Portside Restaurant

This place definitely lived up to the reviews! Excellent food. And the service was amazing. I missed out on the seafood gumbo by one order. The man in the barstool next to me ordered the last bowl. Luckily, the shrimp and corn chowder was also delicious. Good food and food conversation with a couple of former strangers (the man with the last bowl of gumbo)!! I will definitely be coming back!

Ok, so if you’ve read any of my reviews, you know I’ve tried quite a few different seafood gumbos and well I haven’t found any that is better than my own. Until now. This gumbo is amazing! It has a unique taste and its quite tasty! I would go back to this place just for that. However, I also had the softshell crab sandwhich and it was good as well. This place is a hole in the wall and doesn’t look like much but it is amazing. I’m telling you, you will not be disappointed with the gumbo. I’m going back and when I do, I’m getting some to go!

This place is nothing short of amazing. They have great seafood gumbo, great chicken and sausage gumbo, great shrimp poboys, great burgers, and delicious shrimp scampi. Next time, I’ll try to remember to get bread pudding too!

Thanks to the others who commented on Unilocal who helped me try this place out.
What great food and staff.
The servings are huge and the taste is awesome.
The biggest drawback for the place is it is opposite of heading to New Orleans.
Nice thing is — it is only 5 miles or 15 minutes from the airport.
It is not fancy but they make you feel appreciated and welcome.

Well, I have a new stop on my eating adventure. This place is where the locals go. You’d never stop in here unless you know what’s inside. Had a cup of seafood gumbo followed by a dozen fried shrimp with French fries and cole slaw. The cup of gumbo was as big as a bowl you would get anywhere else and it was very good. The shrimp were large and fried to perfection with the typical New Orleans corn foiur breading. I will be back for other dishes.
Had a nice conversation with the owner who was very personable and really cares about the custimer.
I’ll be back.

My wife and I went to Portside because of the good reviews we saw here on Unilocal.We were driving through on the way out west. It is a «mom and pop» sort of place, and Patty — the older woman who served us – made us feel like we were adopted family members within just a few minutes.
Ann had a chicken & sausage gumbo and a shrimp Po Boy, and raved about both. I had their crawfish kickers with home-​made remoulade sauce (the kickers are ground crawfish in the shape of a hush puppy, but much tastier than they are). I also had their fried shrimp platter, with fries and cole slaw (among the best slaws I have ever had). The shrimp breading was just a little bit thicker than I like, but was VERY tasty.
The portions were very generous, the atmosphere is very plain and very friendly. You cannot go wrong eating there.

Last minute decision to eat here on the last day and hours of our trip to Nola. we went on a swamp tour and stopped in on the way back to our hotel. It’s a dark lit place on the side of the road. A true neighborhood hot spot. I ordered the shrimp po-​boy, onion rings and my wife ordered the muffaletta, oh my the onion rings are homemade and delicious, the wife proclaimed they were the best she has ever had. My po-​boy was wonderful. Now I can eat but could not finish the sandwich and the same was true with the muffaletta, HUGE portions, delicious food and the service was from the nicest people we have meet in a long time. Truely a gem and ST. Rose should be proud of this place.

Stopped by the restaurant on a road trip and had some of the best catfish and gumbo I’ve had in a while. Staff was friendly and the service was excellent.

This place is really good. It’s definitely a neighborhood ‘hole in the wall’, but worth the trip to St. Rose. The workers are very nice and the food is excellent. I had a hot sausage po-​boy. It was definitely one of the best I’ve had. They grill the hot sausage patties, which tasted like Patton’s to me. The French bread is PERFECT! Tastes like Leidenheimer to me, which is the best. Great quality lettuce, mayo, and pickles. The fries were good, but just normal fries. I observed someone else ordering one of the daily specials, which was fried pork chops and baked macaroni and cheese; which looked REALLY good. Prices are reasonable. I will definitely add them to my list of favorite po-​boy places. Those who read my reviews on Unilocal,may know that I tend to be a bit of a po-​boy connoisseur/​snob. This place impressed me a lot, and ranks up there with some of the best po-​boy places in NOLA.

I have found paradise for food! Incredible onion rings! Fried chicken is the best I’ve had in Louisiana! Huge cat fish po-​boy! Just order some stuff and split it! You will not be sorry! Actually calculated how far it is to here from my office so I can come for lunch!

Best shrimp and best gumbo I’ve ever had! Everything was amazing. Perfect onion rings, incredible shrimp, out of this world chicken and sausage gumbo, and very sweet waitress. Well worth a stop, or as a regular destination. Definitely a «hole in the wall» place but all the best ones are, right!?!

Appreciative to the other Unilocal reviewers for helping us find this spot. From the exterior, the place is nothing fancy, but the food is excellent. The onion rings may have been some of the best I’ve ever had and the PoBoy Shrimp was HUGE (I couldn’t finish mine… and I almost always clean my plate) and such an affordable price. Not from around the area, but would consider paying this place a visit next time I’m in town as it was that good.

Stopped here after visiting Destrehan Plantation (thank you Unilocal). Best fried food ever!!! Portions were unbelievable and I’m glad because we couldn’t get enough of the onion rings, friend shrimp, crawfish Fritters etc. Order everything! You must try everything!

The fried seafood Fried chicken and Hamburger are the best around! But the french fries are to die for! Never had bad service and the owner Dave is super nice!

This place is definitely a dive but amazing food and service.
I went here when we were visiting New Orleans, so this is a good distance outside of the city. I have to say that this was actually the best food I had while I was visiting NOLA — and it was outside the city!
Food: Incredible. Very flavorful. I got the seafood gumbo and onion rings. As good as it gets for Cajun cooking.
Service: Incredible. Very friendly and attentive staff.

Fantastic place that you would not expect to have such excellent food. The crawfish were nothing short of amazing! Highly recommended if you are in the area.

Hands down the BEST shrimp po-​boy I’ve ever had in my life!
This is a local joint that has changed hands a few times. Service was a little slow when we went, but they were packed and had a line. We brought a fussy toddler and no one cared, it’s busy enough I don’t think the other tables could hear her. Definitely worth the wait, the bread was fresh and the shrimp was phenomenal. I decided to leave my leftovers because we were headed out of town, but I regretted the decision. Damn good po-​boy.
Cheese fries were okay, cheddar melted over the fries. I prefer nacho cheese. Salads were lettuce with a couple of tomato slices and dressing.
My guy says the fried porkchops were good, but that the baked mac and cheese spaghetti was phenomenal. Not sure when we will be out this way again, but definitely keeping it on the list of favorites!

This place is the real deal. The PO Boys are great. Shrimp is perfectly cooked and fresh. Big portion. Dressed with just the right amount mayo lettuce and tomato. Extra shrimp come along on the plate too.
Good fries. Not special but good.
Small not fancy place. Not far from airport.

I’ve been to this place a few times now and each time is great. The typical NOLA food, which a lot of times is not as good as your favorite place. Here they make everything good, that I’ve had anyway. I’ve had fried seafood poboys and boiled crawfish, and all have been very good. It’s a hole in the wall type place with great food, who doesn’t like that?
The boiled crawfish are a definite highlight. I have never had boiled crawfish from a restaurant that were that good, usually have to wait for a family and friend boil where you can put whatever you want in. Restaurants usually don’t want to make them too spicy for tourists or people that don’t eat crawfish. Portside does it right. I didn’t want to go back to work after eating them, just relax out on their porch. I’ve had their poboys as well, most recently the catfish poboy, it was great.
The staff is very friendly, and it’s easy to blend in and feel at home. It’s a popular lunch spot for sure, and I’ll be back again, especially for crawfish season.

A small lonely shack along the Mississippi River levee with a shell driveway. Who would expect to find above average food there? Many people… it appears to be a secret among its repeat diners.
Based on one visit, return visits are in our plans.
Muffalatta was very good, a close 2^nd to the iconic Central Grocery in the Vieux Carre. Special bread with sesame seeds sprinkled on top, filled with layers of cold cuts, ham, cheese, and Italian olive salad.
Fried oysters on a hamburger bun, dressed-​with mayo, tomato and lettuce was good, satisfying. Batter was thin and lightly fried.
Coleslaw was okay for a side dish.
Wish I had ordered onion rings that other diners ordered immediately before deciding what else to order.
Weekday luncheon specials are available.
One friendly, efficient waitress serving customers and probably only one cook in the kitchen preparing food because it took awhile for our food to be served.
Four stars rather than five because of the ambience, dimly lit, bar-​like atmosphere, tables close and crowded.
An easy drive near the airport — MSY, and Destrehan Plantation in an area devoid of good restaurants.