Storm shout out to Po-Boys sandwiches, Craft street, Newton!!

[hyde]

Wild and marginally hair raising careen into town from 02465 to deliver my Intensive Care R.N. wife to work at 1900 hours friday night.

Nobody driving, nothing open, 30 MPH winds, blowing snow, zombie apocalypse every where, when....

Is that Po-Boys sign on?

" Sure, fried Shrimp po-boy, decent tomato, romaine and a homemade remoulade, and an order of fresh cut onion rings hot out of the new fryer? Yeah, I can do tha...
" Whats that?, fresh catfish from Ipswich Fish? ok, ill need breakfast in 11 hours when i go back to get her, make me up another one"
" Really? when the weather gets nice you are going to put tables outside and have a saxaphone player, so i can grab a sandwich while im going to Martys and Whole Foods?

Win/win.

Ill go back just to support this kind of sheer dedication, that the sandwich is excellent (ciabatta being my only caveat, god, i want it on Clear Flour Baguette but one cant have everything) is nearly inconcievable.

Local guy, breakfasts if you want, subs, frappes, sodas, coffee, etc

just go, even in a blizzard.

[chuck s]

I was there for the first time today and found it to be excellent. All of the concern about the ciabatta in unnecessary since it is close to the roll you would get in NO. Their oysters come from Ipswich Seafood so that's a big plus. Good onion rings and fries. I just wish that they had better seating.

[mkfisher]

I stopped in yesterday with my wife since we had the day off for Presidents Day. It was my wifes first po boy. I lived in New Orleans right up to Katrina, so I've had my fair share over the years. The sandwich was about as good as you could possibly expect in New England. Only minor complaint was that a couple of the shrimps weren't completely deveined. I expected to not enjoy the ciabatta, but it was actually quite nice. The owner was incredibly gracious, and when he saw we didn't order sides he immediately brought over a plate of onion rings free of charge. They were fantastic. I probably won't make it out there until I have another weekday off of work, but I'd like to get back and try the catfish and oyster po boys as well. I didn't see it on the menu, but does anyone know if he's doing a roast beef po boy? How about a muffuletta?

[katzzz]

The thing with Po Boys is that it's half a po boy joint and half a sub shop serving breakfast -- which explains both the menu and the hours. The place is definitely not all in on New Orleans food. So you can get some very good sea food po boys, but instead of other New Orleans classics -- namely roast beef po boys -- there are lots of items aimed squarely at New England sub shop patrons with no interest in Southern exotica (though it would be great if Po Boys made mufullettas, I wouldn't expect to find them in a New Orleans po boy joint either, but rather in an Italian deli). As for Po Boys hours, they are similar to other sub shops that cater to day workers, which is to say, early morning to mid-to-late afternoon, closed on the weekend. My guess is that Po Boys owner figures there isn't enough of a demand for N'Awlins food to expand his menu and hours given the joints primary clientele and off-the-beaten path location. But maybe both will expand if Po Boys is successful. Let's hope so.

[Jenny Ondioline]

I asked about a muffuletta during my conversation with the owner and he said they were considering it. Of course, getting the olive salad right is key for that sandwich, so I can see wanting to hold off until that was perfected before it went on the menu.

I too didn't mind the ciabatta.

[nategold]

Ciabatta bread for a po boy??? That is just wrong. Why not use some good sub roll & crisp them up like they do for a banh mi?

[Science Chick]

Bahn mi are made on french baguette, NOT sub rolls......

[nategold]

Yes you are right. But not sure what they use here. Iggy's french baguette, for example, would make a very bad po boy. Most folks in New Orleans use Leidenheimer bread, made there.

[Science Chick]

Sounds tough to reproduce, like so many regional delicacies. I wonder if Clear Flour baguettes would work better?

[nategold]

Not so hard. Whatever they use for Banh mi would probably work. Needs to be crispy but not too heavy. I am amazed that nobody here has really come up with a good po boy. I won't try this place if they use ciabatta.

[Jenny Ondioline]

That's more your loss than theirs, I'm afraid. It's a damn good sandwich, and the bread (which I had been dubious about myself) is by no means a dealbreaker.

[nategold]

It may be a good sandwich, but it ain't a po boy. I may try it though.

[VivreManger]

I have eaten Leidenheimer bread in various concoctions in New Orleans. It is clearly authentic, but it is also lousy. No taste. No texture. A good baguette or ciabatta or other substantial crusty bread would make a much better po boy than the authentic options on offer down there.

As for the muffuletta sandwich, given the fact that contents of the sandwich itself can be drier than a po boy the typical bread is less of a problem. I did get a muffuletta sandwich from Napoleon's in the Quarter, one of the old line purveyors, though not necessarily the most highly recommended. They should work on their olive salad. The celery overwhelmed the olives. I won't go there again, at least not for that sandwich.

Bottom line while Po Boy on Craft St. may not have the most authentic NOLA creations, it should not be difficult to make a better NOLA-style sandwich. When I try it, I will let you know how it compares.

[nategold]

I know nothing about Leidenheimer other than that everyone uses it in po boys and there it is great.

[nategold]

Central Grocery in New Orleans is the place to get a muffeletta. And they sell their olive salad in jars.

[Prav]

Bahn Mi baguettes are made partly with rice flour, no?

[nategold]

OK, I went there today and agree that it is a very good sandwich. I got the shrimp po boy. The ciabatta worked better than I thought it would. I guess as mkfisher says this is as close to a New Orleans po boys as you are gonna get here. Still curious what it would be like on a banh mi type bread, which I still believe is a sub roll crisped up in the oven. The key thing is that the bread has to be pretty light but crisp. The onion rings are terrific.

[Jenny Ondioline]

Banh mi baguettes have rice flour in them. That's what makes them crispy. They are not "sub rolls crisped up in the oven." At least not at a place that serves good banh mi.

But I'm glad you liked it! And yeah, the onion rings are superb.

[mkfisher]

I think we all agree that the idea of a ciabatta is just plain wrong. That being said, everyone that actually tries it seems to like it much more than expected.

And yes, the onion rings are outrageously good.

[Gordough]

Can someone comment on the thickness of the onion rings? Are they heavily battered or of the thinner, crispier variety? Thanks.

[Jenny Ondioline]

The thin-cut, lightly-battered shoestring style.

[Jenny Ondioline]

I was doing my weekly Watertown/Nonantum shopping this afternoon, and stopped by for a fried shrimp po'boy and rings. They were indeed excellent: shrimp perfectly fried, solid remoulade, I actually didn't mind the ciabatta and would find a Clear Flour baguette, much as I love them, distractingly chewy on a sandwich where the shrimp is supposed to be the star. I still slightly give Tasty Burger the edge on rings, but there were a very close second. Definitely worth the stop.

[psc109]

I was there wednesday for the onings rings and a catfish poboy, both were very good. The owner was super nice and seemes like a good guy. He told me they close at 6pm on weekdays and are closed weekends. Maybe the weekend thing changes.

[Science Chick]

Hmmm....this certainly raises the question of how the OP got his feedbag on after 7pm....? Bummer if 6 is the cutoff with no weekends. I'll *never* get to try it :(

[hyde]

I HAD to stop to ask this very question

"I live like two miles away, I was just going to go home and watch TV anyway so I thought I would stay and watch it here, didnt even realize it was past 6"

He did major business that day up until 3-330 when the travel ban kicked in, but thought if he was the only thing open and somebody came in he would have that customer for good.

He wasnt wrong.

He likes getting up early and finishing early.
Its a concept.
May work, may not. Dont know if you dont try.

[Prav]

Wow, 6pm, is that a typo??

Edit: Apparently not, according to a Newton Patch article, they open at 5:30am, with the idea that customers can pick up a sandwich on the way to work, and grab one on the way back. With the way traffic works in Boston/Newton, I feel like they're missing out on a LOT of potential business from 6pm - 7pm. And I can't imagine there's that much business from 5:30am - 6:30am. I suggest they get another hour of sleep, and stay open at least an hour later. :)

[Blumie]

Prav, I think their hours make a lot of sense. They are located directly next to a City of Newton Department of Public Works depot and other industrial businesses where workers tend to start and end their day very early. Moreover, I don't see a lot of demand for people driving home from work at 6pm stopping in for a PoBoy. (Sure, I'd do that, and perhaps you would too. But is there enough demand to make it worthwhile after already being open for 12-1/2 hours!) Give them a little credit for knowing their clientele.

[Science Chick]

Still, I'd love to be able to stop in on a weekend for a lunch.....

[Scruffy The Cat]

Well, I would love to be their clientele. I live a half a mile away or less and would love another option for takeout at dinnertime, which is not before 6 pm. Besides which, buying a hot seafood sandwich with a mayonnaise based sauce at 6 am to hold until lunchtime is an invitation for a nasty case of food poisoning.

[Bob Dobalina]

Meanwhile, they were closed on Saturday at 3:30

[Prav]

Well, Blumie thinks their hours make sense. Guess we don't know their clientele like they do.

I want a po' boy :(

[Science Chick]

Based on a previous post, we stopped by there on a Saturday about a month ago and were devastated to see they were closed! Sign out front said "Open", but no one to be seen. Anyone know their hours? I just posted on their Facebook. Neither their Facebook nor their webpage give any info (Killer photos of po'boys though!)
http://poboysnewton.com/

[Trumpetguy]

A sax player?! Wow! Maybe they'll need a trumpeter next ;)

[Science Chick]

what a great report....and you are a hero for getting your wife to the ICU for work!!!!

[Scruffy The Cat]

Great to hear. I wondered how it was going to be and was not encouraged by the Boar's Head sign out in front. Now it's a must-try.

[nachovegas]

That's awesome!

[chompie]

glad i stopped watching the news.. this was the best blizzard story of the nite...