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Po-Boy Preservation Festival winners include some surprises

By Judy Walker

November 30, 2009, 11:32AM

On Sunday, November 22, Mahoney's winning chicken liver po-boy was one of three top sandwiches that included slaw of some sort. 5,000+ New Orleanians celebrated the city’s most famous sandwich on the newly renovated Oak Street corridor.

In a press release afterwards, the festival released the winners of the judged competition for the best po-boys in seven categories.

In an unusual twist, three of the winning sandwiches included some form of slaw.

This year’s winners include:

Best in Show: Grand Isle’s Shrimp Caminada
The po-boy was named in honor of Caminada, which is a fishing town west of Grand Isle wiped out in a terrible storm on October 2, 1893. The sandwich consists of shrimp sautéed in a spicy citrus butter sauce topped with herb slaw. Grand Isle will soon be adding the sandwich to their menu.

People’s Choice: New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Co.’s Shrimp-Zilla
The sandwich consists of roast beef, fried shrimp and coleslaw.

Best Pork Po-Boy: Dong Phuong Bakery’s Vietnamese Po-Boy
The Banh Mi was quite popular with the crowds at this year’s festival. In Vietnamese, “banh mi” translates both as ‘bread’ and ‘the sandwich using that bread.’ Here in New Orleans, banh mi has become known as the ‘Vietnamese po-boy.’

Best Roast Beef Po-Boy: Gattuso’s Neighborhood Bar & Restaurant Roast Beef Po-Boy

Best Shrimp Po-Boy: Boucherie’s Barbecued Shrimp Po-boy

Best Special Seafood Po-Boy: Acme Oyster House’s Fried Oyster Po-Boy

Best Special Non-Seafood Po-Boy: Mahoney’s Po-Boy Shop’s Fried Chicken Livers & Coleslaw Po-Boy

This year’s panel of 26 judges included chef/owner Johnny Blancher of Ye Olde College Inn, who won Best of Show at the last two festivals. Other judges were Todd Price, freelancer for The Times-Picayune; Lorin Gaudin of WDSU; Camille Whitworth, report/anchor for WDSU; David Darragh, president of Reily Foods, and Robert Peyton of New O