Eat A Muffuletta Sandwich Bigger Than Your Head At This 1914 New Orleans Restaurant

New Orleans is a hub for some seriously historic restaurants. Some of them are white tablecloth affairs that will require you to don a dinner jacket, but if you're hoping to more casually stuff an enormous sandwich into your face without adhering to a dress code, consider Napoleon House in the city's French Quarter.

An Italian immigrant opened Napoleon House as a restaurant in 1914 (it remained in his family for a century, but now has been passed to the owners of famed New Orleans restaurant Brennan's). That heritage is likely why Napoleon House's hit item is the muffuletta sandwich. Unlike New Orleans' many Creole and Cajun dishes, the muffuletta was devised by a Sicilian grocery store owner, who compiled the sandwich out of various meats and cheeses that Italian customers were seeking out in his shop. (As a side note, that store, Central Grocery, still exists and serves its famous muffuletta today.)

At Napoleon House, the muffuletta is a bit different from Central Grocery (but still considered one of the best in town). While similar in terms of its ingredients (ham, salami, pastrami, Swiss and provolone cheeses, and olive salad), it's served hot, allowing the cheese to melt, melding all the flavors together, while crisping the bread a little. You may want to bring a friend to share it or be prepared to ask for a doggy bag: The sandwich is infamously enormous, using a bun that's around 9 inches in diameter, costing $26, although you can get half or quarter-sized versions.

Beyond the sandwich, Napoleon House's Pimm's Cup — a fruity British cocktail traditionally made with Pimm's No. 1, lemonade, and cucumber — has its own following, and is sometimes recommended as the ideal pairing for the muffuletta, with its sweetness balancing out the fairly salty hit of deli meat, cheese, and olives in the sandwich. The restaurant claims to be the first place in the United States to have sold Pimm's Cups, and to have at some point been the second-biggest seller of the drink in the world (with first place going to the London bar where it was created). You can even get a frozen version, or go for other New Orleans staples like a Sazerac or old fashioned.

It's also a spot to get other New Orleans classics from the Cajun and Creole canons with dishes like jambalaya and gumbo on the menu. There are also po'boys, if you fancy a different New Orleans sandwich specialty, and the classic Monday NOLA dish, red beans and rice.

Napoleon House's ambiance is arguably as appealing as its gigantic sandwiches: Escape the swampy heat in a shady courtyard with seating under banana trees. Inside, there's a cozy dining room with vintage tiled floors, eclectic art all over the walls, and historic wooden fixtures that make it look somewhat like a time capsule to the early 20th century. Unlike the jazz soundtrack that you'll hear at many New Orleans eateries, you'll get a soundtrack of opera and classical music, something the restaurant has made a staple of its vibe consistently since 1914.