Because we don’t live in Lakeview, Two Tony’s is completely off our radar, and that is too bad. We went not long ago just by accident, maybe because the wait was too long at Blue Crab. I have always liked Two Tonys, and I was delighted to remember it was there when we passed.
Two Tony’s is owned by the second Tony, Anthony, son of the first Tony. It used to be a cute little shack where the glamorous Station 6 is now. After Katrina Two Tony’s resurrected in the space that was formerly West End Cafe, another storm casualty.
It is warm, reflecting the food and spirit of the owner Tony Montalbano, and his father before him. The menu at Two Tony’s is large, surprisingly large, comprised of delicious Italian specialties and New Orleans seafood dishes.
On this first visit in years, we started with the fried artichoke hearts. These were irregular and much larger than the norm. They were panko-crusted and fried to perfection. This was obscenely great. It was served with a piquant horseradish dip called Creole Horseradish and it was definitely better than any other Ranch dipping accompaniment to this fried vegetable. This was an exciting start to the meal, so exciting I wanted to get another order but felt I should try something else.
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For entrees Tom and I split a fried seafood platter. It came with a side salad that was fresh, interesting, and varied greens and cherry tomato but pretty ordinary otherwise.
The platter itself was quite ample, piled high with deftly fried seafood. The catfish was cut into little fish fingers, which was unusual and easy to eat, and the oysters were enormous. Everything was golden brown, crisp, and hot, exactly what anyone would want in a fried seafood platter.
I wished I could have eaten more the first time, but a return visit to satisfy all my curiosities was imminent as we left.
We returned for a late afternoon meal one Saturday not long after. This time we ordered fried zucchini with marinara. I wasn’t crazy about this, only because of a weird fried vegetable “thing” of mine, which is that fried vegetables should be as thin as possible. These zucchini slices violated that principle, but would be just fine for normal people. The marinara was the house deliciousness, thick and dark, with a rich tomatoey cooked-all-day taste and texture. Everything was nicely dusted with Parmesan cheese.
On this visit, I had to make myself eschew more of those scrumptious fried artichoke hearts. We got zucchini strips, but they also fry eggplant and onions here. On this visit, I went with lasagna, because I wanted even more of that exceptional red sauce. It did not disappoint. The lasagna comes in a ceramic skillet/crock with a handle. Sitting in a deep puddle of red sauce is a brick of lasagna, oozing ricotta from the sides. A mixture of meat well-ground and mixed with spices can be seen layered, with a bit poking out from the sides as well. A blanket of cheese with crusty bubbles covers the top. This looks so enticing, and it is.
One of my lasagna complaints is that everywhere else I get this dish, I always want more red sauce because the baked brick of noodles and cheese needs more sauce. That is definitely not an issue here. The sauce makes it through every bite of the noodle brick. Every otherworldly bite.
I had to fight the urge to get a crawfish cream sauce dish as well, and I also want to see their version of aglio olio. Tom obliged me by getting the aglio olio as a side with his grilled tuna.
Grilled tuna used to be a dish Tom enjoyed a lot, and ordered regularly, but since he’s been riding with me we don’t go to many places that offer it. He jumped on it immediately and was very satisfied with his order. The slab of tuna was grilled just right and topped with a lemon butter sauce.
The aglio olio was disappointing, not that it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t extraordinary. I have ridiculously high standards for this dish because I love it so much. The Two Tony's version was surprisingly mundane, at odds with everything else we have had here.
There is so much I want to return for on this large menu. It is well-crafted really delicious food in a comforting environment that is as soul-satisfying as what is in front of you on the plate. It checks all the boxes.
