Pictures of Roast Beef Thrown Against the Wall
Four years ago, I set out to identify the 10 best roast beef po-boys in New Orleans. It was one of the most ambitious projects of an eating career that began before many of you Millennials were consuming solid food.
What's so complicated about a sandwich that features beef cooked so long you can literally eat it with a spoon? None of the classic New Orleans po-boys - shrimp, oyster, catfish, roast beef - vary as much from kitchen to kitchen. I know this for a fact, because I sampled more than 60 different roast beef po-boys in a five-month span on my way to selecting New Orleans' 10 best. And I have yet to stop eating them.
The list still reflects my personal tastes. I still haven't tried a roast beef po-boy that surpasses R & O's, which remains my favorite. Nonetheless, New Orleans' roast beef po-boy landscape has evolved since 2012, enough so that I wanted to revisit the subject.
What follows is my roast beef po-boy report from three restaurants: one (Bevi Seafood Co.) that didn't exist in 2012; one (Parkway Bakery) that factored in my search but didn't fare that well; and one (St. Rose Tavern) that ranked among my favorites but has since endured a major upheaval.
236 N. Carrollton Ave., New Orleans, 504.488.7503
4701 Airline Drive, Metairie, 504.885.5003
Justin LeBlanc opened the first Bevi, on Airline Drive, in December of 2013, two years after my original roast beef po-boy quest began. He's since opened a second outpost in New Orleans, which, like the first, upgrades the old Louisiana seafood retailer template with chefly po-boys and hot plates. (The Metairie spot also has full raw-bar service - something I'm told will be coming soon to the New Orleans location.)
Resist the knee-jerk reaction to eating meat at a seafood joint. Bevi's roast beef po-boy is a model of anatomical correctness: toasted halves of bread filled with a layer of gravy-soaked beef just thick enough to soak the crumb without dripping down your forearm. It follows in the footsteps of seafood-mostly restaurants - including Seither's, Zimmer's and R & O itself - whose roast beef po-boys consistently tempt diners away from crawfish. If I was putting together a list of the city's best po-boys today, Bevi's would be a serious contender.
Parkway Bakery & Tavern
538 Hagan Ave., New Orleans, 504.482.3047
My beef with Parkway's roast beef - to quote my December 2011 entry on the topic - boiled down to this: "The po-boy couldn't hold its shape past four bites. A more mannerly person would have finished hers with a knife and fork. I proceeded in the manner of an undomesticated primate presented with a bowl of porridge."
I'm so firm in my belief that a sandwich should behave like a sandwich, and not like oatmeal wrapped around liquid brisket, that I didn't eat another Parkway roast beef po-boy until this past summer. (Which isn't to say I avoided Parkway - I'm there once or twice a month at least, usually wrapping my hands around a shrimp or hot sausage patty sandwich.) The restaurant's manager, Justin Kennedy, compelled me to, having mentioned during an interview about Parkway's astounding post-Katrina success that the kitchen had altered its approach to roast beef po-boys.
Kennedy was right. The first roast beef I tried came on a crisped loaf. It was a delight to eat, with an abundance of beef flavor. I liked it so much I ordered another one in November, when my pleasant memory of the previous roast beef sandwich overwhelmed my desire for a Thanksgiving po-boy, a seasonal specialty at the time. It was good, too, although the bread wasn't toasted, and thus all but disintegrated before I was halfway through.
The roast beef po-boy I ate at Parkway earlier this week was even messier. Most of the beef had settled on one side of the loaf, and my efforts to redistribute it left me in need of a shower. Interestingly, the woman sitting next to me at the bar was eating roast beef, too, and her sandwich was as neat and enticing as a Wayne Thiebaud painting. It was a reminder of how unpredictable roast beef po-boys can be, even when ordered from the same restaurant, at almost the same time.
St. Rose Tavern
14466 River Road, New Sarpy, 985.725.3133
Four years ago, St. Rose Tavern was a remote roadhouse on River Road where creaky door hinges and floorboards announced your arrival. It wasn't the farthest flung restaurant to make the roast beef Top 10 - Bear's in Covington is technically farther from New Orleans. But none felt more remote, or more singularly atmospheric, than the converted rural hotel that for more than 60 years doubled as the Elfer family home.
In 2014, the Elfers were forced by eviction to move. Remarkably, they found a similarly vibe-y place to set up their po-boy saloon and home, one that also happens to hug the levee on the business side of River Road. It's a slightly longer trek from New Orleans, but St. Rose's roast beef, as richly flavored as the red meat ragu served at your favorite handmade pasta place, is still worth the drive.
Source: https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/eat-drink/article_69ba16cf-78d0-5620-a914-e12794ee8c24.html