I was back in Biloxi at the beginning of March to visit my mother on her birthday. While there, of course, I had to partake in one of my all time favorite meals, the shrimp po-boy. This is a very simple meal, just some medium-sized fried shrimp with shredded lettuce, sliced tomato, and mayonnaise on a long, crusty roll. Medium sized shrimp is key. Small shrimp leave you with too much batter. Large can be okay, but jumbo shrimp make the sandwich unbalanced and too hard to eat. Ideal is two to three shrimp per bite. For example, check out this near perfect example below from Schooner’s in Biloxi:
Now, if you’re on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, you can also get Barq’s in a bottle, like you see in the background of the picture. While Barq’s is pretty tasty from a can, it’s even better from a thick glass bottle. The cup to the left once held some delicious gumbo.
I also had a shrimp po-boy at Li’l Ray’s in Gulfport. They also serve a mean gumbo and a delicious shrimp po-boy, but I would have to rate Schooner’s above theirs.
The Ole Biloxi Schooner Seafood Restaurant was wiped out in Hurricane Katrina (which is nearly always referred to in Biloxi as simply “The Storm”). The old location was down by the IP Casino. Their new location is further west on Howard Avenue.
Amen brother!