I had business at the Money Pit across the lake earlier this week, and I drove over the Causeway in feeder rain bands to meet a sub-contractor. It was a great opportunity to pick up something. I dropped in a Junior’s on Harrison and got the board special for Tom, which was fried catfish with maque choux, and I got a hot chicken sandwich for me.
Gail is a name that figures prominently at Junior’s. It is the house brand of ice cream which is sold from a window onto the street. It is also the name attached to the chicken sandwich.
I ate the chicken sandwich on the way home, and brought the catfish to Tom. The sandwiches at Junior’s all come on a delicious bun, the perfect bun. It is exactly the right size for handling, puffy and round on top, golden brown with sesame seeds, toasted just so, and most important - it holds up to any sandwich. The bun alone was enough of an enticement for me to dig into the sandwich, but there was plenty else. The chicken breast was just right. I like the ones that stick out of the sides too, but this one didn;’t, making it manageable. The spice level was great, the coating crunchy and golden brown, a nice kick to the sauce, which was spectacular, with fresh and plentiful dressings. Really good. I can’t wait to have this again. It was served with fries that are usually much better than these. Junior’s hand cuts their fries, but these seemed off. Still better than 90% of other fries, even on an off day.
We had to rewarm Tom’s lunch, and it didn’t matter. The catfish was perfectly fried with a nice cornmeal crust, served over a pile of smashed potatoes with skins running through it. But the maque choux!! This was so spicy, and so delicious! Riddled with chunks of tasso and plentiful corn, this was really great. A delicious plate of food.
The next day, we got word from a regular caller that Pat Gallagher had opened a sandwich shop in Mandeville at the corner of Monroe and Lafitte. This was surprising to us because he has his hands full, with his three steakhouses and a more casual American/seafood place coming soon to the gorgeous redo of Rest-A-While at the Mandeville lakefront.
The information was partially accurate. Pat is overseeing the food operation for the owners of the sandwich place, but he is not the owner. The place is called Band Grocery, which was a grocery store that happened to be a stop for Greyhound Bus travelers. That was in the days before transplants like us arrived and it was only true natives like Pat living on the north shore.
It has been a few years since the place closed entirely and seemed to become a storage unit for someone, but before that it remained a corner grocery, though the last time I remember seeing a Greyhound bus pull up there was the 1990s.
We arrived last week to see that other people had found it. The interior was cute but spartan, wood tables and booths with industrial like chairs filed out the room past a long bar. Old timey pictures from early Mandeville days and the grocery’s past flank the walls, and there are bins by the door filled with penny candies. It is a new and clean version of a blast from the past. Cute.
The girls that work the counter couldn’t be nicer or more helpful. The menu is spartan like the decor, but there is enough here to get the job done, and not enough to overwhelm.
Tom got a roast beef poor boy and I, a club sandwich. As I have said many times on the radio, I am forever in search of THE club, though I think I have long ago found it at Porter and Luke, it was definitely not at the Band Grocery.
I feel that if you are going to have a place that serves sandwiches, then by golly serve a sandwich you can’t make for yourself at home. There was plenty of meat on the club, but it was not sliced in four neat triangles, but cut in half like your momma would put in front of you at lunch.
I noticed the amount of meat because it hung out all over the sides. One of the things that makes a club a special sandwich is its tidiness. Very disappointing. It came with a side, which gave me another chance to have coleslaw. This was as ordinary as the sandwich.
Tom did not fare much better. I have heard him order a roast beef sandwich countless times, and the order always concludes the request of “light gravy.” On this one he should have asked for more gravy, because it seemed absent. The meat was plentiful and shredded with the grain, placed on the bread in a huge lump. Dressings for both sandwiches were fresh and pretty. Maybe the best thing on the table were the fries, which were hot and crispy.
To be fair, the Band Grocery has only been open a month or so, which proves what Tom has always said: a place should be open six months before it’s ready for a review.
There’s nothing really wrong with The Band Grocery. It’s perfectly ordinary in every way. The food is much better at Rieger’s By The Trace if you are looking for lunch, and much better still at Hambone, both of which have sandwiches as well. Even the Rusty Pelican and La-Lou can top the food at Band Grocery. But there is cool history at Band Grocery, and a yesteryear vibe. Maybe that will be enough.
