Restaurant Report: Frankie and Johnny's

I guess you could say this has been a Johnny restaurant weekend. First Johnny and Joyce's on Friday and now Frankie and Johnny's on Saturday.

While in New Orleans for a reunion at my old grade school/church (where I went to fifth grade and later served as an altar boy during my high school years........SHUT UP) St. Francis of Assissi........as the party wound down we took a suggestion for a place to eat and went back to one of my old stomping grounds. Frankie and Johnny's is in fact literally around the corner from where I use to live (Annunciation Street) at a much younger part of my life.

Being in the school cafeteria, seeing old friends, driving around the neighborhood, and eating at F & J's brought back a lot of good memories. It is amazing how many of your childhood friends appear to look the same as they did years ago......I know I need an eye checkup.......but nonetheless it was good time.

So on to my report:
Appetizer - Onion Rings - hot and excellent.
Entree - the wife and I split a Hot Roast Beef Po-Boy - very good.
2 Ice Teas
$25 tax, title, and tip
Rating:****Pretty Damn Good

This restaurant is one of your quintessential New Orleans neighborhood restaurants. At one time the menu was vast with many choices. It was almost like you could eat there everynight for two or three months without having the same thing twice. Post Katrina it has a severely limited menu.

An interesting point to bring up here is that this is a place that has taken on a noteriety of being a very good neighborhood restaurant and that fact has been spread not only in print but all over the internet. Hence it has become a "tourist" must go to place. Some tourists, much like myself, like to eat in the small out of the way joints that have good comfort food. While I always search out that information when I take a trip, enough out of towners have found this place when coming to NOLA. Reports of some dip in the quality of food due to this "tourist" business had circulated for a few years. I believe the pared down menu has brought it standards back up (if in fact that demise was true) to the old days!