It was our first trip, so it was a touristy trip. We tried the things you see on tv over and over instead of trying to find hidden gems. Especially shocking was how good SO MANY of the classics turned out to be. Only twice was I disappointed, and by disappointed I mean the place was only good. Much more often I was surprised by how much better the place was than expected, a rare treat repeated and repeated in the Crescent City. If you are from our neck of the wood, or anywhere else than NOLA, it is a completely different world, and one worth experiencing for multitudinous reasons. Vegas is a different world but it is a calculated and manufactured experience, New Orleans has evolved in a storied and historic manner into what it is, you can feel it everywhere you go. Nothing like it.      True Dat.
 

Domilise's
 New Orleans, Louisiana        Date of Visit  12/14/15          http://www.domilisespoboys.com/

Having had a real Muffaletta, it was time to experience a Po-boy, or some of them. We thought we were going to create a back-to-back direct taste test between two shops, one in which we could pick a favorite. We ordered the specialty of the house at both and they were so different, there is just no comparing them, there is no favorite, maybe a load more po-boys at each place would allow someone to pick. You can’t throw a stick without hitting a place serving po-boys, but we stuck with our two original touristy options, Domilise’s and Mothers.

Our first stop was Domilise’s. It sits inside a little yellow house on the corner in an uptown neighborhood and reminds me a lot of some of the divier places we have been to in the ‘Burgh and Ytown, looks dirty, delivers deliciousness.
 

Dot's Still On The Walls With Accolades & Leidenheimer's Ads
 

We’re clearly not the first neophytes they have watched figure out what to do, but we start off alone in the dining room and all attention is on us. There are a couple of women behind the counter making sandwiches and a guy behind the bar mostly hanging out. I ordered a meatball po-boy (just in case I was the only one enjoying what we actually came for) and the prized sandwich, the half and half. We added some fries on recommendation and asked for the sandwiches to be “dressed” they way they would normally be.

First they strolled over to the large bags by the door we came in and we got our first loaf of Leidenheimer’s bread. We would have many. Where other cities restaurants may compete to create the best bread, in NOLA everyone has just surrendered to the undisputed champ and you see the colorful delivery truck in front of four-star castles and ragged po-boy shops. There’s a reason, it’s incredible. Everyone treats it a little differently but it’s on the table almost everywhere we went. Here they cut down four foot loaves by eye and simply stuff them with fried-to-order seafood…or meatballs.
 

With a couple of beverages from the bar we watched some folks come for carryout and were joined by some Dutch tourists who looked much more lost than we, whew. Seriously, though nobody cared and we were soon called to the counter.

They had cut the sandwiches into thirds for us and had mixed the seafoods on the half and half on each third. The fries were thick and poofy crescent shaped taters and were fine. They were much better with a swipe through the Creole mustard on the table.

The meatball was good, the bread is incredible. Paper-thin crust surrounds an ethereally cloudy and soft interior soaking up anything it touches, yet the crust never looses structural integrity. It’s also tasty in its own right. I was reasonably sure I would prefer the half and half to the meatball, I didn’t think we all would.
 

Mother dear and I would eat shrimp all day, not sure about oysters. Steph, really neither. The half and half is stuffed with both and fully dressed. Fully dressed at Domilise’s is lettuce, pickles, mayo, hot sauce and ketchup. Some folks hate the ketchup part. It made a lot of sense to me. Vinegar shows up in the pickles, hot sauce, and ketchup; the lettuce is cold and crisp; the mayo brings rich eggy fat and a bit of citrus; ketchup and Crystal hot sauce a little sweet and heat and it’s all on top of a pile of steaming hot and crispy shrimp and oysters. It’s kinda wonderful and while a wanted more of the olive salad on the Muffaletta, the whole dressed-mess worked just right on the po-boy.