Of all the specific culinary delights in New Orleans that have amassed the kind of bone-deep passion that borders on obsession – from dark roux gumbos to rich roast beef debris po-boys – you might not think that a simple fried chicken sandwich would rise above the delicious fray. And you would be dead wrong. We all know about the infamous Popeyes chicken sando craze that raged like a fever through the country during the pandemic lockdown, but there was another, superior version that came before, and has since captured the hearts of New Orleanians. That credit goes to Southerns, whose humble origins as a festival popup has since blossomed into a thriving business including multiple food competition victories, three food trucks, catering, and, as of this past August, a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Metairie.
Of course, Anthony Cruz and Gene Colley, Southerns’ chef-owners, didn’t start out with the intention of becoming the fried chicken sandwich kings of the Crescent City. Like all good culinary success stories, their origins are simple and charming. Cruz and Colley met through mutual friends in 2014, and in true New Orleans fashion the pair bonded playing music together, cooking and eating. “I was working for Sven at Bratz Y’all on the weekends doing festivals,” Colley said. “I knew that Anthony was a chef, so I told him, ‘Man, we’ve got to do these festivals!’ But you have to come up with something that no one else is doing. I found out that Woody’s Fish Tacos was getting out of the festival scene. We came up with a fish taco, a shrimp taco and a pork belly taco, started getting all these festivals, and we won the fan favorite award at Seafood Festival.”
It wasn’t long before the pair decided that slinging fish tacos on the festival circuit wasn’t quite ambitious enough, and by 2018 Colley and Cruz were eager to expand. “It’s almost like we painted ourselves in a corner with Gulf Tacos,” Cruz explained. “I made a mental note that if ever I start something else, I would keep it very open ended. If you told me that the best burger you ever had is in Covington, I will drive to Covington to get that burger. And I thought, ‘Why don’t we have that for a fried chicken sandwich?’ So I just obsessed over it. I think I spent like, six months just trying recipe after recipe.”
Cruz and Colley decided to pivot to their chicken sandwich project, and their combination of sophisticated culinary techniques and worldly ingredients to craft fast food staples quickly caught on with locals. It wasn’t long before they took the concept to the streets with a food truck. “The gears started turning as soon as I stepped on a truck. I was like, ‘this is perfect,’” Cruz said. Cruz and Colley’s mobile platform – not to mention their savvy use of social media – turned Southerns into the “it girl” of Big Easy sandwiches. A second truck followed, and then a third. After that, realizing that a fourth truck would add little to the business, Colley and Cruz knew that a permanent home for Southerns was the next logical step. In August, Southerns opened its official home on Veterans Boulevard.
The fact that Southerns’ opening resulted in long lines and frenzied food buzz should come as little surprise to anyone who’s tasted their fare. Southerns expertly employs sophisticated culinary techniques and an intense focus on fresh ingredients prepared to order. Take, for instance, the flagship chicken sandwich, a thick portion of dark meat (Cruz prefers the thigh) that’s dry rubbed and painstakingly marinated before being gently dredged in a precise ratio of cornmeal and flour. Dressed with a simple slaw, house-made bread and butter pickles and a yuzu aioli, the experience can be almost transcendent.
That same attention applies to the rest of Southerns menu. The chicken tenders explode expectations with a crispy exterior bursting with golden crannies that Cruz describes as resembling a coral reef. “In fine dining, one thing they teach you is the care of the product and how you treat it,” he said. “And I thought, man, what if we can apply that to something that’s $11? So we do, and it’s those little details that are important to me.”
The rest of Southerns’ menu items share a similar attention to detail, from the outstanding hamburgers – a traditional version as well as one adorned with gooey queso, pickled jalapenos and crispy fried onions – to the to-die-for fish sandwich, a direct homage to Cruz and Colley’s Gulf Tacos project. It is quite possibly the best fried fish sandwich in New Orleans. The combination of hot, flaky fish with a perfectly crispy beer-battered exterior results in a shockingly light dish that all but melts in your mouth. And save room for Southerns’ sides. You’ll want the crispy crinkle fries, of course, as well as the fan-favorite cracklins, which sport an adobo seasoning and a garlic peanut rub inspired by Cruz’s Filipino heritage. With either, you will definitely need to try all of Southerns’ house-made sauces. The honey mustard is a solid choice, as are the Crystal mayo and a tomato aioli, but the real standout is the Vietnamese-inspired “Phuket sauce,” which adds a creamy depth of flavor and gastronomic worldliness that few might expect in a fast-casual operation in the heart of Metairie.
New Orleanians have enthusiastically adopted the restaurant into the local culinary landscape, and that enthusiasm hardly goes unnoticed or unappreciated. “The people here know food in a way that most places don’t,” says Cruz. “When people that eat as a way of life love your food and give you praise, it just feels so nice. That’s one of the things that I love the most about cooking here.”
About the Owners
Originally from California, Anthony Cruz moved to New Orleans not long after Hurricane Katrina for one purpose: to cook. After seeing that the recipe for Oysters Rockerfeller originated in the kitchen at Antoine’s Restaurant, Cruz decided to take a direct approach. “I literally just called them up and asked, ‘Are you guys hiring? I’ll be there in three days.’ I didn’t get that job, but I [did] across the street at the Napoleon House.” From there, Cruz went on to refine his skills at Emeril’s, NOLA, and Bayona. Cruz and Colley started cooking together at festivals, earning copious accolades along the way, including four trophies at last year’s Oak St. Po-Boy Fest.
A New Orleans native, Gene Colley was working for his family’s warehousing company when he caught the culinary bug. “I was working there since I was 13, driving forklifts. I did it my whole life, and I absolutely hated it. So then I started working those festivals. It was so fun, something different.” After joining forces with Cruz, Colley knew that his path involved a certain leap of faith. “It was scary, and our wives thought we were insane” he said. “I was cutting grass because we didn’t make enough for me to live on.” Faith and hard work paid off, though, as Southerns reputation and success grew. “To think back on that journey from then to this, it’s unbelievable. We’re really doing this and making it work.”
