Salvo's Seafood

Here's my article on Salvo's Seafood that ran in the June 2011 of the West Bank Beacon.

Salvo's Seafood

Sal St. Philip was born and raised in Plaquemines Parish. For much of his life, he worked as a welder, fitter, and commercial fisherman. In the 1980’s, Sal and his wife Carolyn opened a bait and tackle shop on Barriere Road in Belle Chasse. They started serving sandwiches in the bait shop. Eventually, food became the biggest seller at the bait shop, and in 1991, Salvo’s Seafood moved to its current location at 7742 Highway 23 in Belle Chasse.

Salvo’s menu offers a variety of boiled and fried seafood as well as daily lunch specials. The daily lunches range in price from $6.95 - $8.99 and include shrimp stew or hamburger steak on Tuesdays; stuffed bell peppers or white beans & rabbit on Wednesdays; BBQ brisket or chicken on Thursdays; and, shrimp creole, shrimp alfredo, or jambalaya with fried catfish on Fridays.

Salvo’s fry cook turns out really good fried seafood – crispy outside yet juicy on the inside. The po-boys are stuffed with your choice of shrimp ($8.25), oysters ($10), catfish ($7.25), or softshell crab ($9.95). For another $1.25, you can get a seafood plate with any of the fried seafood plus a house salad, bread, and your choice of fries or potato salad. I recently enjoyed a delicious ½ shrimp and ½ oyster plate ($11.50) that was overflowing – could have been enough for two – but I ate it all! In addition to seafood sandwiches, Salvo’s also offers roast beef, BBQ chicken, pulled pork, and hot sausage, to name a few.

The side orders at Salvo’s offer something to please everyone. There are typical sides including fries, onion rings, potato salad, cole slaw, and baked beans. Salvo’s also serves up stuffed artichokes, crabmeat-stuffed jalapenos, stuffed crabs, and fried pickles.

On the lighter side, the menu includes a selection of salads including a Caesar salad ($5.95) to which you can add grilled chicken ($6.99), tuna ($7.99), shrimp $8.50), or scallops ($8.99). Salvo’s has a child’s menu with prices ranging between $2.75 - $6.50.

Salvo’s “After 5 p.m.” menu offers full dinner service with specialties and sides including sautéed potatoes, corn on the cob, French bread and a house salad – grilled catfish ($10.99); grilled tuna steak with grilled onions ($10.99); BBQ rib plate with choice of 2 sides (1/2 rack $9.99; whole rack $15.99), and jumbo butterflied shrimp ($14.99). Sal told me he’s recently introduced a selection of steaks to the dinner menu, prices include a baked potato and Caesar salad: 12-ounce ribeye ($15.99), 8-ounce flat iron ($10.99), and an 8-ounce filet ($17.99). Add 5 jumbo butterflied shrimp for a surf-n-turf combo for only $2 more.

Salvo’s is also a seafood market where you can buy an assortment of freshly-caught Louisiana seafood including shrimp, oysters and crawfish. Salvo’s boil pots are seemingly always active. As of the date of this writing, boiled crawfish were $3.15 per pound; buy 5 pounds or more for $2.99 per pound; and, 20 pounds or more, the price drops down to $2.59 per pound. I recently bought 40 pounds to feed a group of Alaskan friends in town for Jazz Fest. The crawfish were a bit hit!

Look for all-you-can-eat seafood boil and fry specials every night at Salvo’s. For example, on Friday nights Salvo’s features its $29, all-you-can-eat, boiled Seafood Extravaganza: snow crabs, dungeoness crabs, rock claws, stone claws, mussels, shrimp, blue crabs, crawfish, and 6 sides!

Need to put on a big boil for friends or clients? Salvo’s does on-site catering. They also ship seafood all over the U.S.

Salvo’s food is consistently good at a great price. Make sure to inquire about their Senior Citizen and Military discounts. The atmosphere is down-home comfortable and the staff always friendly.

Sal & Carolyn have worked hard to build and maintain their family business. Their daughter recently finished graduate school and is back working with them. I have been a big fan of Salvo’s for years. Next time you are in the mood for some good seafood, head on over to Salvo’s.

Salvo’s Seafood restaurant is located at 7742 Highway 23 at the corner of “I” Street, Belle Chasse, less than a half mile from the Belle Chasse tunnel. The hours are Tuesday - Thursday, 8 a.m. – 9 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 8 a.m. – 10 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday. The phone number is 504-393-7303. The web page is www.salvosseafood.com. Follow Salvo’s on Twitter at @salvosseafood.

Reprinted with permission of the West Bank Beacon.

Eat Fest at Jazz Fest 2011

Here's my article on eating my way through the 2011 Jazz Fest that ran in the June issue of the West Bank Beacon.

Eat Fest at Jazz Fest 2011

I went to the 2011 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Thursday, May 5^th. It was a cool, breezy, sunny day. In other words – a perfect day to be outside! With me were my sister Kathy and two friends, Kelly and Casey, from Anchorage, AK, in New Orleans for the very first time. We met up with more friends from AK at the Fair Grounds – who had their Jazz Fest cubes highlighted and apps loaded with their music schedule for the day. My mission for the day, however, was to eat and to report about it to you. I know - it’s a tough life I lead.

With marching orders from me, my group of 4 sought out these good eats at the Fest:

Cochon de Lait Po’Boy - Love at First Bite, New Orleans

Love at First Bite’s cochon de lait po'boy was mounds of juicy pork topped with just the right amount of perfectly-seasoned slaw and creole mustard. The combination of flavors and textures were perfect. The French bread was light but just sturdy enough to handle the juices without falling apart. It was hands down the best thing we ate at Jazz Fest.

Softshell Crab Po-boy - Galley Seafood Restaurant, Metairie

The Galley’s softshell crab po-boy is one of my all-time favorites out at the Fest. This year the crabs were flavorful and crispy, but a little small for the bread. Still, I enjoyed maintaining the tradition of having one of these delicacies at the Fest.

Crawfish Enchiladas - Prejean’s, Lafayette

Prejean’s in Lafayette is a Cajun institution. Their order of 2 crawfish enchiladas was filled with cheese and crawfish, more crawfish than cheese. The sauce was spicy but not overwhelming so that the flavor of the crawfish was maintained. C’est si bon!

Cuban Sandwich - Canseco’s Markets, New Orleans

I have to admit, a Cuban sandwich at Jazz Fest isn’t something I would have sought out. Lucky for me, it appealed to my AK friends. This sandwich was a combo of roasted pork and ham on French bread, pressed Panini-style. Surprisingly good. Thanks, Kelly & Casey!

Crawfish Strudel - Coffee Cottage, River Ridge

The strudel – a 5-inch phyllo dough pastry – is stuffed with crawfish in a spicy cheese sauce. Very flavorful albeit a little tough to cut the outer shell with those tiny forks dispensed at the Fest.

Beignets, Café du Monde, New Orleans

My AK friends ate their first-ever beignets at Jazz Fest. Pure deliciousness.

Trout Baquet and Crawfish Bisque – Baquet’s Li’l Dizzy Café, New Orleans

The trout baquet was a big piece of trout topped with crab meat in butter. ‘Nuff said. But while the bowl of crawfish bisque was filled with stuffed crawfish heads, the bisque itself was not very tasty – it was under-cooked tomato sauce that lacked any hint of a bisque flavor.

Crowder Peas & Collard Greens, Praline Connection, New Orleans

Kelly made sure to try some real soul food out at the Fest. The plate of crowder peas and greens was piled high and she thoroughly enjoyed the dish.

Tagine of Lamb, Jamila’s Café, New Orleans

Casey picked this dish towards the end of the day. Located on Maple Street, Jamila’s Café serves Tunisian food. The tagine of lamb is lamb stew served over basmati rice. I was too full (really) to try it but it smelled wonderful!

There you have it, friends: a chronicle of my Eat Fest at Jazz Fest. We had a wonderful time taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes of the Fest.

Reprinted with permission of the West Bank Beacon.