A popular food truck is opening a Metairie restaurant. Here's an inside look at the menu. (2024)

The names of big brands along Veterans Boulevard are drilled in by national marketing. The name of a new restaurant staking out its space between them is known locally for its relentless presence in the New Orleans street food scene, and the trophy case of awards it’s won at food festivals and competitions.

The founders of Southerns food truck have opened their first permanent restaurant location.

It arrives with fried chicken sandwiches that should tempt you away from the chains, a kicking queso burger and cracklin’ that ranks among the best in this part of Louisiana (with one version that’s entire unique to Southerns). There’s also bound to be a certain pastrami boudin on the specials board soon that is worth a drive across town all on its own.

Southerns restaurant marks its grand opening this Friday at 4620 Veterans Blvd., near Clearview Parkway, after a few trial runs this week. The address was formerly home to Gogi (a Korean restaurant that relocated last year to a new address in Kenner at 2401 Veterans Blvd.). It’s a bright, roomy space built for the fast/casual counter service model, with a parking lot in back.

The opening menu has eight sandwiches, crinkle fries and soft drinks only.

It all represents a big step for a business that established itself with memorable flavors and grassroots hustle.

How it started

Founders Anthony Cruz and Gene Colley started cooking together a few years back at events and festivals with the brand Gulf Tacos. That evolved into Southerns, which fixed on fried chicken sandwiches. From one truck, it eventually grew to three trucks working events and catering gigs around the city. They have two trucks today, and these will be back at events soon at the restaurant gets rolling.

Southerns has proven a formidable contender on the New Orleans food festival scene. In 2019, its chicken sandwich won top honors at the National Fried Chicken Festival in New Orleans. Last fall, Southerns cleaned up at the Oak Street Po-boy Festival with four awards, including "best of the fest," best shrimp, best pork and best specialty po-boy.

Awards from these events are all around the walls at the new restaurant. They’re more than décor; they’re reminders of what’s helped propel Southerns through the demanding route of building a business on pop-ups.

“It seemed like whenever we were exhausted and feeling defeated, an award would come along and that would pick us back up,” said Colley.

On the menu

There’s no lack of fried chicken sandwiches out there, as the drive-through lines at the big brands speak to their popularity. Southerns’ versions have always stood apart, with juicy chicken thighs, a bold embrace of spice and an evolving array of sauces (like the yuzu aioli on the original sandwich or smoked tomato aioli as a newer option).

Southerns has developed a growing playbook of specials, and with the greatly expanded capacity of a new restaurant some of these have a permanent place on the menu.

That includes the sweet prince sandwich, with a Korean-inspired sweet heat brushed into its fried crannies and garlic chile woven into the creamy slaw topping.

There’s a pair of burgers, thicker and meatier than smashburgers, made with a blend of chuck, short rib and brisket. For the queso burger, a pool of gooey cheese is corralled by onion rings on top of the patty; as you eat, the queso floods into the bite like a filling.

The fish sandwich has a puffy beer batter, and the menu has chicken tenders if you prefer white meat to thighs.

Having a restaurant kitchen also makes some of the more painstaking Southerns specials easier to field on a regular basis. So look for pastrami boudin among them, a link that snaps with smoky, peppery beef. Oxtails and pastrami sandwiches are more labors of love bound for more appearances here.

Cracklin’ and catering

Cracklin’ is another Southerns standout now on the regular menu. These are proper, with an audible crack to their bite over meaty wonks that burst with fatty flavor. There’s also an adobo version, with a garlic-soy flavor and a crust of peanuts, which blends elements from Cruz’s Filipino heritage, another of the subtle Asian touches augmenting the menu.

Southerns also specializes in corporate catering, from the trucks of by pick-up or delivery from the restaurant.

Southerns is the latest food truck to make the leap to restaurant. More are on the way. La Cocinita will serve its Latin American street food from a new restaurant Uptown at 4920 Prytania St. (a former Parran's Po-boys location), with an opening now slated for September.

And Bonafried, another truck specializing in fried chicken sandwiches, is opening a location in New Orleans at 3101 Grand Route St. John, right along Esplanade Avenue. This project will transform a former laundry and has an anticipated opening date next spring.

Southerns food truck serves at a variety of locations; see updates on Instagram @southernsfood.

Southerns

4620 Veterans Blvd., 504-345-2097

Daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

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