Nor Joe Importing Co.

I came here specifically to find 00 flour as it’s one of the few places I found that carry it in Louisiana, but of course I couldn’t leave without trying one of their renowned muffalettas. Living in Lafayette, I opted for a cold one as I was taking it home and having it later that night.
That night I ate it cold right out of the wrapping and ranked it as ‘almost’ the best muffaletta I ever had. The meat, piled high with ham, three types of cheese, mortadella, Genoa salami and even prosciutto (!), was super-​fresh and of exceptional quality. The olive salad was just right too, not overly oily and with just the right amount of garlic. The only thing which was a bit lacking was the bread, which I found to be a little bit of a let-​down compared to the rest of the sandwich which was superb. It wasn’t terrible, but it certainly detracted from the overall taste.
The next day I decided to put a quarter of it in the oven wrapped in foil for a bit to see if the bread would be better. It worked like a charm and crisped it up just a bit. NOW it was the best muffaletta I ever had! (Sorry Central.)
So make sure you either get a hot one there, or if you are taking it to go, pop it in the oven before you eat it.

Loved this place! Great muffaletta, great selection of Italian products, very reasonable prices. One minor complaint: big pieces of bay leaf in the olive salad.

I went to this place on a Monday, I just happen to go there because radosta’s was closed and I told the «true Italian» lady in the store. One of the customers yells out «oh that’s too bad, you just missed him by a few minutes!!!»
Well I’m not in the radosta’s fan club – so it didn’t make much sense at the time. But then again, why would the owner of radosta’s be in nor-​joe imports. This young girl said «he usually comes here once or twice a month for muffulettas…»
Then I thought about the last time in radosta’s, there were a bunch of pre-​made muffs, and I remember him saying «would you like me to warm that up for you, it will only take a minute…»
This authentic Italian guy buys from nor-​joe adds a few $$$ to the price, and sells them as his own… I mean anybody can make a muffuletta, but like blackwater – it’s so much easier to sub out the hard parts. He took a page right of the bush playbook.
I know old Italian women that would make pans of meatballs, and sell them to restaurants.

If you are from Metry and you haven’t been to Nor-​Joe imports whatcha waiting for?
If you like Muffalettas and you haven’t been to Nor-​Joe imports whatcha waiting for?
It’s mainly a grocery of sorts with all sorts of imported cheese and meets that they will sell you by the block etc but they also operate as a Deli. I cant recall if they serve anything else other than Muffaletta’s but who cares? This is the go to place for Muffs.
I get mine toasted and have been going here for 5 years or so. The sandwich is pretty generously prepared with ample meats and cheese but I order mine with extra meat.
its great.
I DO confess to never having gone to Central Grocery to get one there so I cant make the comparison. Actually I always try when they are closed, but, meh… who cares, I can get the best Muffaletta on the planet out in Metry. so…no need to fight the Quarta’ dawlin’!.
The only complaint I have was when I ate outside on this glorious day for my first time ever at this place… the chairs are nailed down. I didnt realize things were that bad in Old Metry? Who knew? But at least the Muff was OUTSTANDING as always.
So why are you not eating a Muffaletta yet?

Over the weekend I went to a wedding and muffulettas were served. I hadn’t had a muffuletta in a while, and a while meaning almost a year, so inadvertently my muffuletta appetite was suddenly awakened and I needed more! I searched muffulettas in Metairie and came across Nor-​Joe Imports, which according to Anthony Bourdain makes a pretty stellar muff; I had to give it a try.
The sandwich can come either hot or cold, and I decided to go with the hot one. It was made to order and put into a large brick oven to heat up. While my muff was baking I wandered the store to check everything out. They have a pretty good cheese selection with good prices, but I was underwhelmed by the dried pasta available and thought they would have more options and more specialty products.
The muffuletta was really meaty, with a lot of mortadella and some proscuitto and salami. While I liked the fact that it came with a lot of meat and cheese, I feel like the mortadella completely overpowered the salami and proscuitto. Since it was a hot muffuletta, the cheese stuck to the butcher paper and I had to peel of the melted cheese since it had a small layer of paper attached. There wasn’t much of the olive salad, and it was extremely oily, which would have been fine if they put the olive layer close to the bread, but instead they sandwiched it between the meats, meaning no olive oil to soak into the bread which I consider an absolute muffuletta must! I ate half of my muffuletta half for lunch and wrapped the other half back up and put it in the fridge to have for dinner and enjoy cold. It was even worse cold as the bread was no longer warm and toasty and just dense and flavorless surrounded by mounds and mounds of mortadella. I wanted to finish my cold muffuletta open-​face since there was so much bread to get through. I was not impressed by their muffuletta, even though it had potential with the quality meat and olives, the sandwich as a whole did not work together.

I love this place and am always amazed when I mention it to someone and they say «never heard of it.» It is admittedly off the beaten path on the street that runs parallel to the RR tracks that cross Metairie Road. It’s basically behind the Metry Café. If the only impression you leave with is your first impression, you will have fond mempories of the place. It smells awesome, like cured meats and aged cheese. The aroma literally smacks you in the face as soon as you open the door. Then you start looking around and see whence the aroma comes – prosciutto and cheeses hanging around a case of more cheeses highlighted by huge rounds of parmesans; a deli stacked with all sorts of cured meats; jars of olives; homemade cookies and candy like licorice and candy coated almonds. You can buy freshly sliced meats and cheeses or pick some up from the case already cut. There are jars of tomato sauce, bottles and cans of olive oil, fresh and frozen sections of prepared foods such as homemade raviolis etc. And it’s all good.
They also make one of the best muffalettas in town stacked high with their freshly sliced ham and salami and topped with the best olive salad in New Orleans. The only deficiency in the muff is the bread, not the best in town which is a shame because the the the meat, cheese and olive salad on the inside deserve a better outside. And by the way, if you ask to order a sandwich, the girl in the deli will say, «I hope you want a muffaletta because it’s all we make.»
Nor Joes is worth a special trip to Old Metaire.

I have been here a couple of times and decided to take a ride on the scooter and get one of their wonderfull mufalattas. Got there around 3:00 pm and the lady in the deli looked like she was very busy. So I browsed around the store for a few minutes. Then began to look at the menu overhead. After a few minutes I asked for a little joe I think is the name of the small mufalatta. Then she told me she was closed! I said I thought yall closed at 6pm. She said yes but I have this big order to get out and I am by myself, so the deli is closed. I asked her if she knew of anywhere else in the area I could get a mufallata. Of course she said no. Comon, How long does it take to make a freakin mufallata? She had about 50 buns laid out to do what she was doing. I assume it was a catering order because there was no one else there. Not a big loss to Nor-​Joe because I live in New Orleans and only go there when I have buisness in the area.

This review is strictly on their Muffaletta and nothing more. I’ve heard really good things about this place so I decided to give it a try. I like my Muff cold and that’s how I ordered it. Here is a break down:
Bread: This is the main reason this Muff only gets a 3. The bread was really doughy and dense. Maybe they were having a bad bread day? Surely it’s probably better when it’s toasted.
Meats and Cheese: They pile the shit on!!! There is a lot and I mean a lot of meat on this Muff. Almost too much if that is possible. It’s very good quality. You can tell this shit is not Oscar Mayer.
Olive Oil: Great quality, but the Muff was wayyyyy too oily. They double wrapped it in butcher’s paper and it made both pieces translucent. Then it was placed in a clear plastic bag to save anything it touched from a permanent oil slick.
Olive Salad: Really good!!! NO complaints on this at all. There was just enough on the Muff to where it did not overpower the rest of the ingredients.
I’ll probably give this place another try, but next time I’ll order it hot. Maybe this will make the bread a better fit for all of the great ingredients that they put on this Muff. So far Central Grocery is still my favorite cold Muff. I will definitely update my review if the next Muff is better, the same or worse.

If you haven’t eaten a muff from here, stop
what you are doing and head there right now! This is the best hot muffaletta I have ever eaten. It was delicious! There was enough meat to feed a school bus full of kindergartners. If quantity does not tickle your fancy, let’s move on to taste. Oooooh weeee! The meat was so fresh (all 50 slices… if they threw in a old piece I could not tell). The oil was perfect –very light and the olive salad was to die for. I could seriously go in and order just a bowl of the olive salad.
The muff is made to order and you have the option of purchasing a whole or half. They also offer mini muff trays. This is a deli and convenience store. The only seating is outside. On a warm summer day, I am sure you will be as hot as a muff if you sit outside to eat. As for me and my sandwich, I took it to go and traveled about 20 minutes. And guess what!!! My sandwich was still hot when I made it. Even though it pained me, I shared the sandwich and saved some of it for the following day. It was just as tasty.
The store also offers a plethora of Italian goods. I was very tempted to buy the frozen butternut squash ravioli. There were quite a few frozen goods, including marinara sauce. Perfect for those who want Italian without all the work of preparing it from scratch.
Stop in and fall in love.
P. S. Do not ordered a cold muffaletta and expect the bread to be toasted.

I’m a local and just had a Nor-Joe’s muffaletta for the first time, recommended by a friend. Wow! Loved it, just as good as Central Grocery and I didn’t have to fight traffic in the Quarter. My husband and I split a half muffaletta and we still had leftovers. very large, could have used a bit more olive mix but you can probably ask for extra. Additionally we shopped from their market while waiting and got a good supply of imported olive oil, cheeses, San Marzano tomatoes and pasta. We grabbed a bottle of mineral water and enjoyed our lunch on their outdoor deck out in front. These mom-​n-​pop groceries are a dying breed but deserve much attention and business.

Great Italian deli. The store is full of delicious treats. Central Grocery may have invented the muffaletta but Nor Joe damn sure perfected it! Unlike Central, they pile on the meat and cheese and it is top shelf quality! Grab your muff and an Italian beer and enjoy your meal on the patio.

First let me say that I have been to Nor-Joe’s several times. It is always my go to place for great Italian products. I wanted to get some San Marzano tomatoes so I headed over on my lunch hour. I decided I’d get a muffaletta for lunch too. How could I go wrong! Well, it was very wrong. The had the tomatoes I was looking for but I may never get a muff from them again. The meat tasted old, not rancid or sour, just old. If, and it’s a big if, I go back and the muff’s are better I’ll amend my review, but for now, I can get a better muff else where.

This place is widely known as where the locals go for muffalottas. Tourists hit Central Grocery, those in-​the-​know hit Nor-Jo’s. The staff is typically friendly and attentive. Don’t expect much variety or super-​service in the deli though — they have a limited menu and pretty-​much expect everyone to order a Muff. If you’re looking for some exotic Italian products like high-​quality olive oil, imported pasta, balsamic vinegars or truffle oil, this is a good source.

Wow, first time here and I’m wondering… WHY! Man what a wonderful Italian store packed with heavenly goodness. Went in for a Muff and there was no line, people were great and very helpful and these are made to order then roasted so it is hot, melted and great! Grab a cold one and sit outside an enjoy. Got to bring the wife back to stock up on some of these Italian goodies!

Great little spot in Old Metairie. Huge, freshly made muff for $ 14, could easily feed three people.
Our car had GPS, so Nor-​Joe was very easy to find but even w/​o GPS it would not have been too tough. From I-​10 you take Bonnabel Blvd to Metairie Rd, take that to Old Metairie Village, and it’s right next to the railroad tracks. Bada bing, bada boom, you’ve got the best muff in NO.
The lady who waited on me was not the friendliest and wouldn’t let me use the bathroom, so I’m docking them one star for that.

I am thoroughly impressed with this little grocery. It is not big but it is PACKED with deliciousness! If you are looking for any hard-​to-​find Italian items this is the place to go. It is the only place I have found 00 flour. It’s a little hidden, so google-​map it before you go.

Just an F’ing Classic. The variety you can find within this store is amazing… Italian variety that is.
I love the ravioli and the vodka sauce, but everything is really good. I have heard nothing but good stuff about their muff.
The employees are really nice and the store is jam packed with all sorts of different Italian products. I wish they had a better selection of limoncello, but oh well!
YUM!

I can’t believe I’m the first to review Nor-​Joe. 91 reviews for Central Grocery and I’m the first for Nor-​Joe. Amazing. I guess it’s proof that most Unilocalers writing about NOLA are out-​of-​towners and tourists.
I do love me some Central Grocery, but I really love me a muff from Nor-​Joe. The muffs are bigger and tastier. There is no line and they are made fresh to order. I love getting a muff and a cold beer and sitting on their outdoor patio.