In the heart of the Warehouse District, Luzianne Café is a neighborhood diner serving casual all-day breakfast and lunch since late 2022.
The café was opened as the personal project of company CEO William Reily. He is the fourth generation to run the grocery wholesale company since it opened in 1902. Reily envisioned the café as an extension of the Reily Foods Company.
Reily Foods Company is the name behind Luzianne Tea, French Market Coffee, CDM Coffee, Luzianne Coffee, Union Coffee, Blue Plate, and Swans Down. These essential starting ingredients are included in the comfort food recipes listed on their menu.
The tie to Reily Foods does not end with menu items, the cafe is attached to the company’s Warehouse District headquarters. As the arched doorway suggests, the space was previously used as stables in the era of horse deliveries. The two establishments share a corridor and the café fundamentally serves as a social club for Reily Foods Company staff.
The café is drenched with decor!
The tables are fabricated from old coffee pallets. Large burlap bags filled with coffee bean sacks are suspended with heavy rope from the ceiling.
Breakfast and lunch are served all day with a unique twist on classics. See the complete menu here.
The Morning Joy Biscuit Sandwich is served on a biscuit made from Swans Down flour. This flour bakes a lighter and fluffier biscuit with a crispy golden cap. As the bookends for this breakfast sandwich the biscuit holds the eggs, cheese, and bacon/sausage well.
Add a side order of hash browns for $3 to complete your breakfast.
Blue Plate Mayonnaise has been a staple at Southern gatherings since it was launched in 1927. On the lunch menu, Luzianne Café not only features Blue Plate as a condiment, but the mayo is the main ingredient in the caesar salad dressing, the classic remoulade on the hamburger, and the buttermilk dressing (for which they share the recipe) on the fried chicken sandwich.
The fried chicken sandwich is made with battered chicken thighs. It is dressed with sweet heat from Reily Tiger Sauce and house pickles and presented on a challah bun. Naturally, Blue Plate buttermilk dressing for dipping is served on the side.
All of the sauces are prepared on-site.
At Luzianne Cafe you can savor their signature coffees and teas. They have been roasting chicory blends for over 130 years. The menu of coffee drinks reads somewhat like a cocktail menu…“espresso julep” with mint syrup and “cold fashioned mocktail,” with orange bitters.
If you prefer an adult beverage, sip on a mimosa, bloody mary, screwdriver, beer, or wine.
The far corner of the café serves as a miniature market. You can pick up Reily products such as the hot sauces, Blue Plate mayo, and Luzianne ground and whole-bean coffees.
To the right of the mini market is a wall of stacked coffee cans illuminated with a neon sign…a great photo opportunity.
Five friends who met at Tulane University reunited in New Orleans after four decades!
Operations:
- 481 Girod Street
- 504-265-1972
- Wednesday to Sunday from 7 AM · 3 PM
- website
Until next time…
· izzy
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