Parkway Bakery and Tavern

Parkway Bakery and Tavern is a po'boy shop at 538 Hagan Avenue in the Mid-City neighbourhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, a short walk from Bayou St. John. Operating since 1911, it began as a neighbourhood bakery and grew into one of the city's best-known sandwich destinations. The po'boy, a Louisiana sandwich served on crisp-crusted, soft-centred New Orleans French bread, is the entire point of the menu, and Parkway treats it with the confidence of a century-old specialist.

The signature order is the roast beef debris po'boy, in which slow-cooked beef falls apart into a gravy so rich that the sandwich is eaten with a stack of napkins. The fried shrimp po'boy is the other benchmark, with lightly battered Gulf shrimp piled into the loaf, and the house Parkway special combines several fillings. Sweet potato fries are a popular side. Sandwiches are typically ordered dressed, meaning with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise, though diners can specify otherwise. Cold beer and soft drinks are served at the bar, and the atmosphere owes more to a neighbourhood tavern than to a restaurant with a beverage programme.

The building is casual and rambling, with a counter for ordering, indoor seating, a bar and a large outdoor patio with picnic-style tables where much of the eating happens. Noise levels are high and the mood is informal and communal; no dress code applies. Prices are modest, at roughly US$12-20 per person, which makes it one of the more affordable ways to eat a famous New Orleans meal.

Parkway does not take reservations. Visitors order at the counter and wait for their names or numbers, and lines at lunch, on weekends and during festival periods can be long. Hours are typically Wednesday to Monday, so visitors should confirm the current schedule on the restaurant's website. Arriving before the noon rush or in the mid-afternoon is the most reliable way to keep the wait short.