Visit to Johnny's Po-Boys

For our second class assignment, I visited Johnny's Po-Boys on St. Louis Street near Decatur Street. Before going there, however, I visited http://johnnyspoboys.com/ first to learn a little bit about the old establishment. I looked at their online menu and also clicked on their history. There, I learned that Johnny's is a French Quarter Landmark, established in 1950(which makes it pretty established to me), and that it is the city's oldest family-owned po-boy restaurant. Reading about their history and certain ingredients they use, I was excited to go there, and after watching this video from their website, http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3qv6G4H_FXA, is was even more excited to go there. Also, one thing I learned from this video is that "dressed" in New Orleans means adding lettuce, tomato, mayo, and pickles. When I went there, I opened the door, looked around, and I immediately liked everything about the restaurant; how small it was, the mid-20th century look it had inside and out, and the environment, consisting of a good amount of people, all either enjoying what they had ordered or in line waiting for food like starving animals. When it was finally my turn to order, I asked for a turkey breast po-boy with American cheese and everything on it. The woman taking my order was very nice and asked me everything I wanted in detail, so that my order was perfect. I paid around 12 dollars, she told me what my number was, and literally a minute later I heard my number being called and saw two big halves of a po-boy filled with turkey and toppings sitting at the counter. I took it to the back because the front of the restaurant was nearly filled. It tasted better than it looked. I even put Louisiana hot sauce on it, even though I'm not a big fan of hot sauce, just to try it, and it tasted great. I didn't take a picture of it, but it looked just like this: (times two). Overall, the meal was great and I had a good time visiting Johnny's, especially because I had never been there before. I think Johnny's adds to the culture and overall experience of New Orleans because it is a great, small family-owned restaurant with great history and great service. I cannot find any reason why anybody wouldn't like Johnny's and I look forward to eating their again.

Class Assignment #1

For our first Class Assignment, my roomate Oliver and I went to Panda Express at Tulane University. There, I  bought a meal including fried rice, and three types of meat; those meats being orange chicken, beef(with broccoli), and beijing beef with bell peppers. I love to mix the rice with the meat and I think they compliment each other well, especially because the chicken is usually spicy and the rice dulls the spiciness. That is also why I bought a water, since I knew the meal would be pretty hot and spicy. I thought the meal overall tasted very good, but unfortunately I got the last of the beef and broccoli and it looked like it had been sitting there all day, so it tasted just like it looked. I am not sure exactly where the food that fast food restaurants like Panda Express have come from, and although it tastes good and fresh, I am sure it is made a lot differently than at a normal, family style restaurant and takes alot less work to make. Overall, however, I enjoyed this meal, but I am looking forward to trying some new, New Orleans style cuisine.