Angelo Brocato. Mid-City: 214 N Carrollton Ave. 504-486-1465.

Written by Tom Fitzmorris May 31, 2012 17:53 in

3 Fleur
Average check per person $5-$15
 BreakfastNo Breakfast SundayNo Breakfast MondayNo Breakfast TuesdayNo Breakfast WednesdayNo Breakfast ThursdayNo Breakfast FridayNo Breakfast Saturday
LunchLunch SundayNo Lunch MondayLunch TuesdayLunch WednesdayLunch ThursdayLunch FridayLunch Saturday
DinnerDinner SundayNo Dinner MondayDinner TuesdayDinner WednesdayDinner ThursdayDinner FridayDinner Saturday

Angelo Brocato

Mid-City: 214 N Carrollton Ave. 504-486-1465. Map.
Very Casual
AE DS MC V
Website

WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
The third generation of Brocatos continues to perform a miracle. After over a century, it makes ice creams that taste exactly the way they did the first time you tried them, no matter how old you are. Everything they sell, from the ice creams and ices to the cookies and biscotti, is made right there in the Mid-City shop. Nothing could be more refreshing on a summer day. Or a winter day, for that matter. It's perfect after a Chinese meal or any other time you need a simple but great dessert.

WHAT'S GOOD
Brocato's most famous and best confections include the last word in spumone (four layered flavors), torroncino (a unique, wonderful flavor of cinnamon and nuts), cassata (like spumone, but with a layer of cake), bisquit tortoni (a nutty-tasting frozen souffle), and lemon ice. Also here are cannoli—a sort of giant corn flake stuffed with a mixture of ricotta cheese, fruits, nuts, sugar, and chocolate. All this is served not only at the shop but also in Italian restaurants all over town.

BACKSTORY
Angelo Brocato made ice cream for most of his life, beginning ate age twelve in Palermo. He was one of thousands of Sicilians emigrants to New Orleans around the turn of the 19th century. After working odd jobs for awhile he opened his Sicilian-style ice cream parlor on Ursulines Street in the French Quarter in 1905. From that day to this, Angelo Brocato's has always made all its own ice cream, using flavors imported from Palermo. In the 1980s it moved its operation to its present location in Mid-City.

DINING ROOM
Although they didn't move there until about thirty years ago, the Carrollton Avenue ice cream parlor looks as if it has been there for the full 112 years of Brocato's history. It moves at the pace of long ago, mainly because of its popularity. The wood-framed glass cases reveal cheesecakes, candies and cookies, and espresso and cappuccino.

ESSENTIAL DISHES
»Spumoni
»Cassata
»Torroncino (vanilla with ground pecans and cinnamon)
»Lemon ice
»Strawberry ice
»Biscotti
»Fig cookies »Anise cookies »Cannoli (sweetened ricotta cheese, fruits, and cocoa in a crisp shell)
»Cappuccino
»Espresso

FOR BEST RESULTS
Never go to Angelo Brocato's in a hurry. That wouldn't be right, anyway. Take home a bag of cookies and biscotti, which are wonderful with your coffee the rest of the week.

OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
It would be wonderful if they someday reopened a French Quarter branch in the old place on Ursulines Street.

FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.

  • Dining Environment +2
  • Consistency +3
  • Service
  • Value +2
  • Attitude +1
  • Wine & Bar
  • Hipness
  • Local Color +3

 

SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
  • Sidewalk tables
  • Romantic
  • Open Sunday 10 a.m.-9 p.m.
  • Open FR SA till 10:30 p.m.
  • Open all afternoon
  • Historic
  • Good for children
  • Easy, nearby parking
  • No reservations