Central Grocery & Deli

Central Grocery is a single-counter Italian deli on Decatur Street that has been making the same sandwich since 1906 — and that sandwich, the muffuletta, is one of the foundational foods of New Orleans. Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant, invented it as a meal for the Italian dockworkers and farmers who gathered at the French Market, and the recipe hasn't changed because it doesn't need to.

The muffuletta is built on a round sesame-seed bread about 10 inches across, layered with Genoa salami, ham, mortadella, Swiss cheese, provolone, and — the ingredient that makes it a muffuletta rather than just a big Italian sandwich — olive salad. The olive salad is a chopped relish of green olives, black olives, celery, cauliflower, carrots, and capers marinated in olive oil with garlic and herbs, and it soaks into the bread overnight in a way that transforms the entire sandwich. A whole muffuletta feeds two people easily, and Central Grocery will sell you a half.

The deli itself is tiny — a narrow room lined with shelves of imported Italian goods, with a single counter where the sandwiches are assembled and wrapped. There's nowhere to sit inside, so most people take their muffuletta to Jackson Square or the levee along the river. The line can stretch down the block, particularly on weekends, but it moves quickly because the sandwich is pre-made — you're waiting for a space at the counter, not for cooking. Central Grocery was damaged during Hurricane Katrina and took years to reopen, and the outpouring of support from New Orleanians during the closure confirmed what everyone already knew: the muffuletta is not just a sandwich but a civic institution.