Growing up near the airport in Kenner I often wondered about a small Italian place on Williams Blvd. called Messina’s. We didn’t eat out in restaurants much, but I seem to recall one visit there for our family of nine. It wasn’t until I married Tom that I was able to visit Messina’s as an adult and experience its delicious Sicilian food. I remember the place giving off a cozy vibe, with low ceilings and soft lighting, and I loved the food. Katrina closed Messina’s, and the family reopened it as offices for the catering business. It was never an a la carte restaurant since.
Until now. Gendusa’s, another little Italian place from the southernmost end of Williams Blvd. has just moved in. Gendusa's started life in a tiny space in Rivertown, and it has been a big hit since Day One. After enjoying a few years of success, a fire closed the place. It opened not long after mere steps away in the corner spot in a really unusual house. Even more success followed in the bigger space.
And now Gendusa’s has moved again, north on Williams Blvd. into the old Messina’s space. There is no comparison between the food at Gendusa’s and Messina’s, but this move intrigued me because I wanted to revisit the old Messina’s as a restaurant again. And I am curious how the move will change the Italian food dynamic on that corner. The Brick Oven, an older place with much better food, is only a few doors across Veteran’s. The space has long needed a redo, and the environment at the old Messina’s/new Gendusa’s is freshly renovated. It will be interesting to see how this move goes for all.
Nostalgia drove me to stop in at Gendusa’s Italian Eatery as soon as they moved. I knew the food wouldn’t change, but I wanted to see the place. It was as nondescript as the era when it was the offices for Messina’s Catering, which has long since moved operations to the old airport at the lakefront.
.jpg)
Inside the new Gendusa's was comfortable, and the young lady at the host stand was terrific. I ordered the stuffed artichoke because I had to. And I’m glad I did. There was a big change since I last had it. I also go the half muffuletta, and skipped the meatballs and spaghetti in favor of lasagna. And I tried the Greek pizza for something different.
As hard as it was to imagine, I think the menu at the new Gendusa’s is even larger than the old one. I chose the Greek pizza because I got overwhelmed by choices. I have a theory about excessively large menus. It is impossible to execute all these dishes satisfactorily. Gendusa’s does execute all this satisfactorily, and not a bit more.
This Greek pizza was overloaded with “stuff,” like olives and green peppers and onion and feta and sundried tomatoes. If the crust hadn’t been so heavy itself a slice would have caved in. But the crust was very substantial, and that is not a good thing for pizza.
.jpg)
The half muffuletta was the best thing here. The bread was excellent, and the meats were plentiful but not excessive. The olive salad was surprisingly spicy. Like hot. The ham was thickish, and there was no mortadella (to me the mark of a sub-standard muffuletta) but the overall taste was fine. They had the most important factor right. The bread was true muffuletta bread.
I liked the lasagna fine. It was a dense, rich, cooked-all-day meat sauce with lots of cheese served with a properly-sized brick of the Italian favorite pasta dish.
It came with a starter salad that I upgraded to an Italian salad. This was a too-generously dressed salad with the requisite meats and cheeses.
There are only four places I know in town who stuff their own artichokes. Sal & Judy’s, Rocky & Carlo’s and the cousin’s place in Covington, DiCristina’s. And Gendusa’s. I listed these in order of goodness. Sal & Judy’s is by far the best, then Rocky & Carlo’s. I used to feel that DiCristina’s and Rocky & Carlo’s were indistinguishable, but the last one I got from DiCristina’s was so salty I didn’t finish it. This was a major disappointment because I love stuffed artichokes. I hope it was an aberration.
The last time I had a stuffed artichoke from Gendusa’s I loved it. But something happened between then and now because I had only one or two leaves of this one before I quit. It was so overloaded with breading that it tasted like nothing. Not even artichoke.
.jpg)
I’ve never been a big fan of Gendusa’s, but every time I go I like it less. It was exciting to hear that they were moving into what I consider hallowed Italian restaurant ground. If only Messina’s had left their recipes.
