Koz's is a poor boy specialist of the old school. In comfortably worn circumstances, you walk up to the counter, place the order, then sit down and wait until they get around to it. The sandwich will be very large, but if it's still not quite big enough for your needs they can make a sandwich out of an entire poor boy loaf.
Koz's two locations are the successors of the Po-Boy Bakery, a long-running fixture on Franklin Avenue in Gentilly. Gary "Koz" Gruenig began working there at age twelve in the 1970s, sweeping the floor. Owner Jerry Seely gave him the nickname, for "kamikaze without a plane." Koz took over when Jerry retired, and continued running the Po-Boy Bakery until Hurricane Katrina wrecked it with ten feet of water. Koz opened a new shop under his own name in Harahan in 2006. In 2009, he took over the former Charlie's Delicatessen in Lakeview.
Both restaurants are spacious and minimally decorated in an old-fashioned neighborhood poor boy shop style. There's a small cafeteria-style line where you place your orders and later pick them up. You will likely eat the sandwich over the paper it came wrapped in.
Tell them to go easy on the roast beef gravy, unless you like sandwiches to fall apart halfway through. This is not fast food. Give yourself at least a half hour to order and eat. The whole-loaf poor boys make terrific party food. (Get the gravy on the side.)
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| Environment | 0 |
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| Value | 2 |
| Wine | 0 |
