Mother's Restaurant
The CBD cafeteria that has been feeding the city since 1938 — the obvious answer when you want po-boys without the cab ride.
CBD
Poydras and Tchoupitoulas, two blocks from the Quarter, in a building that looks exactly like a cafeteria that opened in 1938 and has been continuously profitable since. The Ferdi Special — ham, roast beef, debris, gravy, fully dressed — is the sandwich the place is famous for, and it earns the reputation.
The line is part of the experience. Order at the counter, pay, grab a tray, find a seat at a shared formica table, eat next to a tourist family from Wisconsin and a guy on his lunch break from a downtown law firm. The system works. The biscuits are good, the étouffée is honest, the breakfast is better than it has any right to be.
Open early, closes early (10pm). No reservations, no pretension, no apologies. The democratic restaurant the city needs.
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