Liuzza's: Big beers and Creole-Italian abbondanza
Written: Sep 30 '99 (Updated Sep 30 '99)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Huge portions of great Creole-Italian food; big beers; fried pickles and onion rings
Cons: Crowded and sometimes there's a wait, but it's worth it. Have a beer (or three).
|
|
|
| Chuq's Full Review: New Orleans |
"Jeez, you guys will batter and deep-fry anything that isn't nailed down!"
That's the infamous quote from a friend when I described some of my favorite appetizers at Liuzza's Restaurant and Bar, a venerable Mid-City neighborhood institution since 1947. Liuzza's is home to the "Frenchuletta" (a muffuletta on French) and scads of wonderful Creole-Italian cuisine. It's fairly small, usually rather crowded and you'll often have to wait a bit, but you can pass the time in the bar by quaffing a cold draft beer from a giant frosted globe mug, or their house drink, The Bushwhacker (if you're local, you say "Da Bushwhacka!". This is all okay. Take your time. Nobody's in a hurry here, and if you are, you shouldn't be.
If you're new to Liuzza's, start your visit by ordering two appetizers: the fried onion rings (heavenly; a huge loaf of rings that are light as a feather and NOT greasy) and, believe it or not, the battered, deep-fried dill pickle slices. You won't believe how good they are, even if you don't like pickles. I don't like dill pickles, but I love these. While the sweet potato French fries on special sounded better than they actually were, the delicious fried eggplant sticks did not fail to satisfy. Then there are the stuffed and fried artichoke hearts with red gravy ... oh my.
Don't forget to check the daily specials, as there's usually something that'll make you say, "Oooooo". Last time I visited I had a seafood and spinach lasagna, with shrimp, crawfish tails and crabmeat layered with a creamy Alfredo sauce and fresh spinach between layers and layers of pasta ... oh my MY.
Anything on special will be good. No, actually, that's wrong ... anything on special will be great.
The regular menu is nothing to sneeze at either. Recommended are the Galboroni Pasta (spaghettini with spicy marinara sauce, pepperoni strips and stuffed artichoke hearts), shrimp-artichoke fettuccine, and their mega-rich Fettuccine Alfredo. For po-boy lovers, you can't go wrong with the excellent fried seafood po-boys, be it shrimp, oysters, catfish or soft-shell crab, and if it's a carbo-overload you seek, you can still get a french-fried potato po-boy here (the sandwich for which the name "po-boy" was first coined). There's also the aforementioned Frenchuletta, a refreshing change from what you might be used to at Central or Progress Groceries.
Make no mistake - this isn't a fancy restaurant. This is a neighborhood joint, populated by folks from da neighbahood as well as from all over the city. If you want great, inexpensive food in a place where the locals eat that's dripping with New Orleans atmosphere, then don't miss it.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Chuq
|
|
Member: Chuck Taggart
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Reviews written: 29
Trusted by: 81 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.