Cafe 615 makes a great meatball poboy in Gretna
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A meatball sandwich of poboy-like proportions at Cafe 615 in Gretna. Photo: Chelsea Brasted/Axios
A recent stop at Gretna's Cafe 615 (Home of Da Wabbit) brought me face-to-face with an age-old New Orleans food question: What makes a poboy a poboy?
Why it matters: We're on a quest to explore New Orleans' poboys, but I really wanted to try the restaurant's meatball sandwich.
Catch up quick: The journey that day started innocently enough, with reader Gary Meltz offering to meet me for lunch at the Westwego Shrimp Lot for a poboy.
- But the restaurant was closed, so we (happily) landed at Cafe 615 instead.
- The menu includes several poboy options. (My colleague Delano Massey, who was also along for the ride, tried the hot sausage.)
What I ordered: The meatball sandwich on French bread ($13), not dressed, because I can't abide mayonnaise in my red sauce. Add mozzarella, side of fries.
- The sauce has just the tiniest hint of sweetness, and the meatballs smush just so, allowing the bread to stand up to the challenge of a messy sandwich.
"But is it a poboy?" Massey wanted to know.
- I faltered in coming up with a coherent response. Others have also tried to answer this question.
- Is it the bread? The construction? The intention? The chef? The dress-able-ness? Whether or not it is improved with hot sauce?
- In the end, I'm still not sure. But I know I'll be back to Cafe 615 for another one of the whatever-you-call-its with meatballs.
💠Delano, who definitely had a poboy, has this thought bubble: It was a memorable experience. Perhaps my favorite hot sausage poboy, or maybe the first I've ever had.
Go deeper: