Po'Boy

A length of crisp-crusted French bread is filled with fried shrimp, oysters or roast beef and dressed with lettuce, tomato, pickle and mayo. It is the classic sandwich of New Orleans.

The po'boy is a cornerstone of New Orleans street food, and its name is most commonly traced to a 1929 streetcar strike. According to the popular account, brothers Bennie and Clovis Martin, who ran a restaurant, served free sandwiches to striking workers, calling them "poor boys" — which locals eventually shortened to "po'boys." The exact details of this story are sometimes debated, but the connection to the strike remains the most widely repeated origin.

Regional variations center on the filling: fried shrimp, oysters, catfish, or a slow-cooked roast beef with gravy are classic choices, though soft-shell crab and hot sausage also appear. The sandwich is always served on a crisp-crusted French bread loaf, and "dressed" means adding lettuce, tomato, pickles, and mayonnaise. Beyond its practical street-food roots, the po'boy has become a symbol of New Orleans working-class culture, celebrated in festivals and served at countless neighborhood shops, from old-line institutions like Domilise's and Mother's to modern eateries.