One of our favorites of favorite restaurants throughout the years was located five minutes from the house. We ate lunch there regularly every week. And brunch in other weeks.
And then the unthinkable happened. We heard they were closing and moving, but as time went on the second part of that appeared unlikely. Jeffrey and Amy Hansell had already purchased a house in Bay St. Louis, with an agreement to open a restaurant in a boutique hotel much like The Southern in downtown Covington, the one that housed Oxlot 9. There was talk for a while that they would have interests in both places, but by early summer of '21 that became painfully unlikely. And then the exit day arrived. So did Hurricane Ida.
There were lots of regulars in the dining room that Saturday. They had to close by 2pm so everyone could prepare for the storm.
And they were gone. Months went by with the space empty, Oxlot’s customers wondering what could replace their beloved eatery. I was excited to hear that the Besh group looked at the space, but they wound up down the street at Tavi, and are soon to expand the footprint in Covington.
Then JP, the chef at Oxlot, turned up at Pardo’s, which had me very excited. But it was short-lived. Next, I saw JP in the kitchen at Tavi, and one of our favorite Oxlot waiters serving. We saw our favorite Oxlot manager at The Thorny Oyster in Bay St. Louis, where we sometimes had to drive for our Jeff Hansell fix.
I had begun to be resigned to the reality that the food from Oxlot was simply out of our reach long before I saw the sign for Parish Tacos in the space where Pontchartrain Po-Boys started. I was happy to see a possibility for new content, but since it was tacos, I’d get around to it eventually. Despite our devotion to La Caretta, I am not all that big a fan of tacos. Then I got an email from one of our regular listeners about Parish Tacos. This person was also a fan of Oxlot, and was delighted to inform me that the gang from Oxlot had convened to form Parish Tacos. And there were fresh-cut fries there!!
I was obviously happy to hear that for two reasons: Oxlot had a terrific version of one of my favorite things, and more important, there was more on the menu than tacos. The fries revelation made me think there would be some American food on the menu here, which I think the Oxlot bunch did better than most.
We went almost immediately for lunch. The space is tiny and spartan, but it launched Pontchartrain Po-Boys into the Northshore sandwich juggernaut that it is today, Then Neely’s Pizza moved there from Slidell for years. It was only the Argentine grill Avila, that didn’t make it too long.
So it was a curious choice, I thought, for these Oxlot alums to choose Mexican food on the heels of Avila, especially when they do American food so well. Also, the market here is oversaturated with that “cuisine.” They call their version Louisiana-Mex, and they carried over a few things from Oxlot. The menu is simple: tacos. There are taco bowls, and curiously, the fresh-cut fries which here are called Street Fries, featuring Cotija cheese instead of cheddar, and Mexican things instead of American cheese fries ingredients.
On our first visit, we didn’t get these fries, but only because there was choriqueso on the menu. We also didn’t get the Crispy Brussels Sprouts, the other Oxlot carry-over, which was on the specials board.
We did hit the specials board hard, though, getting the Latin boiled peanuts and the tamale, which I often got as the lone Latin dish at Oxlot. And of course, we got the oyster tacos for Tom.
The choriqueso arrived in a simple presentation in a cast iron ramekin with chips beside it. The chips were light but otherwise nondescript, not making much of a statement. The choriqueso was too thin for my taste but otherwise fine. There was nothing in it but rather chunky bits of crumbly chorizo. And the top had a healthy puddle of orange grease, which I admit I find desirable. None of this made much of a statement and I wished I had opted for the fries.
The boiled peanuts were something I got not because I love them, but because they come up so often on The Food Show (airs 2-4pm each weekday on WGSO 990AM.) Why they come up so often mystifies me, but they do. These came with a pretty pile of cilantro, white onion, and pickled jalapēno slices piled atop. Boiled peanuts remind me of other tasteless starches like chestnuts or yucca, though yucca has a little more going for it. I had a couple of these but decided not to waste time peeling them. They’re not bad, but unlike crawfish, there isn’t enough good to offset the interminable and messy peeling. In my view, peanuts should be roasted. That said, these boiled peanuts were anything but tasteless. They were spicy and full of flavor. I will definitely get them again, though peeling them is still annoying.
Tom loved his fried oyster tacos. The oysters were fried perfectly, as these guys are wont to do. Another beautiful pile of cilantro and pickled onions and peppers adorned the top of these tacos, and the colorful slaw underneath was exciting and tasty in that way that I love when assertive condiments collide in your mouth.
At Oxlot JP did one chicken tamale that had the unusual name Desayuno. It was mostly masa but I liked it anyway. It was enormous and came bursting out of a corn husk. This tamale presentation was different in that it was first, a duo, and inside was Birria beef. Chicken was an option but I love Birria-style beef. These tamales had the same characteristic of being mostly masa, but Birria beef came in a sauce that permeated the husk and there was plenty of meat flavor to be had. This also came with the familiar explosion of colors on top. I liked these a lot and will get them again. And again.
It was nice to see this group of four guys again. A lot of former customers had also made their way to Parish Tacos. Everyone seemed to know each other.
I had a chance to talk to one of the guys, a favorite server who we last saw at Tavi. He also worked in construction in the two post-Oxlot years. He was glad to get the call from JP that they should “give this a go themselves.” Yeah. if everyone else displaced in the Oxlot diaspora feels as tickled as we do to see them come together, that’s a very good start.
We wish them well. And if they are taking requests… perhaps an evolution that incorporates more of the Oxlot dishes we miss.
