Galley Seafood Soft Shell Crab at New Orleans Jazz Fest
50 years ago Dennis and Vicky Patania began serving soft-shell crab po-boys at Jazz Fest in New Orleans.
They were two kids with a dream
In 1977 a ticket would run you a meager two bucks. Adjusted for inflation that same ticket should cost you about $11 today.
We all know that ain’t happening.
A soft shell crab po boy in that halcyon era would run you a buck fifty. Oh, and Lightnin’ Hopkins was on the main stage in ’77 to keep you entertained.
Earlier this week I paid $24 for my po boy and it was worth every penny. Lightnin’s been graveyard dead since ’82 but the Patanias are still going strong.
Hell, they even opened their own little seafood joint in Old Metairie some 30 odd years ago. The Galley is a mainstay in Jefferson Parish and a good place to get your Jazz Fest food fix in if you’re out there in the hinterlands.
I wonder how many thousand of po boys they sell at the festival every year? Several thousand a day, everyday, for eight days?
The Patanias are good people making good money and keeping fried crustaceans main-lining through the veins of this ol’ po boy eating roughneck year after year.
How many other vendors can claim a half-century of selling up in Gentilly in the spring time?
Galley Seafood Soft Shell Crab at New Orleans Jazz Fest