The best pastrami sandwich in New Orleans

Cooter Brown's, New Orleans, LA

I ran into Lyle yesterday.  He is always telling me that the best pastrami sandwich in New Orleans is at Cooter Brown's in the Riverbend.  I always ask him if they have a good reuben, and he always says, "Matthew, once you try this pastrami sandwich, you'll forget all about having a reuben."

Lyle lives in Arabi, the first neighborhood in St. Bernard Parish after New Orleans ends.  Like many people in this part of the world, Lyle doesn't own a car.  He takes the bus to work.  He says, "If I was going to get to Cooter Brown's by the bus, it would take me at least an hour and a half.  Then I would have to come back.  That's a big investment of time for a good pastrami sandwich, but I'd say it's worth it."  He always adds, "My stomach is telling me that I just might have to get out to the Riverbend soon."

The Jackson Barracks, headquarters of the Louisiana National Guard, is the boundary between New Orleans and Arabi.  Lyle couldn't have lived further on the opposite end of town from Cooter Brown's if he tried.

The Riverbend is where the St. Charles Avenue streetcar turns to follow the bend of the Mississippi and heads up South Carrolton Avenue.  Right behind where the tracks make their turn, there's Cooter Brown's.  It isn't much to look at from the outside.

Voted best beer selection in New Orleans

It isn't much to look at from the inside either unless you are a connoisseur of welcoming tap rooms.  If you are, let me assure you that the inside is beautiful to behold.  We don't go to Cooter Brown's often.  While we don't live as far removed as Lyle, when we are in Carrollton around lunch time, we usually stop on Maple Street or Oak Street.

Frau Schmitt and I were tidying up La France Suite when she asked me if I wanted to go out for lunch today.  I suggested a trip to the Riverbend.    She was suspicious.  "You don't usually like to go out of your way," Frau Schmitt said.  She was right, as she usually is, so I explained that I felt that it was time to finally follow Lyle's recommendation.  "Cooter Brown's?" Frau Schmitt said, "isn't that a dive?"

Cooter Brown

Since I do so rarely want to go out of my way, Frau Scmitt opted to trust Lyle's judgement.  After all, New Orleans is full of surprises in the most unlikely places.

We split the Owner's Special.  The menu describes it as Kosher pastrami and imported swiss cheese dressed with sauerkraut.  The menu only describes a part of this marvelous sandwich.  It comes on a toasted, over-sized sesame seed hamburger bun and, in addition to sauerkraut, it is dressed with lettuce, tomato and pickles.  If the bun was square this sandwich would be a cube bigger than Rubik's though somewhat smaller than an X-box.  Half a sandwich was enough for both of us.  The pastrami, cut thin and piled high, is as good as Lyle says.

When we were finished, Frau Schmitt said, "I could go for a whole one myself.  That was a good sandwich."

Back at La Belle Esplanade, a bed and breakfast where the hosts are enthusiastic about their city and always looking to discover some new intelligence to pass onto their guests, Frau Schmitt said, "I'll go back to Cooter Brown's instead of going to Maple Street or Oak Street for lunch.  That was a very good sandwich."

Wherever you stop on the St. Charles streetcar line, there is something to see and something to eat.  Ask two people who know.

A votre sante.