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Come Back Inn
Metairie 3: Houma Blvd To Kenner Line: 8016 W Metairie Ave. 504-467-9316. Map. WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY WHAT'S GOOD BACKSTORY DINING ROOM ESSENTIAL DISHES FOR BEST RESULTS OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Casual.
MC V
The only restaurant in a wide circle centered on the intersection of West Metairie and David Drive, the Come Back Inn has a big population of local people on which to draw. It has served them well enough to stay busy most of the time, with a mix of working people at lunch and family types at dinner. They eat generous platters of standard New Orleans dishes, poor boys, and a rather famous muffuletta.
Not a single surprise appears on the menu, except perhaps for the unusually large number different items. These include many plate specials, some so strongly associated with a particular day of the week that you'd think there were a law regulating them. Red beans Monday, stewed chicken (yum!) Tuesday, lasagna Wednesday, beef stew Thursday, and stuffed crabs Friday. How New Orleans can you get?
The West Metairie location opened in the mid-1960s, with a mostly Italian menu with emphasis on pizza and the muffuletta--a high point since Day One. In the 1980s it evolved into a poor boy and seafood cafe with Creole specials. They opened a second location in Kenner--never quite as good as the original--in the 2000s.
Better creature comforts than the average poor boy shop, but a little less atmospheric than the typical local neighborhood cafe.
Starters
»Italian salad
Chicken caesar salad
Grilled shrimp salad
»Garlic bread
Seafood gumbo
Sandwiches
»Muffuletta
»Roast beef poor boys
»Italian poor boys (Italian sausage, meatballs, panneed veal)
Hamburger poor boy
Fried seafood poor boys
Entrees
»Red beans and rice
Fried chicken
»Fried seafood platters
»Baked chicken (special on TU, TH, SA)
»Stewed chicken (special TU)
Lasagna (special WE)
Desserts
»Bread pudding
»Apple pie
Cheesecake
Ask for the server's opinion about the daily specials. Some are much better than others. The muffuletta is best served on warmed bread but with the meats and cheeses unheated. Side dishes feed two.
The Italian dishes--including the pizza--aren't very good. The fried chicken is cooked to order but disappointing.
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Open Sunday lunch and dinner
- Open Monday lunch and dinner
- Open all afternoon
- Unusually large servings
- Quick, good meal
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
