Casamento's
4330 Magazine Street (At Napoleon Ave.)
(504) 895-9761
Hours: Tues-Sun 11:30am-1:30pm, Dinner 5:30pm-9pm, Closed Mondays
CASH ONLY, no credit cards

In restaurant circles, the compliment "It's so CLEAN…" usually signals the kiss of culinary death. Joints renowned for their cleanliness are generally not feted for their food -- especially in a funk-heavy town like New Orleans. Sterility is more often a signal of safety and control rather than creativity and good flavor.

But Casamento's, a neighborhood oyster bar on the far reaches of Magazine Street, is the exception that proves this particular rule. The walls and floor of this Uptown institution are prime examples of mid-century tile work that has survived over 80 years of daily wear and tear. The ridged yellow ceramic and decorative bouquet tiles give the divided room a well-scrubbed sense of funk -- it is THAT clean -- while the front room oyster bar turns out some of the best shellfish in town.

Old Style Oyster Bar
Located in deep Uptown near the western edge of the Garden District, Casamento's is one of the old style oyster houses that favors local traffic over the tourist trade. Their fried oyster loaves and fresh-shucked platters consistently show up on critic's lists and local reader's polls, as well as in the enthusiastic recommendations of food-savvy Yats.

The preparations and menu at Casamento's couldn't be simpler. Seafood dominates the list -- oysters fried, stewed and on the half shell, trout, soft shell crabs, and fried shrimp -- along with a scattering of short order specialties including a few omelettes, standard grilled sandwiches and a sweet-sauced spaghetti served with meatballs or slices of Creole style roast beef (daube).

Po-Boy Variations
Contrary to the long-bread school of po-boys, loaves packed with flavorful shrimp and perfect oysters are served on triple-thick slabs of gooshy white bread. Eating one of these sandwiches is a whole different experience from the po-boy norm as the bread molds itself around the crunchy nuggets without contributing a crunch of its own. Different, to be sure, but well worth a try for students of New Orleans sandwich subculture.

A Few Friendly Tips

Summertime shutdown Warm weather visitors beware. Since Casamento's opened its doors before the advent of cheap refrigeration, they still follow the practice of closing down COMPLETELY during the hottest months (June, July and August). Show up hungry during the off-school months and you'll be sorely disappointed.

Daube Spaghetti Even though it's a nice local touch for non-oyster eaters, we cannot recommend the daube spaghetti. The sweet sauce is tasty enough, but the sliced beef tends to be on the tough side. If you gotta pasta, go for the meatballs.

Praise the LardNew Orleans is one of the few towns in the US where cooks proudly proclaim their adherence to an "all-lard" policy. Casamento's follows this mantra and as a result produces some of the most acclaimed fried seafood in town (and some fine french fries to boot). Damn the cholesterol, full speed ahead.

Vegan Alert The pro-lard policy rules out even the fallback french fries for the totally meatless, who will also be disappointed with the trio of salad offerings (lettuce, tomato, and lettuce & tomato).