Rocky and Carlo's

613 W. St. Bernard Highway, Chalmette, LA - (504) 279-8323

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Posted By Michael Stern on 1/30/2009 3:24:00 PM

You don't hear much about Rocky and Carlo's outside of southern Louisiana, but locals know it as a culinary gem. Located out in St. Bernard Parish, where hurricane Katrina's devastation is still very much in evidence, the reborn restaurant is a spacious eating hall featuring that little-appreciated but essential confluence of local cuisine – Italian-Cajun-Dixie fare. Walk along the cafeteria line and select from a broad hot-lunch menu that includes pork chops with greens, braciola, veal parm, stuffed peppers, muffalettas, fried shrimp or oysters, and gorgeous baked chicken. The blackboard menu also lists wop salad, the locals' politically incorrect term for garlic-bathed iceberg lettuce with green olives, and many customers come for the excellent po boys and hamburgers sided by sensationally luscious fried onions.

No matter what you eat at Rocky and Carlo's, the single dish that demands attention is the inconspicuous menu listing, "macaroni." There is none better. Very different from typical mac 'n' cheese made with elbow noodles, this mountain of baked pasta is built from substantial percatelli tubes that come plastered with orange cheese – tender gobs from the the heart, chewy strips from the top, and crisp webbed bark from the casserole's edge. Some people get it topped with sweet red marinara sauce or glistening mahogany brown gravy, both of which are very good; but this world-class macaroni needs no adornment whatsoever.

Scorecard

Overall: One of the Best - Worth a Trip

Macaroni and Cheese	Po Boy
Onion Rings	Italian Salad
Seafood Gumbo

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"Rocky and Carlo's macaroni and cheese is a joy to twirl on a fork -- a fine monomaniacal meal all alone and a good companion for nearly anything else on the menu. In the background on the plate are cups with optional toppings: brown gravy and marinara sauce. Both are good; neither is necessary."
Michael Stern

"Po boys of all kinds are available from Rocky and Carlo's kitchen. This one is roast beef, saturated with gravy."
Michael Stern

"The old restaurant was under four feet of water after Hurricane Katrina. The new facility is big, bright, clean, and rumbling with the happy sounds of people eating very, very well."
Michael Stern

"I'm not sure what the modern-day requirements for ladyship are, but I do know that there were plenty of females dining at the tables along with males who may or may not have been gentlemen."
Michael Stern

"While many menus in Cajun country have changed the name of this dish to 'Italian salad,' Rocky and Carlo's continues to list it by the name its Italian makers have called it for decades: wop salad."
Michael Stern

"Anyone exploring the local foods and foodways in and around New Orleans needs to eat at this colorful and delicious outpost of local fare."
Michael Stern

"Did we mention what the most beloved specialty of the house is at Rocky and Carlo's?"
Michael Stern

"One small cup of gumbo contains a meal's worth of shrimp and crawfish, okra, rice and spice."
Michael Stern

"A single order of onion rings is probably enough for four people, especially if you are eating anything else."
Michael Stern

"A sight that makes my heart to pit-a-pat: macaroni crusted with chewy cheese from the edges of the casserole."
Michael Stern

"The waitress didn't flinch when Stephen and I ordered too much food. Ordering large -- and eating it all -- is a long-standing tradition at Rocky and Carlo's."
Michael Stern