Orleans & York Deli

A few days ago, Sandi got all excited to tell me she just saw Chris Burrous from Burrous' Bites on KTLA Channel 5, eating at Orleans & York Deli. She swore it looked good and so we had to try it. We have been there twice since she saw the show. The restaurant we went to was the closest to us; 400 E. Florence Ave. in Inglewood. They have 2 more locations in Los Angeles and one soon to open in Carson.

The first time we went, we ordered the Shrimp Po Boy and the Butter Pastrami which is not on the printed menu. We shared both sandwiches. First of all I want to inform you that these sandwiches are humongous. We attacked the pastrami first. I usually have no problem eating the gigantic burgers at Carl's Jr., but this one takes the cake. I could not open my mouth wide enough....hard to eat but ohhh so good. The pastrami is not cooked in butter. It gets its name from the smoothness, tenderness, richness and all the other qualities of butter but in a pastrami. It is wonderful! The shrimp po boy was also delicious. The shrimps were very fresh and super crisp. We could not believe how we lucked out on both our sandwiches.

Our friend Aaron was celebrating his birthday so Sandi thought it would be nice to take him there 2 days after our first visit. I was excited and tried to figure out what to order as I wanted to try the many other delicious items in the menu. This time, Sandi ordered the O.G. Orlean Muffuletta which had mortadella, salami, capocollo, Swiss cheese, provolone and olive salad. I had the Oyster Po Boy and the birthday boy had the Fried Catfish Platter with Fries and Coleslaw. Sandi loved her muffuletta;her only complaint was she would have preferred her olives chopped up like the ones she had in New Orleans. My oyster po boy was crisp but I thought it had a bit of an aftertaste. It was good but I don't think I would order it again. Aaron liked his catfish and shared the fries with us. Those fries were fantastic. Sandi thinks they were fried in cornmeal.  Sandi and I could only eat half our sandwich. Oh, I forgot to mention that they bake their own very light French bread!

Before we even got our food, Sandi announced that she would order the Gumbo Mumbo for dinner. I told her to get me one too. She got 2 orders for the 3 of us to take home. When it came, the 3 of us could not believe how heavy the packages were. All I could think of was this would eventually translate to lots of pounds added to our body weight.

We were too full to even think of dinner so we waited four hours before we attempted to try the Gumbo Mumbo. This was unbelievably fantastic. Unlike the usual gumbo one is accustomed to, this was a hearty meal with lots of substance. It had bell peppers, onion, succulent shrimps (lots of it),chicken, beef sirloin, beef sausage and mayonnaise. All these served on top of wonderful rice. The three of us (man & 2 women) could not finish one order!

The restaurant in Inglewood is little and it is best to go there either before lunch or shortly after or early dinner to beat the crowds. I have to tell you that the staff (all of them) are super nice and friendly. Nina was especially patient with us when we had lots of questions as we were not familiar with the menu. I just wish they would deliver to the Torrance/Palos Verdes area!  I can only hope for now.