AlwaysTraveling: Café du Monde & Central Grocery

Jeff Zalaznick — February 05, 2010

Clockwise from top: Café du Monde, Powdered Sugar-Covered Beignets from Café du Monde, Central Grocery, Muffuletta from Central Grocery.

There is a long checklist for New Orleans eating, and it is no mistake that both Café du Monde and Central Grocery have found themselves at the top of this list for over 100 years._ These Decatur Street institutions are symbols of one of the country’s great cities and a reminder that the people of New Orleans have been eating and drinking better than we have for a long, long time.

When you visit, there is no better way to start your day than by taking a stroll through Jackson Square, sitting outside at Café du Monde and having Chicory Coffee and Beignets, and then strolling down the street to pick up a world famous Muffuletta at the Central Grocery. Last week, I did it three times in a row, and I cannot tell you how natural it felt. It is the most pleasurable morning routine that I have ever experienced. There is no question that both Café du Monde and Central Grocery deserve their iconic reputations.

Restaurant: Cafe Du Monde Coffee Stand, (map, A)
Address: 800 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116
Contact: ‎(504)588-2123
Hours: ‎ Open 24hrs/day.
Grade: A+
Always Hungry Recommends: Chicory Coffee, Beignets

They’ve been doing this since being established in 1862. Think about it, sometime that same year, Confederate and Union troops were battling it out nearby in Baton Rouge. As much as you hear about it, even if someone was kind enough to bring you back a canister and box of mix, it’s just not the same until you visit and have a Chicory Coffee for yourself.

The bitter and full taste of the Chicory Coffee is addictive. So good that it not only transformed me into a hot coffee drinker (for years I have only drank cold), but it has transformed me into a coffee maker. I now brew my own chicory coffee at home. There is nothing better to eat with this coffee than the pillowy, powder sugar-drenched beignets that they serve. This is hands-down, the ultimate coffee and donut experience.

Restaurant: Central Grocery, (map, B)
Address: 923 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116
Contact: (504)523-1620
Hours: ‎ Tue-Sat, 9am-5pm; Closed Sun-Mon
Grade: A+
Always Hungry Recommends: Muffuletta

Compared to Café du Monde, Central Grocery’s origin date is more recent, 1906, when Sicillian immigrant, Salvatore Lupo opened the doors to his now-famous, old-fashioned Italian-American grocery store with sandwich counter. Forty years later he passed it on to his son-in-law, and 104 years after the opening it’s still a family-run business. There’s a variety of special items with Greek, French, Spanish, and Creole origins. But the thing to get, of course is the Muffuletta. It’s a sandwich that was supposedly created to feed the Sicilian farmers who sold their produce at the Farmer’s Market in the French Quarter.

There is something about the balance between the bread, meat, cheese and pungent “olive salad” that makes this the ultimate Italian deli sandwich. The way the oil soaks into the bread, the way the salt in the olive spread brings out the flavors of the meat and the cheese. The perfect proportions. At the end of the day, _this is one of those things that you don’t want to question, but rather bask in the glory of a great original sandwich living up to its famous reputation. _