The two bedrock truths of the Galley are 1) you will have to plan, time, and maneuver in order to get a table without having to wait a long time and b) yes, the fried and boiled seafood really are that good. One item explains the other.
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Boiled crabs.[/caption]
One of the city's best neighborhood-style seafood restaurants, the Galley cooks the way you wish all seafood houses did. Although they're not 100 percent perfect on this, almost all the fried seafood comes right out of the fryer, light in texture and moister without missing crispness. If you hanker for boiled crabs and crawfish out of season, you might just find them here. I don't know how they do that, but you can't argue with the results.
At the 1977 New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, Vicky and Dennis Patania sold fried soft-shell crab poor boys. Their lives would never be the same afterwards. The unique sandwich--with the legs and claws of the crab hanging out all around--became one of the top two or three food attractions at Jazz Fest. It still is. They sell so many of them that they have to start laying in a supply of crabs months ahead of time. In 1996, they opened the Galley as a full-time restaurant in Old Metairie. It too became so popular that the main issue for customers is when to go so they won't have to wait too long.
A converted convenience store with far fewer tables than would-be customers. The kitchen is more or less in your face, the better to observe the fast movement of everything. A few more tables are set in a covered, outdoor seating area in front. It's spartan and the service is minimal, but all that is standard for a neighborhood seafood joint.
The restaurant is almost always mobbed, especially during Lent. Unless you go early for dinner or in the middle of the afternoon, you'll have to wait for a table. There is almost nothing that can be done about this except to grab a beer and endure.
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