Mother's Restaurant has been serving the Central Business District since 1938, when Simon and Mary Landry opened it as a stop for workers and travelers near the riverfront. The format has stayed the same for decades: order at a cafeteria-style counter, then carry your tray to a table in a dining room that's part diner, part shrine to the city's own mythology.
The menu centers on New Orleans comfort food — baked ham, roast beef debris, jambalaya, red beans, and po'boys built on French bread, most famously the Ferdi Special layered with ham and debris. The baked ham in particular has been part of the restaurant's identity since it opened, marketed for years as the "World's Best."
Mother's has become a fixture on the tourist circuit as much as a neighborhood spot, drawing a steady stream of visitors alongside longtime regulars who've been ordering the same plate for years.
The menu centers on New Orleans comfort food — baked ham, roast beef debris, jambalaya, red beans, and po'boys built on French bread, most famously the Ferdi Special layered with ham and debris. The baked ham in particular has been part of the restaurant's identity since it opened, marketed for years as the "World's Best."
Mother's has become a fixture on the tourist circuit as much as a neighborhood spot, drawing a steady stream of visitors alongside longtime regulars who've been ordering the same plate for years.