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The home of the original New Orleans muffuletta storms past Hurricane Ida

NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— No storm could stop a New Orleans sandwich.

Not when it’s a muffuletta that’s on your mind.


And WGNO Good Morning New Orleans features reporter Bill Wood adds, not at the place famous for creating the Italian meat-lovers-meal-in-your-mouth way back in 1906.

This is a muffuletta mission.

And a machine that keeps moving with a steady supply of salami, ham, cheese, and olive salad.

And it’s coming from Central Grocery and Deli in the French Quarter.

It’s the original address that got shut down by Hurricane Ida more than a year ago.

Bill Wood says, “it was a catastrophe, your place collapsed during the hurricane.”

“It was pretty much done, we weren’t able to salvage anything really.”

That’s what Tommy Tusa, one of the owners of Central Grocery and Deli has to say.

But he had a plan.

He set up shop in a kitchen commissary.

That’s where he and his crew are making and shipping sandwiches around town.

And across the country.

They’re ready to eat for hungry fans who won’t let a hurricane cancel their Big Easy buffet.

Back in the French Quarter, Central Grocery and Deli is being rebuilt.

The plan is to re-open, sometime soon.

In the meantime, the New Orleans celebrity of a sandwich gets delivered, on time.

If you’re hungry for one, just click right here, please.

And take a bite of the mighty muffuletta.

The sandwich that is surviving and thriving after a storm.

You can find them at Sidney’s Wine Cellar next door to Central Grocery and Deli in the French Quarter.

Sidney’s is at 917 Decatur Street.

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Also at Zuppardo’s Family Market in Metairie.

And at the two locations of Acquistapace’s in Covington and Mandeville on the North Shore.