A few weeks back on The Food Show (airs 2-4pm weekdays on 990AM) someone mentioned that The Rivershack had a place on the Westbank. We would go looking for it as we also followed another Food Show tip about the Jefferson Parish Oyster Trail. I discovered the magic that is old Gretna when I went looking for the Vietnamese bakery Dough Nguyener’s a few months ago. Could both places be in this Disneyworld-esque charming place? I had to find out.
Loosely following directions, we wound up on the same street where the bakery is, but I didn’t have time last time to really explore the neighborhood. This time we would.
I saw a place I had been curious about for a long time but didn’t know where it was. It was the other reason we were over there. Following a tip about The Jefferson Parish Oyster Trail we finally found Gattuso’s. It has an interesting logo, with tiles like the ones embedded in sidewalks here, but I had no idea it was the Westbank. I thought I’d run into it on Magazine.
This is the most charming little place! It occupies the corner of Huey Long Avenue and 5th Street. Clearly it has undergone several phases of renovations. The exterior of the building is an inviting space for waiting for a table, which I suspect is much used. The place is so appealing it must be packed all the time. The many wooden chairs and benches sit on turf, and the whole patio is covered and supported by handsome wooden beams. There were clusters of pumpkins all around. I was happy to be here.
Inside was a private party in one room, and we were sitting on what had surely at one time been an outside porch. Cozy and comfortable.
Them menu is enormous here, and I wanted to get a lot. We controlled ourselves well. There was a special for the day I couldn't resist. It was potato skins. The very fact that such a special would be offered in 2023 tells you something about the place, but I ordered it anyway, happy to see it.
We had to get a burger just because, and the same is true for the club sandwich. Tom got an oyster poor boy.
The potato skins were disappointing, not because they weren’t tasty or loaded with “stuff,” but because there was too much left in the skin. Potato skins, to me, should have a thin shell of potato, just enough to support the “stuff” like bacon and cheese. This was what amounted to a large potato half that was loaded and served with sour cream for dipping. The skins were deep-fried, as I have now concluded all good potato skins must be to support it all.
My club sandwich is a new contender for the best out there. A toasted wheat bread triple-decker, it had good quality ham and turkey aplenty, very thinly sliced as it should be, with copious amounts of lettuce and tomato and just the right schmear of mayo. The bacon was thick and crispy. What it didn’t have was cheese, but the sandwich was so good I didn’t even mind or really notice until the end.
The burger was equally good. It was not a hand-formed patty, and again, I didn’t mind, because it was just really good. It had a hefty bun that was not brioche, a lot of melted cheese, thick and crisp bacon, and lettuce, tomato, and pickles in abundance. I also love a nice purple onion slice. This was a good, tasty, old-fashioned burger, served with a giant pile of ordinary frozen fries. But again, good enough.
Tom had an oyster poor boy that was also a bit disappointing. There was an adequate amount of oysters, which were a tad greasy, with a lot of dressings on it. The bread was quite good, and overall it was a fine sandwich that Tom loved. More ordinary fries.
Tom’s oyster poor boy was the reason we went there, besides to cruise around looking for The Rivershack. Someone sent me something on The Oyster Trail, a series of Jefferson Parish restaurants featuring oysters for the month of October. There were specials offered in each of the restaurants.
At Gattuso’s, you got a bread pudding with the purchase of an oyster poor boy or oyster club. The waitress had no idea what we were talking about, but she gave us one anyway.
It was pretty ordinary-looking to me, but it really hit the spot for Tom. It had the characteristics of a basic bread pudding with nuts in a sweet sauce. He loved it.
Despite the sloppy promotion of The Oyster Trail, I was grateful to have had the information to chase it. We would never have found this little Westbank charmer otherwise. Or the Rivwershack, which was a block away.
