Stein's Deli in New Orleans is the Magazine Street Jewish-Italian deli in the Lower Garden District, with pastrami sandwiches, San Francisco-style bagels and a long sandwich queue at lunch.
Tip: The Reuben sandwich is the cult order; the deli closes Monday and runs out of bagels by 11:00 on Sunday.
Address: 2207 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130
Pizza Delicious in New Orleans is the Bywater pizzeria on Piety Street from Greg Augarten and Michael Friedman, with New York style cheese slices and an outdoor picnic patio.
Try: New York style pizza by the slice
Tip: The cheese slice is the canonical order; weekend pasta specials come and go in a single service.
Dat Dog on Freret in New Orleans is the Freret Street specialty hot dog counter from Constantine Georges, with gator sausage, crawfish links and a vegetarian frank on bun.
Try: Specialty hot dogs and sausages
Tip: The alligator sausage and crawfish dog are the local specialties; build with crawfish etouffee on top.
Mahony's in New Orleans is Benjamin Wicks's Magazine Street po-boy shop in the Garden District, with the chicken-livers-and-coleslaw po-boy that won regional awards in the mid-2010s.
Try: Po-boys
Tip: The fried chicken livers with coleslaw po-boy is the chef's-take signature; available on the regular menu.
Killer Poboys in New Orleans is the back-of-Erin-Rose Conti Street po-boy counter, with chef-driven internationally-inspired po-boys including the seared shrimp on house-baked bread.
Try: Modern po-boy
Tip: Seared Gulf shrimp with daikon and sriracha aioli is the cult order; bring the po-boy to the bar.
Central Grocery in New Orleans is the 1906 Decatur Street Sicilian-American deli that invented the muffuletta, with the round seeded loaf and house olive salad still made on site.
Try: Muffuletta
Tip: Order a whole or a half; the olive salad needs 15 minutes to soak into the bread for the canonical bite.
Hansen's Sno-Bliz in New Orleans is the 1939 Tchoupitoulas Street snowball stand at Bordeaux, the country's oldest sno-ball stand and a 2014 James Beard America's Classics winner.
Try: Sno-balls (shaved ice)
Tip: The stand is open March to October only; cash only, and the cream-of-nectar with condensed milk is the canonical order.
