History of The Po-Boy

The year was 1929, and the city’s streetcar workers were on strike. Bennie and Clovis Martin, owners of Martin Brothers Coffee Stand & Restaurant in the French Market, sympathized with the streetcar drivers who were now out of work and manning the picket lines.

They gave away simple sandwiches of fried potatoes, gravy, and small bits of roast beef on New Orleans French bread to help any of the “poor boys” who came their way.

What goes in a po-boy? Favorite fillings are roast beef debris (the bits of beef that flake off of a roast in the oven, drenched in gravy), Louisiana hot sausage, meatballs and red gravy, and fried Gulf jumbo shrimp, oysters, and soft-shell crabs.

So how do we dress the king of New Orleans sandwiches? With lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and mayonnaise, of course. Blue Plate® Mayonnaise was first made in New Orleans in 1927, and its rich and creamy, all-egg-yolk flavor became such a popular spread on po-boys that the State of Louisiana has proclaimed it the “Official Mayo of Po-Boys.”

The Secret Is the Bread

The secret to New Orleans po-boys is the New Orleans style French bread. Nowhere else can bread be found with such a light, airy interior and flaky, crispy exterior. Rumor has it that the magic ingredient in baking this unique local bread might be the high humidity in New Orleans, or its position below sea level. But who knows?

Of the many bakeries founded in New Orleans that originally made this bread, only John Gendusa Bakery and Leidenheimer Baking Co. remain – and they’re still turning out thousands of loaves of “po-boy bread” daily.