We recently ordered a couple po boys from Olde Tyme Grocery in Lafayette, an institution in the “Saint’s street” area of town.  Well loved by locals and passers through alike, Olde Tyme is currently ranked number two in our poll for the fried shrimp po boy and the Olde Tyme Special (“OTS”) also deserves being up at the top of anyone’s list in its own right.

Luckily, the Wife (and much of the rest of my family) is amenable to planning out who is going to get what to make sure that we get a little taste of as many dishes as possible, so despite the fact that we both wanted the shrimp po boy, we decided to get one shrimp and one OTS.

The fried shrimp po boy is comprised of a pile of golden fried shrimp, a couple slices of ripe tomato, mayo and lettuce. Stuffed into fresh Langlinais bread with a pillowy interior and crackly crust, this po boy truly could be the definitive example of what this sandwich should be.

The OTS is similar to the “special” that can be found at many other shops (ham, roast beef, turkey and cheese) with Olde Tyme using Swiss as the standard.  Their version stands above many others in that each of the meats is delicious and flavorful in their own right and do not seem stuck into the sandwich just to provide a little extra protein.  Indeed, this po boy generally comes with nearly a pound of meat on each foot of delicious goodness.

Coupled with a bag of Zapp’s absolutely outstanding Sweet Potato chips or an order of Olde Tyme’s amazing fries and a couple of ice cold Cokes, this is truly the meal that Cajun daydreams are made of.

Tags: fried shrimp, Lafayette, po boy