538 Hagan Ave.
New Orleans, LA
504-482-3047
The Parkway Bakery & Tavern is in the Mid-City section of New Orleans. It's pretty much open all of the time, except Tuesday, which is when we tried to go the last time we were in town. (I blame them for our decision to then go to the nearby park where my niece ultimately chipped her tooth causing us not to eat dinner until almost 11pm.)
The Parkway has a HUGE backyard with TONS of seating. When we arrived, we weren't quite sure what to do, so we went in the front door and wandered around a bit. A nice woman informed us that we needed to go out back and wait in line, place our order at the counter, then sit down and wait for our name to be called. Ok, easy enough.
The line was fairly huge, so I offered to stand in it while the guys played with their respective electronic devices and Bionicles. Luckily it was a nice day, so sitting outside was a treat. I liked the way they decorated the patio with ziplocks filled with water. (To keep the flies away.)
The inside is decorated with local memorabilia--softball t-shirts, mardi gras beads, old signs, etc. It has a very fun, family feel.
While in line I had plenty of time to peruse the menu. Satchel had already requested gumbo, so I didn't have to worry about him, and Jiro wanted a burger, which they had, so he was clear too. I just had to figure out what to get myself and Warren. Torn between the catfish and fried shrimp, I asked Warren (via text message) if he wanted to split a combination po'boy which had both. He agreed. When I noticed that they had something called the Parkway Surf & Turf with roast beef, fried shrimp, and roast beef gravy, I doubled checked to see if he wanted that instead. Surprisingly he said no. (And I could see the yuck face he made across the yard.) As I watched other people get their food, I was tempted to tack on an order of fries covered in cheese, chili, and/or gravy, but I resisted.
While in line (I was there for quite awhile--maybe 30 minutes), I also realized that everyone was giving fake names when they placed their order. (i.e. Benny and the Jets, Angelina Jolie, etc.) This resulted in more back and forth texts between me and Warren (and the kids by proxy) to see what our name should be.
When I finally made it to the counter, I figured the kids must be starved. I ordered a couple of bags of chips that I could have right away, and went ahead and got the drinks. back at the table with the guys I figured waiting in line was the worst part and that our food would come out pretty quick, and I was right. They called our name just as we ate the last Zapp. The kids got a good giggle when they called out Peter Griffin.
Satchel loved the homemade turkey and alligator sausage gumbo. I decided to just start calling him Mr. Gumbo.
Jiro, who had wolfed down a bag of Zapp's and most of a Barq's Root Beer was more interested in his toy than his burger & fries. The burger wasn't anything special, but it was tasty. (I had to at least taste it!) In the end, he ate about half of it and we all helped with the fries.
Our combo po'boy was HUGE. It was fresh and hot and really, really good. Obviously people line up here for a reason. It was a tad on the dry side, and I was a little bummed neither of us tried the roast beef and gravy since it was the house specialty. (They even sell just gravy po'boys!) So we'll have to do that next time.
While we were there, I made several trips to the bathroom. Once with Jiro and twice with Satchel. The bathrooms were very clean. No changing table I don't think, but I liked that the handicapped stall had its own sink.
Lots of people were there with kids and it has a great laid-back vibe. It's also close to City park which is gorgeous and has a great playground. (Watch your teeth!)
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