Ed's Review of Cafe Maspero

Cafe Maspero
601 Decatur Street in the French Quarter (across from Jax Brewery) New Orleans, LA 70112

"You walk into the local tavern, which is dark , noisy, and full of smoke and the smells of ale and roasting meat." No, you didn't stumble into an AD&D game or some kind of MUD. It's just that whenever I go to Cafe Maspero I feel like I've walked into the archetypal adventure-game tavern. It's everything I just described, and the layout and decor of the place conveys that local-inn feeling. Cafe Maspero also makes some excellent sandwiches.

I have very fond memories of Cafe Maspero that go all the way back to high school. Back then, Maspero's was around the corner from its present location, over on St. Louis and Chartres (across the street from Napoleon House). The popularity of the restaurant grew to the point where the owners went looking for larger digs, which they found around the corner on Decatur. The original location is now home to "Pierre Maspero's Slave Exchange," which will be the subject of a future review. We went there in high school because the food was good and they were pretty easy-going about serving beer to minors (those days, of course, are long-gone, even in New Orleans). In a town that prides itself on its sandwiches, Maspero's has carved out its own interesting niche. Most places in town serve the classic french bread "po-boy," but Maspero's does overstuffed sandwiches on a french roll. The roll is about the size of a BK Whopper bun, but that's where the similarities end. (OK, well, it's also round.) The consistency of the bread is very similar to a regular po-boy loaf, crispy on the outside, soft and doughy on the inside.

I usually get the pastrami sandwich with swiss cheese, but I changed up a bit on our last visit and got the roast beef with swiss. My wife Helen always gets the baked ham sandwich, no chedse. She usually cuts the sandwich in two and brings half home, but now that my son Justin is old enough (7) to appreciate a decent ham sandwich, she's gone to cutting that half in half again so he can share. The sandwiches are prepared, then placed in the oven for a couple of minutes, which really brings out the flavor in the meat, along with melting the cheese. The sandwiches come with lettuce, tomato, and pickles ("dressed" as we say here in New Orleans), but they leave putting mayo, ketchup, mustard, etc., up to you, so it's sort of do-it-yourself.

In addition to the deli-style sandwiches, Cafe Maspero makes a pretty good burger. I normally have pastrami-on-the-brain when I come here, but their steakburger is good enough to be on my top ten burger list. All of the sandwiches come with nice, thick french fries. There are other items on the menu, seafood, soups, etc., but stick to the basics here and you'll have a platonic meal. Cafe Maspero offers a wide selection of beverages from bottled water to wine to a fairly good selection of quality domestic and imported beer.

Yes, I really was serious about the tavern imagery. This is a dark place, with lots of dark, exposed beams. The tables and chairs are bare wood, with no tablecloths to break up the dark atmosphere. The bar runs along the wall on the right-hand side when you walk in from Decatur Street. Sit here if you're by yourself or you're a couple and the bar seating doesn't bother you. You usually can walk right in and get to the bar, even on days when the line is back to the corner. There's a massive wine rack behind the bar. To your left from the front and fanning out are the regular tables. Most are arranged in rows that give the impression of long tables in the great hall of a castle. The kitchen is down towards the other end of the bar. One of the things that makes Maspero's neat is that I'm merely inferring all of this medieval imagery into what's there. It's not forced--this is just a funky place to eat.

Service is the only weak point at Cafe Maspero. On more than one occasion we've had a waitperson who has crossed the line from that classic New Orleans style of brusque efficiency into annoying, possibly even rude. Bear in mind that this has been the exception rather than the rule (and that I eat there fairly often), but still, staff attitude is something any restaurant needs to address. I'm willing to let a bad experience with a waiter slide a lot quicker than a tourist will. For them, it's a less-than-fond memory of their trip to town. I've never had a problem with the place that was kitchen-related, however (like no cheese on a sandwich, etc.), which is much more important to me than a surly waitperson. If the food gets to the table in the form I expect it, I can let even the healthiest dose of attitude go by.

Pricing at Maspero's is reasonable--$5.95 to $6.95 for sandwich plates, $2 to $2.50 for a beer. It's a $10-$12 meal instead of a $5 po-boy lunch, but the food is a refreshing change of pace without resorting to the the lowest-common-denominator approach of the Plastic Arches or Subway. If you're in town for more than 2 or 3 days, or if you like good deli sandwiches, don't pass up Cafe Maspero. Go across the street for a beer at Hard Rock or Planet Hollywood and have your meal at Maspero's. On second thought, go ahead and have that burger at PH. It'll shorten up the line a bit for me at Maspero's.

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