Fury's

Restaurant Review

Anecdotes & Analysis

Some restaurants are time machines. They show us what it was like to eat dine out in the days before everything was artisan this or that. When if you didn't live in the neighborhood, you wouldn't even know about the existence of that restaurant's neighborhood cafe, and they wouldn't know you. Where nearly all the customers are regulars. And--best of all--how the kitchen cooks the way it did before restaurants could buy everything pre-cut, pre-seasoned, and maybe even pre-cooked. Not to mention probably frozen. Fury's is a restaurant like that. Its customers remember all those time-machine qualities, because they themselves were around back in those days. And they know that the best fish is fresh and in season, which explains why the restaurant is out of this or that almost every day. You just put up with it and get what's there today.

Why It's Essential

Metairie has few old-school neighborhood restaurants, and fewer West End-style seafood joints. Fury's serves both those functions with unusually high standards. It's cramped, it's slow (because they cook everything to order), and it's welcoming in an old-fashioned way ("Just sit anywhere!").

Backstory

John Fury opened this place in 1983, after selling his share of The Bounty. That was a classic West End seafood restaurant, and all the moves he developed there are in evidence at Fury's. His career goes even farther back, beginning in a Mid-City backstreet cafe of the 1950s. The current Fury's has aspects of both styles. Trivia: A million years ago, the building was the home of The Little Italians restaurant. The son of one of the little Italians that ran it is Tommy DiGiovanni, the longtime executive chef of Arnaud's.

Dining Room

This is a very small restaurant with minimal decor. The L-shaped room is almost always full at standard mealtimes, but they remain open all afternoon, when it's less frantic. Fridays (especially in Lent) require a wait in the bar.

For Best Results

The restaurant is open all day, from 11 a.m. From about two until five in the afternoon is the best time. If the little parking lot in front is full, it's okay to park across the street in the large strip mall lot. If you happen to be there on Monday, get the red beans and rice with fried chicken drummettes.