bigger than any
of the other places that we want to I
didn't think I'd say this but this
shrimp is probably the most flavorful
shrimp that we've had so far I I want to
top that this sandwich is probably the
most flavorful sandwich altogether the
pickled vegetables are so refreshing and
salty sour and the bread it's a little
bit more robust
so it's hold it's able to hold more
shrimp which is a plus I do kind of Miss
the softness and flesh that the
traditional public bread no no what I
also realized we haven't touched my hot
sauce
Christmas is my baby the sandwich made
me and a new child band in my child it's
a play on a traditional New Orleans
Creole sandwich right and then they're
putting a Vietnamese spin on it but
doing it still in a respectful and very
delicious artisanal way so I appreciate
it in the garden district is down the
leases the restaurant has been a local
favorite since 1918 and the woman who
held it all together was Miss dot the
city's proclaimed po-boy clean I loved
on Lethe if my
public placement city I have to make a
stop here every time I'm in town they
use some sort of secret sauce that I
think really kind of knocks it out of
the park and I love how authentic it is
it's been here and it's have been
unchanged for so long it's kind of an
institution on busy nights the wait can
be up to an hour nothing has changed and
inspiration people just don't want you
to change anything they just want that
slice of history and the character and
the ambiance associated with it and I
think that's a big draw facade the
sandwiches are very good the shrimp I
think it's the most popular it's a
recipe that would use generations I
think it's the way they're battered the
shrimp reading is water corn flour and
then we mix
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it's so soft
we're big advocates of daily fresh-baked
french bread we've been dealing with
live mama years all of our dressings are
mayonnaise lettuce pickles hot sauce and
ketchup and we make the catch of
ourselves
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I love this place so much it is like a
place just stuck in time and it feels so
homey everything's so nice yeah I feel
like I'm literally in my grandma's
living room look at these portions it's
you they have to cut it in threes just
to fit it on the plane the bread is less
flaky than other places definitely a lot
more plush yes there's also a good
amount of shrimp in here and it looks
really really crispy just from the eye
of it are just not a better dessert is
it good oh my gosh I gotta go
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I think out of all the places that we
went to make it honestly save that this
is the most well breaded of the all of
the shrimp the breading is thin but
still really crunchy then I know the
secret ingredient so does it rhyme with
yeah
do you like the bread here come here to
the other places I have to say that my
favorite bread is Japanese Phil Jonny's
we have butter bread will like live in
my dreams for all eternity I agree but I
will say the shrimp here it was sure
normal food yeah if there was anything
good change what would be I'd want more
shrimp yeah I can agree with that
insider tip they said dip it in the
roast beef gravy it might be a little
too much it's not so much fun I need
another beer god this place is amazing I
was like another female what a trip yes
I think that po boys might now be my
favorite sandwich NOLA is truly one of
my favorite cities and the po boy is one
of the reasons why but we're here to
make a verdict so you have to pick one
three two one okay okay you know what it
was neck and neck for me I almost liked
that one someone's gotta get do you
see anyone giving in do you see yourself
giving in
I picked on Elise's because Kenny Joanne
Deborah the whole crew just the best
people they haven't changed that recipe
for almost a century and for a good
reason that they don't need to reinvent
anything they stuck to the classic and
they did it so well they put so much
appreciation into that craft they even
meet their catch-up in half that is true
I also want to say that dumbly says that
crunch is probably the best crunch we
had that's why I also almost picked it
but I just wanted more of it and as much
as I love Domilise's I just felt like
parkways with like the Holy Trinity of
everything you want in the perfect / boy
it had that super plush bread you know
it had that super flavorful shrimp and
they gave you a lot of the shrimp a lot
of it it would be from the seams if
we're just talking about quantity of
shrimp Parkway dudes over stuff their
po-boy and that seasoning though I'm
just gonna go with the fact that Parkway
in that moment when we had parkways
po-boy and Domilise's po-boy Parkway
gave us more shrimp for that reason
alone I will concede a Parkway is best
of the best I mean there you have it
Parkway's is the best of the best i mean
if it's good enough for Beyonce good
enough for me I mean yeah I think if you
bring down argument up a hundred and
fifty po boys from parkways I'm just
saying
okay guys what do you think do you agree
that parkways is the best of the best or
do you think that Domilise's is best of
the best or did you think we should have
picked another place we went to or
didn't go to let us know in the comments
below bye I'm gonna get a Bloody Mary
and we're like the two moms