| LIUZZA'S BY THE TRACK fairgrounds |
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Liuzza’s sits at the corner of North Lopez and Ponce de Leon, occupying the first floor of what was the Liuzzas’ family restaurant with the Liuzzas living above it. Since Jack Liuzza’s death, the upstairs apartment has remained just as he left it, while the restaurant has been rented out by Ms. Liuzza. Since Mr. Liuzza’s death, it has had several incarnations. For the last 10 years, the occupant of Liuzza’s by the Track has been a partnership between co-owners Billy Gruber and Jimmy LeMurin, as well as a partnership between the neighborhood, the staff at the restaurant, and the owners. Abram Himelstein, Co-Director of the Neighborhood Story Project, documented this Mid-City cornerstone for this project. Liuzza’s is one of his own neighborhood haunts. According to Abram, “On its best days, this corner restaurant and bar feels like the best catered community center in America. On lesser days, it becomes the restaurant with the best gumbo in America.” Abram insists his first Liuzza’s meal was the second best of his life – “Barbeque shrimp. Just a bunch of shrimp in sauce. Nothing on the side. Just some bread to sop up the extra sauce.”
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Address: 1518 N Lopez Street Cornerstones has more in-depth documentation on file – info@cornerstonesproject.org. |
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"This building is 80 years old. It was originally a grocery store, then a barroom. It was a restaurant off and on between the 70s and 80s, but the Liuzza family has always owned it. It represents a traditional neighborhood restaurant that used to be on most corners of the city. Horse trainers and musicians seem to like us. They come for the food and the reasonable prices." "Jack Liuzza had died about eight years before Jimmy and I took over— it had been in a tailspin since that time. When he had it, they supposedly had some of the best fried chicken around. It was a neighborhood place, and it was a horse business place, cause you had three or four months really of the horses. The bar opened at three and closed at whatever. The bar just had these seedy characters, but we just kept going and got a little game plan: Let’s do food. We just wanted to do the basics – a sandwich po boy shop." |
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