For at least two generations of New Orleanians, the joys of restaurant dining were introduced in restaurants a lot like Mandina's. Or at Mandina's itself. Until the gourmet bistro era began in the 1980s, restaurants like this were in every New Orleans neighborhood. By then Mandina's had become not only a rarity but seemed to be every Orleanian's idea of what a neighborhood restaurant should be. Then Katrina came though and reminded us how important restaurants like this are to our cherished dining practices. The North Shore franchise of Mandina's doesn't have the pulse of the original, but it comes close to duplicating the food.
New Orleans neighborhood restaurants have not developed easily on the North Shore. Not even Mandina's--whose original Canal Street restaurant defines the genre for a lot of people--has plenty of empty tables most nights. A lot of that has to do with its concealed location in the back of a strip mall, as well as the large size of the restaurant. It's not because of the food, which for the most part duplicates the Canal Street flavors. In some cases, the Mandeville Mandina's surpasses the original--notably in its seafood, which has always been the best part of Mandina's menu. But the Mandeville branch isn't especially consistent, and doesn't have the full Canal Street menu.
Mandina's began in 1898 as a grocery store operated by Sebastian Mandina, a Sicilian immigrant. It evolved into a pool hall and sandwich shop. In 1932 Sebastian's two sons turned the building into a restaurant, with their families living upstairs. Italian food was the mainstay and still is, but since the 1960s Mandina's has been as much Creole as Italian. Hurricane Katrina put five feet of water into the building. Customers persuaded third-generation owner Tommy Mandina to repair the old place instead of building a new one. Waiting for that to be done (it took a year and a half). In the meantime, Mandina's opened two franchises, one in Baton Rouge (now closed) and another in Mandeville. The latter started erratically, but its food has evolved into a pretty good approximation of that on Canal Street.
The Mandeville Mandina's has almost nothing in common atmospherically with the Canal Street location. It's a large room with an improbably high ceiling, a concrete floor that they ought to think about resurfacing, and nice big wooden tables and chairs. The bar has attracted a bigger crowd in recent times, with its sports-filled televisions. Service is by cheerful young men and women, with no old-timers.
Think of the place as a seafood restaurant. The trout amandine can rival the best in town, and the shrimp remoulade is as good as it is ample. It is very tempting to stuff yourself with the complimentary hot, buttery garlic bread: ease back.
| Attitude | 2 |
|---|---|
| Environment | 1 |
| Hipness | 0 |
| Local Color | 1 |
| Service | 2 |
| Value | 2 |
| Wine | 0 |
