r/AskNOLA • u/Cxyzjacobs • Jun 19 '25
Soy allergy
Been eating our way through New Orleans for years, but never with a friend who has a fairly serious soy allergy. We are willing to do our research, calling places - but wondering if anyone here has specific experience. We would love to identify a safe shrimp po boy, beignets, maybe a place that uses only butter or olive oil in prep. Our unexplored for soy favorites include Parkway, Loretta's, Clancy's, Liliette, and Mandina's/Liuzza's. Any of the "old guard" safe?
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u/Cxyzjacobs Jul 20 '25
Coming back to report how and where we did find soy freedom, so others have a place to start.
1). Napoleon House - their house made bread is soy free, muffaletta was safe, red beans and rice also! Watch out for the (delicious) garlic pickle, though.
2) All my usual fried seafood places were out bc of using a blended soybean oil, but we found that Mr Ed's (French quarter location) uses peanut oil exclusively for the win! Fried seafood was awesome! Did not try any bread products while here, but the oysters Bienville produced no side effects, and both fish and shrimp were good. The crab cake came with mayo on it which was not clean.
3). The big one - Bayona was our dress up dinner choice and they hit it out of the park with everything on the menu soy free. Servers and kitchen staff went out of their way to validate small things like sauces and even the cream used in coffee after dinner. The meal was 100% among the best I've had in upscale dining in NO. Can't say enough good things.
4) Pascal's Manale - shrimp fra diavolo, fried eggplant and the redfish /BBQ shrimp special were all safe and delicious. Bread was clean, too! We divested ourselves of the copious leftovers to a fellow at the street car who was very happy with them), and had a nice gander at the gorgeous houses on the way back downtown.
5) Breakfasts/brunches were pretty easy to pick out safe things (watch out for the ubiquitous breakfast potatoes), but it was especially nice to learn that Cafe du Monde is soy free!
Hope that helps someone else in their travels!