Sandwiches. Seafood. Neighborhood Cafe.
Mandeville: 2625 Florida. 985-231-7314. Map.
Lunch and dinner Monday and Wednesday-Saturday. (Closes at 2 p.m. Tuesday.)
Very Casual.
DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
This may sound crazy, but it could be that the median deliciousness of roast beef poor boys is higher on the North Shore than in the South Shore. I offer as one bit of evidence the sandwiches at Vig Roux, a well-hidden poor boy shop in Mandeville. They turn out the basics very well, but their menu goes unexpected far beyond to include items as varied as fried frog legs, Cuban sandwiches, and flounder meuniere. And it's all good.
WHY IT'S GOOD
This is a well-equipped, make-from-scratch kitchen. They use it for all it's worth, turning out dishes that most poor boy shops of this size wouldn't consider. Even the fries are fresh-cut, and the quality of the seafood is much higher than you find at these prices. The sandwiches and platters are cooked to order and served nice and hot, if in a minimal service style.
BACKSTORY
Brothers Jeremy and Bryan Vigreux (sic) worked in a number of restaurants around the North Shore, including some of the more ambitious ones, before opening Vig Roux Po-Boys in 2009. (Jeremy came out of the Delgado Culinary program, in fact.) They took over the former Darryl's Deli, which in its few years established the location as a great source of roast beef poor boys.
DINING ROOM
Vig Roux is back in a corner of a small red-brick strip mall near the junctions of Florida Street, East Causeway Approach, and The Part Of US 190 That Needs A Name But Doesn't Have One. It's a little hard to see from the street. The first thing you register inside is an unambiguous passion for the New Orleans Saints, whose colors and memorabilia can be seen at every point in the compass. The room is bright and clean. You order at the counter and they bring it out to you.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Hand-cut fries
Fried green tomatoes
Fried pickles
Hushpuppies
Frog legs
Caesar salad
Blackened gold salad (with blackened shrimp and remoulade)
Chicken-andouille gumbo
Split pea and ham soup
Poor boy sandwiches:
Roast beef
Ham, cold or grilled
Turkey
Blackened redfish
Fried shrimp, catfish, oyster, or soft-shell crab
Hot sausage
Hamburger
Cuban sandwich
Fried green tomato and grilled shrimp
Fried potato poor boy
Barbecue pork
Fried seafood platters
Daily plate specials, especially red beans on Monday
Fried chicken platter
Alligator, crawfish, shrimp, or chicken etouffee
FOR BEST RESULTS
If you want the daily special, don't wait until two in the afternoon to get it, because it may be sold out. The fried seafood is better than in many seafood restaurants.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Poor boys that seem to have one or more too many ingredients are iffy. The frog legs are intriguing but just okay. I wish they'd serve their sandwiches on plates instead of in paper-lined plastic baskets.
FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.
- Dining Environment
- Consistency +1
- Service
- Value +2
- Attitude +1
- Wine and Bar
- Hipness
- Local Color
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Open Monday lunch and dinner
- Dinner ends early (8 p.m.)
- Open all afternoon
- Quick, good meal
- Good for children
- Easy, nearby parking
- No reservations
This review was updated with new information on 6/28/2010.
A list of over 350 full, current reviews is here.