New Orleans To Go

Photograph by Stacy Newgent

It could take a while,” says Randy Filson, who owns the New Orleans To Go food truck with his wife LaToya Foster-Filson. “Maybe 10, 15 minutes.” Trying to find a food truck for lunch is like waiting for the rapture. It could happen at any second, but probably not when you expect. New Orleans To Go still tries to be at the mobile food truck lot on the corner of Fifth and Race Wednesday through Friday, but sometimes they miss a day or two because the weather isn’t right or the truck has broken down. Both happened in my three-week quest for New Orleans’ Cajun food. But today I have found them, and the menu is simple. Three po’ boys: tilapia, shrimp, or buffalo chicken. (They also variously serve catfish po’ boys, jambalaya, étoufée, and gumbo.) Friends get the tilapia and buffalo chicken “dressed,” with lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, and pickles, and two helpings of homemade mustard potato salad that is better than anything I’ve had since the church potlucks of my childhood. New Orleans To Go’s po’ boys are served on baguette-style French bread that supports the heft of fried meat and condiments while remaining soft and crispy. They’re delicious no matter the filling, but it’s the shrimp po’ boy that shines thanks to a gracious baptism in honey glaze sauce. “I sell it by the bottle, because you’re going to love it,” Filson says when I order it. He’s right. Each bite is pure heaven. It may take a miracle to find them (Twitter helps), but with food this good, the faithful will wait.

New Orleans to Go
Prices: $6–$10