Alberto’s Cheese & Wine Bistro

Alberto’s muffuletta’s are waaaaaay better than Central Grocery’s! Thanks to a tour guide agent, named Ronny… he directed us to this marvelous eatery! Yummy!

Watch the couple that runs this place for a few minutes and you realise that it’s really important to them that the food is good and the customers are happy. That’s the kind of place you want to buy lunch from.
Amazing caprese with perfect meaty tomatoes, good cheese, house made balsamic vinaigrette, plenty of finely cut basil, salt and pepper grinders so you can season it yourself — yeah.
The Philly is good too.
Came back the next day for more. The guy across the street will serve a draft in a go cup…

So, I’ve known about this little gem in the open air portion of the French Market for years, but I’ve only ever had their muffaletta (served warm and delicious). That is until a couple of weeks ago… I’ve branched out and tried other sandwiches and salads and holy sh*# — everything is so fresh and so good. It is clear they use only the freshest of high end meats, cheeses and breads. The Manchego cheese and Serrano ham on garlic baguette is so addictive that I promise you will order two within a week! Other big hits: the caprese (salad and sandwich versions available) the croissant sandwiches and all of the salads!
So good!

This is the best Muffuletta in the world!
Really it’s the best you will find, it changed my sandwich world view. The proprietor is warm and friendly, don’t miss this New Orleans treat.

I’ll admit, I came to Alberto’s in the French Market on Easter Sunday after discovering that Central Grocery was closed, and now I’m glad it was! I learned that the muffaletta here has thinner bread than CG, which I prefer, and whereas CG serves theirs cold, Alberto’s prepares theirs warm, which I enjoyed. It was a real treat to have this classic New Orleans dish here.
My boyfriend and I split a half sandwich, and it was plenty of food for a quick lunch before heading to Royal Street to check out the gay Easter Parade. We managed to grab seats right at the small counter, but there are also tables and chairs around the Market for public use. The service was friendly and prompt, and we we happy to grab some wine and beer to go when we moved on to our next stop on the grand NOLA tour!

I have to say I don’t really care for the muffuletta I had here. First of all, greasy as all hell. I read the comments about that and I thought it only meant the olive salad falling out as a greasy mess so I don’t mind that. The entire outside of the muffuletta itself is covered in an oil slick. I’m not sure why, to improve «toasting»? Because it really wasn’t toasted more than it was heated inadequately.
Anyways, the position of the olive salad between the meat and cheese meant that olives just drip out of the sandwich while you’re eating it– the reason why putting olive salad on the bread is superior is because the vinegar and oil gets soaked into the bread and the bread’s squishy texture holds it in like a soft pillow for the chopped olives.
Next, the bread was stale. I reckon that they didn’t purposefully serve me stale bread– the way I see it is that the WHOLE assembled sandwich is slowly warmed in an oven until the cheese is Slightly melted and served. This is bad for various reasons– this dries out the bread because of how thick the sandwich is, you can’t melt cheese until its open or do it for a long time which is no bueno. The cheese was not even that melty, so the sandwich itself was just a lukewarm greasy mess.
This is what I get for not waiting until central grocery opened! Le sigh!

Had the best muffuletta sandwich here!!! Definitely stop by and try it. They make it in ¼ sandwich or a ½. The two ladies here are so sweet. They serve beer, wine, champagne, make their own sangria and have mimosas. Definitely a check out place.

This is way better than Central Grocery. Muffuletta done right! Toasted and the bread is pressed down. Olive tapenade dressing is fresh.

Muffuletta!!! They don’t advertise it, but I got a vegetarianized muffuletta, after reading someone else’s review about getting one. I asked the lady at the counter if they could make a vegetarian muffuletta and she had to ask their chef/​sandwich-​maker guy before putting the order in.
So in lieu of the cold cuts, I got baby greens and avocado. But you know the main ingredient in what makes a sandwich a muffuletta is the olive mix. My first muffuletta (kind of, I know)!
Anyway, I went on a food history tour and the guide told us to either get muffulettas at Central Grocery (its creation origin… and especially here if you can wait on eating it since the sandwich is better later in the day after the bread has soaked up all the flavors from the olive mix) or get em at Alberto’s because they HEAT IT UP here.
Now I know what a muffuletta is. My sandwich was so. frickin. good. I became obsessed and wondered if any delis offer muffulettas on the west coast. Not many. Imagine me going crazy over a vegetarian muffuletta… then a regular meaty muffuletta must be ridiculously good. Go get yourself a muffuletta here already!!!

I saw all the good reviews and decided to go check this place out myself. I didn’t realize it was in the French Market, so when I saw it, I was a little wary. I usually prefer sitting down (indoors) and being waited on. I chose the Manchego and Serrano ham sandwich; it comes on a baguette with tomato and garlic. I opted out of the tomato because I’m picky. It was pretty delicious, but be warned it’s a lot of garlic. There are several other sandwiches I want to try, so I’ll definitely be back.

We were at the French Market checking out their goods when we got hungry and decided to have something to eat. We chose this place randomly because it looked cleaner than the others… and then their food came out…
My partners sandwich looked like a butterfly. It had been meticulously designed. My plate, similarly, came out looking like the chef had spent an hour on it. I love that this place cares about their food. They actually don’t need to care as much since this place is fluid, only tourists come here and the fact that they give a damn speaks volumes. The food is as delicious as they are beautiful. Compliments to the Chef!

We happen to walk buy and purchase some wine and second guessed and decided to sit and have the 3 cheese plate. I am happy we did cause my wife and I loved it. Does not look like much from far but it is all that and then some. Will be back tomorrow for breakfast.

Very yummy muffaletta. Took awhile to make, but meant it was fresh! Oily but packed with flavor. Only a small stand in the market, but there are table and chairs across the way.

Delicious vegetarian muffuletta. It’s a tad too oily but still fantastic.
Order at the counter. Seating either at the counter or a handful of patio tables across the way within the French Market.

The storefront has a variety of cheeses, wines and beers. The wine and needs aren’t anything eclectic, just a large assortment of what you are accustomed to. They had several Abita varieties of beer.
The muffaletta was delicious. It’s served hot with a homemade olive salad. The half sandwich is plenty.

This little gem in the Farmer’s Market section of the French Market offers just two seats at the counter and four tables across the aisle. The muffulettas are huge, and stuffed with a mild olive salad, served on excellent crunchy bread. The cheese plates – available with three or five cheeses – feature your choice of top quality cheeses, and are served with grilled bread and crackers. The spinach salad is huge, and may be one of the most healthful choices in all of the French Quarter. Service is very friendly.

Pretty reliable lunch option while out and about in the French Market. The selections are very well listed on the menu and is quite straightforward. After spending a solid couple of minutes going through the menu and seeing what the vast majority of patrons were ordering, it was a very easy decision. The MUFFALETTA!
You cannot go wrong with this sandwich. It is robust. It is filling. It has great fresh ingredients — every one of them listed in the description. And there is a reason why they sell it as a ¼ or a ½. One person gets pretty full eating the ¼ the way it is fixed and given the layers of fillings. Again — one’s appetite at a given point of time and given one’s size obviously can make the difference and hence your choices. But for an average sized lad who was pretty hungry, that ¼ of a Muffaletta DID FILL ME UP!
If shopping around in the area and in the mood for a quick bite and some people watching in the French market, this is a very good option.

Here we had the muffalato. I have never had one, or heard of such a thing. The meats, and cheeses and that green olive and oil mixture just makes for one of the most interesting sandwiches I have had the pleasure to devour. It is like a tiny flavor explosion in your mouth.
Be careful though a ½ of a sandwich is enough for 2 people.

Oh. My. God. This is the best muffaletta I have ever had in my whole life. It is amazing.
I ate here a few weeks ago when I was in town, and kept trying to write this review and could never really put what I thought into words until I had a muffaletta here in Tucson yesterday and it all made sense.
This one doesn’t put a butt load of meat on their sandwich. It’s just enough to give it the perfect flavor of the salami and ham. The cheese is perfectly melted and the tapenade. Dear heavens, the tapenade. It’s SUPER garlicy, with carrots and green olives and oil… this is what makes this sandwich the best.
The bread is delicious. It’s, like, panini’d or something, so that it’s crispy on the outside and the meat it hot and the cheese is melty and delicious… this is for sure a several-​napkin-​sandwich, by the way.
I’m legit making myself hungry typing this review. And I’m in Tucson. This isn’t fair, though it now is something I get to remember and make sure this is the first thing I eat when I get to NOLA. I can’t wait to come back and eat this awesome, helps define New Orleans food, spectacular with a Dixie beer sandwich!

Excellent muffaletta and world class ingredients. A great beer selection and a very nice way to get fresh local taste.
The staff was nice and helpful. Try to go during off times to beat the rush and real lack of organization on the part of the patrons or looky-​loos.