Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Welcome to the Mid-City P-Zone
Posted by Kevin Allman on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Who doesn't like pizza? (A damn Communist, that's who.) And who doesn't like Italian Pie? That's right, nobody. So we at Gambit World HQ in Mid-City were excited when we learned that Italian Pie was uprooting itself from its neighborhoody Bienville Street location and moving to the little Restaurant Row that's sprung up around Canal and Carrollton since the storm. More lunch options for us!
But then we realized there are now four pizza places within about a block of one another:
(Clockwise from top: Wit's Inn, Venezia, Theo's Pizza, Italian Pie. Gambit World HQ is in the upper-right corner. And we left off the national-chain pizza place that's on this map, which would've made five.)
Now, they're all substantially different. Wit's Inn serves good bar-food pizza and is a great place to watch a game and have a few drinks. Venezia serves the epitome of the red-sauce "pizza pie." Theo's has an amazing cracker crust and some toppings that sound eccentric but turn out to be delicious. And Italian Pie is a go-to spot for basic pizza that's ideal for takeout (although the new location, which opened today, has little flat-screen TVs built into the booths, so they seem ready for football season).
No complaints with any of these pizza purveyors. But between them and the surfeit of Mexican/Central American places in the same area (three!), we're just wondering: Can we get a good Thai restaurant up in here? Or po-boy shop? Or Vietnamese joint? (Doson Noodle House has Vietnamese noodle bowls, but not one of those Da Vinci Code-sized menus you get at Vietnamese places on the West Bank.) What kind of food would you like to see on Mid-City's Restaurant Row?
Because there is, finally, if such a thing is possible — enough pizza.
Speaking of...
-
A note to our readers
- Jan 10, 2012
-
Ken Korman joins Gambit as contributing writer
The New Orleans writer will be covering the film/DVD scene for Gambit.
- Dec 29, 2011
- More »
Comments (9)
Showing 1-9 of 9
Ummmmmm.....you have probably the best po-boy shop in the city not too far from there. Parkway.
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We sure do - and half the editorial staff is addicted to the caprese po-boy from Parkway Bakery - but we want something on the Carrollton strip between Canal and Bienville. Because a great po-boy topped off with a treat from Angelo Brocato would make it the premier food destination in the city. Sort of.
dude stfu. i love yall but come on man. if you actually hit some joints around the t.p. they got food off the chain. ill throw you a bone, start with boswells all you can eat jerk chicken. come on out to old gentilly some time. i dare you to tell me that parkways roast beef is better than merlins. on the point of neighborhood envy whats up with the bayou beer garden? i really gotta check that joint out. it looks like my new favorite bar from the outside.
Boswell's is great, but it's not a lunchtime walk. Heck, Gambit is closer to Boswell's than the TP is. But I definitely want to go with you to Merlin's - the sign outside promises po-boys and tamales, and Ian McNulty said the tamales are good.
You guys can't get a Vietnamese place until you fix your blight on the other side of Bienville, and I get a Vietnamese place near me on Magazine. (Near the new Sukho-Thai at Jena, please, if anyone is reading). My real question for Carrollton is: when is someone going to renovate the old Ace Hardware and Ford dealers? Looks like tear down and new local-shop territory to me, with curb side access to streetcars.
Don't forget that Fellini's is just up the block, the Olive Branch Cafe is over in American Can and then just a little farther on Esplanade next to Cafe Degas is Nonna Mia. Should this type of pizza/wrap/salad place be considered New Orleans cuisine as much as gumbo and jambalaya are?
Supposedly a poboy place is going into the Bienville location that Italian Pie just vacated.
We are way ahead of you at the cutting edge UNO Restaurant Row Research Group. Check out our musings on the very topic of pizza galore in your neighborhood: http://restaurantrow.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/pizza-galore-2/. What we want to know now, however, is what makes a place have "Mid City charm"?
