Mandina's
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Mid-City neighborhood legend promises a comeback on Canal and gives Baton
Rouge evacuees a taste of home
The Times-Picayune columnist Chris Rose wrote in the March 12, 2006 edition: "Mandina's is a shell, not to open for many, many months but at least it will reopen and that's important because when you break things down to their very basic fundamentals, you'd have to question whether living in a New Orleans without Mandina's would be worth living at all."
New Orleans needs its boisterous, brass railed neighborhood joints, serving up Old Fashions and overstuffed po-boys and Turtle soup with their daily specials. Needs the grumbly charm of its 60-year old waiter-veterans charging through a busy lunch hour. Needs the eccentric dining rooms stuffed into buildings never meant to be restaurants.
And although it was in the deep water zone, Mandina's plans to continue to fulfill those needs. A banner strung across the front of the pink building declares, "We Shall Return!" Like many others, Mandina's reported a long wait for their flood and business interruption insurance issues to be resolved, but work is going ahead at their Canal Street location, which started life as a neighborhood grocery more than 80 years ago. The opening date is not set. Rumors range from this Spring to November.
But stillness was not an option, and second generation Mandina's owner Tommy Mandina, with daughter Cindy, has opened a new restaurant in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where many New Orleanians are temporarily (and permanently) relocated. The Los Angeles Times reported on February 27, that "the comfort food restaurant is drawing standing room only crowds." Cindy Mandina told nomenu.com, "The Baton Rouge restaurant will give myself, our chef and most of our employees the opportunity to do what we love."
3800 Canal Street • New Orleans, Louisiana • (504) 482-9179
7655 Old Hammond Highway • Baton Rouge, Louisiana • (225) 928-0672
Link: Mandina's