Rampart Food Store

Great shrimp po’boy. Lots of other options, American and Asian. Über waited for us outside and then took us to Jackson Square to enjoy. Cool NOLA experience.

Dive grocery store for the BEST shrimp po-​boy ! It’s not even on the board above the kitchen, but we were told that it’s the best in NOLA, and it didn’t disappoint Great bread; huge, abundant shrimp, mayo on both sides, and lettuce and tomatoes.
A bit far out, but worth the trip!

Best. Po. Boy. Ever. A great dive. Worth the search.
Cash only.
Eat outside curbside.
It’s the Orange place. Nobody knows it by anything else.

The «orange place» is great get yourself the shrimp po boy, I got it with hot sauce and never regretted it, take note of the banksy when you walk out as well.

I PAID $ 16 BUT THREW $ 9 OF IT AWAY. Yes, the shrimp po’boy here is both markedly delicious and cheap ($ 6.99 for a 12-​inch) but quality at Rampart goes no further. The fries are limp as if steamed. The burger is institutional, mostly a stale bun drenched in condiments and its jacked-​up patty is only ¹⁄₁₆^th of an inch thick (see photo). But where Rampart really fails is its petri-​fried «terrya» wings, they’re inedible, essentially just skin with bones.
QUEUED AT 3:28 PM, FINALLY GOT FOOD AT 4:12 PM.
SURLY EMPLOYEES.
CASH ONLY.
WAY BETTER NEARBY TAKE-​OUT OPTIONS…
Shrimp Po’boy: Melba’s, Verti Marte
Wings: Vieux Carré Pizza, Manchu, Wing Snack
Fries: Quarter Grocery
Cheeseburger: Nellie Deli, Buffa’s
NB: «dressed» here includes mustard, even on the shrimp po’boy, WTF???

My friend who lives in the Marigny took me here for my first Po’ Boy. I don’t have much to compare it with, but I will say that it was delicious. Apparently the secret is their fresh, homemade French bread, which was flaky yet supple. The catfish was fried perfectly. No complaints! And only seven bucks!

It’s good, but the key is calling first. You’ll wait a bit if you order there. Best sandwiches are hot sausage and shrimp

The food here is great and cheap. You can leave with one of the best shrimp po’ boys in the city and a tall boy for less than $ 8.
Pros: Awesome, cheap food. Also try out the 8 pc teriyaki wings + fried rice or fries for $ 5.
Cons: The convenience store portion of this place is terrible, but they do have beer which solves all problems.
Misc: There’s a Banksy across the street.

Don’t let the homeless guy outside scare you; he’s only sleeping. But seriously, venture into the back of the store and you’ll get the best poboys ever. These are reasonably priced as well. And if you order the fries, you’ll get a TON of FRESH, tasty fries on the cheap.

Located two blocks from Esplanade, this place is the epitome of urban corner store.
PROS:
— Chinese food that is decent
— An impressive assortment of chips… I think they actually have over 50 brands… I lost count
CONS:
— Super sketchy neighborhood
— Surly counter help with BAD attitudes
— There is always something sticky on the floor, every single time I go there
— They had a stabbing in the store once and it took them four days… FOUR DAYS to get all the blood off the floor
Yeah, I’ll totally be back, like that abusive relationship you should get out of — they call them convenience stores for a reason.

This store is the Best in the Business. With Great Food and Great Workers.

we were recommended this place by the locals, and I can understand why. It’s freaking delicious! everything was perfect!!! seriously!!! their freaking shrimp po boy was seriously the business!!! oh, and they are a vietnamese family too, so they serve asian food. I don’t know if I would order it because it doesn’t seem like that is the type of food that they known for, so I’ll stick to my fried southern po boy’s!
cost: $ 6.00 buck! uhm, yes please!!! this place is the legit place, and if this is where the locals go, I am game!!! 12″ of deliciousness in my mouth!!!
God, I am so in love with new orleans! it’s so fraking amazing!
Warning: you can get lost finding this place, and I would recommend you to find a place to eat it. there is no table service, it’s a freaking mini market with bars on the windows and it’s in a «bad» neighborhood. From what the locals say. so get ready to eat it on the curb side like what we did. it was so worth it though. so bomb! loves it!
you’re welcome tourists!

Having recently moved into a place a couple of blocks from the Rampart Food Store, it was just a matter of time before my culinary curiosity kicked in. My first time in, I was greeted by a row of dusty seasonings, vegetable oils, and a very cute small child who turned around, saw me, and exclaimed, «WHOOAA!» and smiled really big. I guess he wasn’t used to seeing ghostly pale guys with long black hair, but I though it was cute. A quick perusal of the store and its merchandise made me think this was the NOLA equivalent of the bodega from «Half Baked.» Then I remembered why I came in. Oh yeah, food. I ordered a couple of burgers, took them home, ate them, and thought, «Wow. That kinda sucked, but for $ 3 a piece, not too terrible.» But while I was waiting for the food to cook, I noticed a NY Times article on the wall that recommended the shrimp po-​boy. Mental note: taken. Diana C. already linked the article, so I don’t have to.
So, I returned a few days later to try this po-​boy. After all, there’s no excuse for the NY Times to know more about po-​boys in my ‘hood than I do. This settled the debate regarding who makes the best po-​boys: Italians or Cajuns. Turns out it’s Asians. My love of Cajun Seafood on Claiborne already informed me that Asians boil some mean crawfish, but po-​boys too? Casians, maybe, or is that wishful thinking from my partly Cajun self? That shrimp po-​boy has been described ad nauseum in the other reviews, so I’ll just mention how exciting it is to have such a great sammich a couple of blocks from my pad for only $ 6. This trip was even more amusing. The store was mostly dark. Some guy came in and asked why the lights were off, and the cashier said in broken English, «It save money.»
The customer, apparently a regular visitor, asked, «Didn’t pay the light bill? You know they cut ‘em off when you don’t pay the bill.»
«No. Power no off. See? Cooler on. We just save money.» That’s awesome.
But wait! There’s more! There was also a young woman wandering around the whole time I was waiting trying to buy as much as she could for as little as possible. She went to the order window and selected which piece of chicken she wanted, bought it, and continued to shop and inquire about prices at the top of her voice. She pointed to an Ohana soda and asked how much it was.
«79 cents,» I said less to be helpful than to be snarky. The price is printed in large print near the top of the can.
She repeated the question until the cashier replied, «82 cent.»
«He said 79 cent. I like his price better.»
Now thoroughly amused, I remarked that I didn’t include sales tax. HAHA. I love this place. Once again, this place is cash only. What does this city have against plastic anyway?

I thought I would attempt to start writing reviews of the deli’s that I’ve come to like and dislike during my time in New Orleans. And since this was my first (circa ’03), I will start here.
This place, like others have stated, makes one of the best shrimp po-​boys in town. It’s different from any other place. They use what I believe to be more of an asian prawn shrimp, with batter to match (not an expert though, could be wrong). The price has gone up since I first came– I think it was $ 4.59 for a 12″. But it’s still cheaper than a lot of places.
One thing I would like to add is that this place is just a great place to experience old fashioned new orleans «ghetto-​ness» in authentic form :) This is not to detract from it. It’s just something to experience.
4 stars.

All ya need is 5 words: Best. Shrimp. Po’Boy. In. Town.

We stayed a block away at a B’n’B and had a short period of time to get lunch before leaving town and decided a po-​boy was it. We checked out Unilocal to find the nearest place and saw the great suggestions for the shrimp po-​boy here and they were completely right. For about $ 10 we got their regular size shrimp po-​boy and a regular size of their chicken Yakka-​mein. And we were not disappointed. The shrimp was fantastic. Extra crispy, very large, super-​tasty and fresh. The Yakka-​mein was packed full of cauliflower, broccoli, green onion, hard-​boiled egg, tender dark chicken pieces, and ramen noodles. This is the dish you want if you need something warm on a cold day.

Located in the back of a bare convenience store, this is the best po-​boy I have had so far in NOLA.
Excellent shrimp po-​boy. Huge sandwich (about a foot long) with huge shrimp to match. About 10 or 11 stacked three high. Super fresh… hand battered and fried while you wait. Dressed with mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle, and hot sauce. Solid roll.
Sandwich and a 24 oz High Life for under $ 8. Walked to Esplanade and ate in the middle of the street under a tree.
As another review mentioned, you can’t eat in the store. And you wouldn’t want to. On the day I visited, it was about 90 degree outside and probably about 110 degrees inside. Waiting was the hardest part… was dripping sweat. I don’t know how they stand it all day in there, but thank god they do… I will be back.

I am the luckiest lady in the WORLD because my family lives around the block from this corner store, and we can stroll on over, get jumbo, panko-​breaded shrimp piled on French bread (a HUGE sammich for just $ 5.99 – try to get THAT price in the FQ) and then walk back and lounge in the courtyard at the house.
For the less fortunate, you won’t mind curb-​sittin’ for these sandwiches. The people watching is amazing here too… like Vice Magazine’s «Do» list a million times over.
CASH ONLY!!!
I used a lot of all-​caps in this review. It is that good of a place.

Best. Shrimp. Po’boy. Ever.
I will be the first to admit that our 4-​day trip to New Orleans centered around food. We’d been off the plane for about 45 minutes, and we’d already shared a muffaletta and an order of beignets from Café du Monde. We’re foodies (though I hate the term).
That’s why I was glad to have read about this place in the New York Times 36 Hours column (
). Rampart is basically a convenience store, and in a part of town where we never would have «stumbled» upon it, or even known to go in if we had. But boy are we glad we did.
We ordered one shrimp sandwich, and watched with delight as she stacked on a giant gorgeous French roll:
–mayonnaise
–shredded lettuce
–tomatoes
then, the magic started happening. She proceeded to start stacking what I feel are JUMBO shrimp onto the sandwich, so big in fact that only 4 fit on this easily footlong roll when stacked across.
I was briefly disappointed when I thought she was stopping at 4 shrimp…
THEN
4 more shrimp (8!)
THEN!
3 more staggered across on top of *those*.
OMG.
That’s right; nearly a dozen shrimp on this sandwich. She then closed the top bread «lid» onto the sandwich, gave it a good press down, cut it in half, and wrapped it beautifully.
We made our way to Frenchmen Street, yum-​yumming all the way.

Rampart street food store is one of those places known simply as the «orange place» by locals including Sylvester Francis, of the Blackstreet Cultural museum. They serve the best shrimp po boys we had in New Orleans.
Lemme warn you, its not a restaurant by any means. It’s a convenience store. Step in, and you’ll be greeted with your basic necessities: vegetable oil, candy bars, and a row of refrigeration units stock full of beer.
Walk to the back and you’ll find a window into a kitchen. It may be difficult to navigate through the menu. Don’t stray to the lo mein side of the menu, stick with the sandwiches and you’ll find the shrimp sandwich right above the oyster sandwich that’s been crossed out with a sharpie.
The day we were in New Orleans, it was raining cats and dogs. While we planned to go back to the hotel to consume our sandwiches (you’re not allowed to eat there), we couldn’t. Finding shelter from the rain under the balcony of an apartment complex, we scarfed down the sandwiches.