It’s happened to us all…the dreaded “Munchies in the Night Syndrome.”
I was a recent victim a few weeks ago, having come home exhausted from a rough day cranking out copy. I was starving, but on searching my pantries high and low, found only a shriveled-up apple and a few diet drinks in the fridge. What to do to stave off this hunger, without having to get dressed and presentable?
The obvious solution was to order out. What I craved that evening was some egg rolls and mandarin chicken, so I looked in the phone book under “Chinese”—but couldn’t find a restaurant that advertised that it delivered. In fact, after walking my fingers through the yellow pages for quite a while, I could only locate about three restaurants that delivered, so I gave up and settled for a pizza; Domino’s and Pizza Hut are always there.
But that experience got me to thinking…surely there are other lazy slobs like me who’d rather stay in and pay the price to have someone deliver their dinner? Surprisingly, as my trip through the yellow pages proved, there just isn’t an easy way to find out which restaurants deliver and which don’t (major hint to yellow pages advertising sales folk). So we at OffBeat decided to do a little research to provide a delivery guide for couch potatoes citywide.
First we checked with friends. Then we did a little research and came up with some places we like. Seems like the best place to live if you want munchies delivered to your door in New Orleans is the French Quarter. There are a slew of places in the Quarter that will deliver—day and night. Many restaurants in the Quarter and CBD will deliver lunch to your office if you’re too busy to venture out onto the city’s steaming streets for a leisurely lunch hour.
Most restaurants have relatively small areas in which they’ll deliver: most only service their immediate neighborhoods (woe to us in the Irish Channel who want Chinese food!). We also found a “gourmet” service that brings food from some of the city’s better restaurants right to your door, complete with a delivery guy dressed spiffily in crisp white shirt and black bow tie.
Here, in more or less alphabetical order, are the twenty-odd restaurants we found in the city who will deliver to your door (please give us a call if you have any favorites we’ve left out). Unless otherwise indicated, there’s no delivery charge.
CAFE ITALIANO
3244 Magazine St., 891-4040
Menu: Pizza (including specialty pizzas like Pizza Primavera with mushrooms, artichokes and asparagus; Eggplant Parmesan Pizza; and Seafood Combo Pizza made with spicy white sauce, crawfish, shrimp, crab and mushrooms—named one of the OffBeat staffers’ favorites in our taste tests); Italian specialties (three types of lasagna: classic, spinach and seafood), sandwiches, salads and desserts. Pizza averages $8 (small), $10.50 (medium) and $15 (large). Entrees, about $7.25.
Delivery Area: Poydras to Henry Clay and Claiborne to the River.
Delivery Time: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Accept credit cards? Yes.
CAFE ROMA
1801 Sophie Wright Pl., 523-2419
Menu: Pizza is a specialty, with unusual ones like Turkish Pizza (tomato, onion, parsley, ground beef, served with lemon) and Pizza With Pesto. Pizza prices range from $5.50 for a small cheese pizza to $15.50 for a 16″ large combo model. Café Roma also serves up sandwiches (the Roma’s Special at $5.25 with pepperoni, ham, salami, Canadian bacon, black olives and onion was a big hit with OffBeat staffers), a variety of “Pastabilities” (lasagna, manicotti, fettucine from $6.75 to $7.49), good substantial salads dressed with olive-oil based dressings and desserts. Delicious pizza-style garlic bread. In fact, everything is heavy on garlic (and we like it that way). Beer and wine available.
Delivery Area: CBD to Jefferson & St. Charles.
Delivery Time: 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Accept credit cards? Yes.
CHEZ NOUS CHARCUTERIE
5701 Magazine St., 899-7303
Menu: A different menu every day consisting of a soup or appetizer (samples: potato & leek soup, gumbo, onion cheese bread); entrees (like Chicken Riesling, Veal Augustine, Beef Bourguignon, Crawfish Etouffée); quiches; “lagniappe” or side dishes (sample: egg salad, homemade cinnamon rolls, dilled vegetables, smothered turnip greens); and light cuisine, low in calories, cholesterol and/or salt (samples: spinach lasagna, mini muffulletta, steamy chicken & pasta). Homemade desserts are also available. Chez Nous publishes its menu, which changes daily each month in advance (call to get a copy). Prices range from $2.75 to $5.75 per item.
Delivery Area: “Anywhere.”
Delivery Times: 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m., Mon.-Fri. and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sat.
Accept credit cards? Yes-V/MC.
Delivery charge? Varies, depending on location.
CHINESE EXPRESS
5741 Crowder Blvd., 242-1000
Menu: Typical Chinese menu with won ton soup, mandarin chicken, etc.
Delivery Area: “Only to about Read Blvd.”
Delivery Time: 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Accept credit cards? Cash only. Minimum $10 for delivery.
CIAO PIZZA
1118 Decatur St., 525-CIAO
Menu: Typical pizza menu, with some surprises. Try the Pizza Rosa, a pizza variation on Maximo’s Pasta Rosa—Ciao is owned by the same people—or the Combo with pepperoni, sausage, onions, mushrooms, pepper and olives). Other pizzas include the Kana (pineapple and cappicola), French Market Special and Vegetarian. Prices range from $1.50 a slice (Ciao typically won’t deliver only a slice) to $15.25 for a 16″ Combo. Hot and cold hero sandwiches ($3.95 to $5.95); well-stuffed calzones and rather disappointing salads and garlic breads. Also lasagna and manicotti at $5.95 and $4.95 respectively. Wine, beer, soft drinks and other beverages available.
Delivery Area: Canal to Elysian Fields/Rampart to the River.
Delivery Times: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
Accept cards? Yes.
DANIEL’S DELICATESSEN
65 French Market Pl., 522-0636
Menu: Wide variety of sandwiches, entrees at about $4.50 (meatloaf, salisbury steak, chicken dishes, etc.)
Delivery Area: From the French Quarter to the CBD.
Delivery Times: 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m.
Accept cards? V/WC.
DEJA VU
400 Dauphine St., 523-1927
Menu: Breakfast 24 hours, with a large selection of pancakes and waffles (not just egg dishes); huge 1/2 pound charbroiled hamburgers, specialties (like chili, red beans, gumbo) and entrees (fried fish, liver & onions, steak), salads (the Taco Salad is $5.99) and desserts. You can also get milk shakes and malts, sundaes and banana splits delivered ($2.75-$3.99). Beer and cocktails can be ordered too.
Delivery Area: French Quarter and local hotels.
Delivery Times: 24 hours.
Accept cards? No.
ESMERALDA’S
219 Dauphine St., 529-5741
Menu: Good inexpensive breakfasts (not deliverable, unfortunately) and home-style hot plate lunches, po-boys, salads, sandwiches, Cuban specials. Huge servings, delicious entrees (especially the jambalaya), stuffed bell pepper (stuffed with ground meat and shrimp) and longshoreman-sized serving of lasagna. Lunch specials are about $3.50 to $4.25, and are genuinely a bargain.
Delivery Area: French Quarter and CBD.
Delivery Time: Mon.-Fri., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Accept cards? No.
THE FATTED CALF
727 St. Peter St., 523-0019
Menu: Open all night until 6 a.m. (it had better be, since it’s across the street from Pat O’s), the Fatted Calf serves up 18 varieties of “beefburgers” with cole slaw and fries or a baked potato and are all $4.95, except for (ironically) the “Where’s the Beef Burger” that’s not a burger at all but chicken. The Fatted Calf also has two steaks ($11.95), seafood selections ($6.89-$7.95), New Orleans specialties, salads, side dishes and pecan pie ($2.50) or bread pudding ($1.00) for dessert.
Delivery Area: French Quarter.
Delivery Times: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.
Accept credit cards? V/AMEX.
FIGARO
7900 Maple St., 866-0100
Menu: Pasta (lasagna, spaghetti & meatballs, stuffed shells, Linguine, all at about $7.50); salads; sandwiches ($4.95-$5.75), desserts, and the house specialty, pizza. Figaro has Neapolitan-style pies (made with no tomato sauce, instead with garlic-herb butter and mozzarella cheese and toppings) and American-style (tomato sauce, cheese and standard toppings). Neapolitan pizzas include the growing in popularity “white pizza’ (garlic and cheese only), tomato/basil, spinach/feta cheese and shrimp/cilantro. Pizzas range from $6.25 to $15 for a large (15”) Neapolitan “Quattro Stagione” (Neapolitan-style sampler). Figaro also serves beer, including all varieties of Abita.
Delivery Area: “Uptown.”
Delivery Times: Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-midnight, Fri.-Sat., 11 a.m.-1 a.m., Sun. 5 p.m.-midnight
Accept credit cards? Yes.
LEE’S CHINESE RESTAURANT
8128 Oak St., 861-9724 or 861-9741
Menu: Standard Cantonese, Szechuan and Hunan fare with special dishes that area amazingly cheap ($6.95 for Sizzling Worba; a Family Dinner for Three at $24.95).
Delivery Area: Uptown only (unfortunately), and only to Napoleon Avenue.
Delivery Times: Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat., noon-11 p.m.: Sun., noon-10 p.m.
Accept credit cards? V/MC/AMEX
MAMA ROSA’S
616 N. Rampart St., 523-5546
Menu: Fat overstuffed pizza (touted by the owners as being voted some of the best in America in a People Magazine survey); great sandwiches ($2.50 for a grilled cheese to $4.75 for a half-muffulletta); huge delicious salads and good special Italian dinners, all accompanied by some of the best homemade bread around and one of Mama Rosa’s fill-you-up salads. A great bargain, and great food.
Delivery Area: French Quarter.
Delivery Times: Tues.-Thurs., 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Fri.-Sun., 10:30 a.m.-midnight. Closed Mondays.
Accept credit cards? V/MC.
MENA’S PALACE
622 lberville St., 525-0217
Menu: Quarterite and hotel workers’ favorite: four lunch specials every day (seven on Friday that includes seafood specials of Shrimp Creole, fried trout, Crawfish Etouffée, stuffed crab, and soft-shell crab). Huge servings, home-style cooking. Also breakfast, salads, steaks ($6.50 for a strip up to $7 for a filet) and a big selection of po-boys (highest priced is oyster, at $3.80).
Delivery Area: French Quarter, CBD.
Delivery Times: Mon.-Sat., 6:30 a.m.-6:45 p.m.
Accept credit cards? No.
MONA LISA
1212 Royal St., 522-6746
Menu: Great white pizza (they also serve it as “garlic bread’ with salads; a variety of pasta-based entree in big servings that range from $7.25 to $8.35; sandwiches.
Delivery Area: Franklin to two blocks past Canal/Claiborne to Decatur & French Market.
Delivery Times: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (midnight on weekends).
Accept credit cards? V/MC/MEX
NEW YORK PIZZA
5201 Magazine St., 891-2376
Menu: One of uptown New Orleans’ favorite pizza places, with 50, count ’em 50, kinds of beer to go with their pies. New York Pizza is the oldest uptown pizza-maker around (11 years old). Pizzas have beaucoup toppings and delicious tasty crusts made with dough that’s proofed for longer than usual to develop a good yeast flavor. Prices range from $4.20 for an individual size tomato/cheese or white pizza to $9.60 for a large. Toppings are $.50, $.90 and $1.30 for individual, small or large pizzas, respectively. Unusual toppings are available on the Hawaiian Pizza (Canadian bacon and pineapple) and the Muffuletta Pizza (muffuletta ingredients on a pie). New York Pizza also delivers salads and an unbelievable muffuletta made with three cheeses, hot and delicious, as well as a good pastrami or corn beef on a kaiser roll.
Delivery Area: Uptown or CBD (daytime only, with a large order).
Delivery Times: 11 a.m.-11 p.m., 7 days, $1.35 charge.
Accept credit cards? Yes.
PIRATE’S PANTRY
803 Convention Center Blvd., 588-1319
Menu: Po-boys and daily specials.
Delivery Area: French Quarter, CBD, Warehouse District.
Delivery Times: 7 a.m.-12:30 a.m.,7 days.
Accept credit cards? No.
PONTCHARTRAIN GOURMET DELIVERY
455-6900 (New Orleans): 455-9966 (Metairie, Lakeview); 455-9998 (West Bank); 455-6926 (Kenner)
Menu: Not a restaurant, but a delivery service for some of the city’s better restaurants. You have access to the entire menu of places like the Caribbean Room, Kung’s Dynasty, Samurai Sushi, Mamie’s, Uttle Greek, Hofbrau. You need a “Catalog” to know the prices and menus, call first and they’ll send you one, or pick up a copy at a Major Video store. Your order arrives via well-dressed deliveryman straight to your door. The ultimate couch potato foodservice.
Delivery Area: New Orleans, Metairie, Lakeview, West Bank, Kenner.
Delivery Times: 6-10 p.m. (give them an hour to fulfill your order once you’ve placed it)
Accept credit cards? Yes.
QUARTERMASTER DELI
1100 Bourbon St., 529-1416
Menu: Everything from breakfast to Snickers cheesecake. Inexpensive (entrees like BOO chicken and catfish are only $3.59; big sandwiches about $3.79) and delicious. Daily specials (call for info), sandwiches, salads, 1/2 pound burgers, wine and beer available.
Delivery Area: French Quarter, Canal to Esplanade.
Delivery Times: 8 a.m.-midnight, 7 days.
Accept credit cards? No.
RADISSON HOTEL
Julia St. at South Peters, 522-2973
Menu: If you’re in the Warehouse District and yearning for some munchies, you can always call on the Radisson. They have a selection of 10 items, ranging from gumbo ($4.50) to Steak Diane ($17.95). White Zinfandel or Chardonnay are available at $13 and $15 per bottle respectively (hotel prices, we think I)
Delivery Area: Poydras to Crescent C0nnection; S. Front to Magazine.
Delivery Times: 6 p.m.-11 p.m., 7 days.
Accept credit cards? Yes.
ROMAN PIZZA
7329 Cohn St., 866-1166
Menu: More salads, sandwiches, pizza and Italian specialties like lasagna, Fettucini Alfredo, etc. Entrees average about $7. Pesto Pizza is a specialty and the chicken dinner is a favorite.
Delivery Area: Carrollton to Napoleon.
Delivery Times: Mon.-Fri., 4 p.m.-1 a.m.; Fri.-Sat, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.
Accept credit cards? Yes.
ST. ANN’S CAFE & DELI
800 Dauphine St., 529-4421.
Menu: Pizza ($3 for cheese “pita” pizza, up to $12.95 for a 14-incher with everything, salads, soups, sandwiches, homemade desserts—pineapple upside down cake is our favorite—specials every day: Veal Parmesan & pasta ($4.50), BBQ ribs ($4.75), fried chicken ($4.25) and more. Wine and champagne available.
Delivery Area: French Quarter.
Delivery Times: 24 hours, 7 days.
Accept credit cards? No.
STREETCAR SANDWICHES
1434 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-1146
Menu: Sandwiches, hot specials, mesquite grilled chicken.
Delivery Area: Earhart to the River/Napoleon to Causeway, $1.00 delivery charge; Downtown, $3 charge.
Delivery Times: 10:30 a.m.-11 p.m., 7 days.
Accept credit card? No.
TRIPLE D’S CAFE
746 Tchoupitoulas St., 566-7255
Menu: Formerly the Garden Cafe, this restaurant has retained the great salad and natural food menu and has added “boboli pizza” (cheese baked in the crust—6”, $4.50-$5.50; 12″, $7.75-$9), burgers and hot dogs, daily home-cooked specials and homemade desserts to their menu (the homemade carrot and poppyseed cakes are killers). Daily special entrees generally run in the $4.95 to $5.95 range. Specialty of the house is black beans and brown rice.
Delivery Area: Poydras to the River/Loyola to I-10.
Delivery Times: 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Accept credit cards? Yes.
WAREHOUSE DISTRICT PIZZA
325 Howard Ave., 529-1466
Menu: Pizzas and salads.
Delivery Area: Warehouse District, CBD Hotels.
Delivery Times: Thurs., 5 p.m.-midnight; Fri.-Sat., 5 p.m.-2 a.m., Sun., til 11 p.m.
Accept credit cards? No.
