Shrimp po-boys at Domilise's, Parkway Bakery and Mother's

My wife and I were in New Orleans for about 48 hours last week. We had shrimp po-boys at the 3 places named in the thread title. Here are my impressions:


Mother's:
We hadn't planned on eating at Mother's, but we arrived at our hotel at 9:00 PM, with no dinner reservations. The concierge told us that Mother's stayed open until 10 PM, so we walked over there for a po-boy. I hadn't eaten at Mother's in about 30 years. Back then it was always mentioned by the Times-Picayune as one of the best po-boy places in New Orleans.

Good news: They put a lot of shrimp on the po-boy.

Bad news: Everything else. The bread was wrong (spongy outside and inside), and the shrimp were almost tasteless. This might have been the worst shrimp po-boy I've ever eaten. And $14 for a shrimp po-boy is a bit pricey IMO.

Grade: D-. I would give them an F, but I'm bumping them up half a grade for staying open so late.


Domilise's:
Much, much better that Mother's. The bread was perfect (the Leidenheimer truck made a delivery while we were there), the shrimp were small, but very tasty and perfectly cooked. The po-boy came with their sauce already added, which I thought was odd. The sauce seems to be simply ketchup and Tabasco. But since I would normally put those on the sandwich anyway, I really didn’t mind the addition.

Good news: Tasty, perfectly cooked shrimp, perfect bread: crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Also, it’s only half a mile away from Hansen’s, so we got a sno-ball after lunch.

Bad news: Like Mother’s, the large shrimp po-boy costs $14.

Grade: B. Not the best shrimp po-boy I’ve ever had, but it was very good.


Parkway Bakery:
They were super crowded when we got there, but the line moved quickly and the wait was not that bad. The sandwich was excellent: Perfectly cooked shrimp and the proper bread for a po-boy. The cost was $11 for a large shrimp po-boy.

Good news: Pretty much everything about it. This is the quintessential New Orleans shrimp po-boy IMO. And the price was better than Domilise’s or Mother’s.

Bad news: The only bad news at Parkway was something that I noticed at all three places, and that is that the shrimp don’t seem as flavorful as they used to be. Are local restaurants still using Gulf shrimp? If so, has there been a decline in the quality of Gulf shrimp? The shrimp we tasted this past week were definitely not as good as they shrimp I grew up eating in New Orleans.

Grade: B+. For me it’s a toss-up between Parkway and Domilise’s. I preferred Parkway slightly and my wife, also a New Orleans native, slightly preferred Domilise’s. But Parkway gets a slight nod for being less expensive.