I love everything about the Napoleon House – from the crumbling walls covered in portraits of Napoleon, copper topped tables by the street, curmudgeonly service and the ever-present opera music. The Napoleon House is my essential NOLA bar and lunch destination.
Originally built as a home in 1815 for the Mayor of New Orleans, Nicholas Girod, the home was offered in 1821 to Napoleon during his 6-year exile on St. Helena. Unfortunately, Napoleon died before gaining knowledge of the gift. Local legend tells us that the pirate Jean Lafayette was under sail to rescue the former ruler of France when Napoleon succumbed to long-term arsenic poisoning at the hands of his British jailer, Hudson Lowe.
The building has since been known simply as The Napoleon House. The Impastato family acquired the building in 1914 and in 2015 sold the establishment to Ralph Brennan – the owner of Brennan’s and other classic establishments.
The Napoleon Houses’ muffuletta is served warm on a loaf of round Italian bread piled high with ham, genoa salami, pastrami, swiss and provolone cheese and housemade Italian olive salad.
My regular order is a half a muff with a side of jambalaya – washed down with a Pimms Cup.
How you order defines your NOLA Knowledge™. Muffs are usually cut into quarters and ordered either whole, half or as a single quarter. Unlike the po-boy, there are no condiment options – you can’t order it ‘dressed’.Ordering a muffuletta is easy – just say, ‘Gimme a ½ a muff’.
Go for lunch –but better yet, drop by after the lunch crowd has departed and linger here at one of the street side tables watching the world go by and savoring NOLA.
The Napoleon House is located in the French Quarter at 500 Chartres St – on the corner of St. Louis and Chartres.
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Address: 500 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130