restaurant information established 1946 food type louisiana creole italian cuisine street address 4137 u.s. highway 90 west city westwego state louisiana postal code zip 70094 country united states coordinates 29 54 40 n 90 13 45 w 29.911227 n 90.229290 w 29.911227 ; 90.229290 website official site mosca s is a louisiana creole italian restaurant in avondale louisiana near new orleans . operated by the same family since it opened in 1946 it has long been regarded as one of new orleans best restaurants known for dishes such as oysters mosca crab salad and chicken a la grande . 1 2 3 4 contents 1 history 2 location and cuisine 3 references 4 external links history edit provino mosca an italian immigrant and his wife lisa had a restaurant in chicago heights illinois before they moved to new orleans in 1946 after their daughter mary married a louisiana oysterman vincent marconi . they opened mosca s in avondale a remote area on the west bank of the mississippi river in a building owned by new orleans crime family boss carlos marcello who became a regular customer of the restaurant . marcello s son still owns the restaurant building . 4 it is also sometimes reported that provino mosca had been a chef for al capone in chicago 5 6 but the family says this is untrue . 4 7 provino died in 1962 . lisa by then known as mama mosca two of their children johnny and mary and mary s husband vincent took over the restaurant . mama mosca died in 1979 and vincent died in 2004 . the restaurant was damaged in hurricane katrina 8 but reopened in 2006 repaired and with a larger air conditioned kitchen but otherwise mostly unchanged . 9 johnny mostly retired after the hurricane but johnny s wife mary jo angelotti who took over as chef after mary retired continues to operate the restaurant with other family members including johnny until his death in 2011 10 11 and mary jo s daughter lisa . 4 12 mosca s received an america s classics award from the james beard foundation in 1999 . 4 13 location and cuisine edit mosca s is known for its out of the way location a seventeen mile drive on u.s. highway 90 from the crescent city connection bridge and its ramshackle exterior as well as for its distinctive italian creole food . writing in the 1970s pioneer new orleans food writers richard and rima collin 14 described the restaurant as a white shack on the left in almost total isolation and rated it as one of new orleans best of the best calling it a joyous place with no airs whatsoever bubbling over with the noise of serious eating on a massive scale and a new orleans institution . they described the food s heritage as deriving from the middle of italy the romagna lazio region rich in seafood . 3 according to the restaurant s website provino mosca came from san benedetto del tronto a coastal city on the adriatic sea in the marche region of central italy . 12 in her new orleans food memoir gumbo tales 15 sara roahen says mosca s is just the sort of family run restaurant that new orleanians tend to covet it s creaky set in its ways and no picnic to find . 7 in an edition of roadfood written after hurricane katrina jane and michael stern comment that the restaurant seems unchanged since its reopening . they ask the rhetorical question can this two room joint with the blaring jukebox really be the most famous creole roadhouse in america ; then they describe the experience as a culinary epiphany and say that roadside food gets no better or more garlicky or heartier than this . 16 calvin trillin in a november 2010 article about the restaurant in the new yorker also remarks on its seemingly unchanged nature since 1946 . he recounts that the mosca family had once considered moving the restaurant to a more convenient location but the idea had met substantial resistance from their mostly local customer base . 4 reviews of the restaurant often note that almost every party orders more or less the same items from mosca s relatively short menu served family style in very large portions . 4 17 these popular dishes include oysters mosca also called oysters italian style which the sterns call a festival of garlic olive oil parmesan cheese and bread crumbs . 16 shrimp mosca also called shrimp italian style summarized by local food critic tom fitzmorris as enormous whole unpeeled with olive oil and tons of garlic . 17 marinated crab served as a salad or in the shell . 2 3 4 chicken a la grande a simple dish cooked in a skillet with in trillin s words only salt and pepper rosemary oregano white wine and of course ten cloves or is it heads of garlic . 4 spaghetti bordelaise described by the collins as perfect homemade pasta and a remarkable perfectly balanced oil and garlic sauce 3 and which roahen calls as much butter oil and garlic as your body can process without suffering a systematic failure . 7 pineapple fluff for dessert which the collins called a bit of delicious new orleans kitsch . 3 references edit frances frank marcus what s doing in new orleans new york times december 11 1983 . a b julia reed my blue heaven new york times august 19 2001 . a b c d e richard & rima collin the new orleans restaurant guide new orleans strether & swan 1976 pp. 38 40 . a b c d e f g h i calvin trillin no daily specials the new yorker november 22 2010 pp. 60 65 . anya von bremzen hot food in new orleans travel leisure september 1999 . tom downs & john t. edge lonely planet new orleans lonely planet 2003 isbn 978 1 74059 193 5 p. 164 . except available at google books . a b c sara roahen gumbo tales finding my place at the new orleans table w. w. norton & company 2009 isbn 978 0 393 33537 8 pp. 67 71 . excerpt available at google books . brett anderson remaking mosca s the west bank culinary landmark took a hit from katrina but aims to reopen with its roadhouse patina and mouth watering menu intact times picayune march 15 2006 . pableaux johnson the aroma of garlic is back on the bayou new york times august 23 2006 . john mosca dies at 86 ; ran popular restaurant near new orleans los angeles times july 18 2011 . john pope restaurant owner john mosca dies at 86 times picayune july 15 2011 . a b a short history of mosca s restaurant at mosca s official website accessed november 19 2010 . james beard foundation america s classics award winners at james beard foundation awards official website accessed november 19 2010 . judy walker richard h. collin the new orleans underground gourmet dies at age 78 times picayune january 22 2010 . sara larson one book one new orleans chooses sara roahen s gumbo tales times picayune june 1 2009 . a b jane and michael stern roadfood the coast to coast guide to 700 of the best barbecue joints lobster shacks ice cream parlors highway diners and much much more random house 2008 isbn 978 0 7679 2829 8 p. 261 . excerpt available at google books . a b tom fitzmorris mosca s at the new orleans menu restaurant report accessed november 19 2010 . external links edit official website marti buckley kilpatrick mosca s cucina on the bayou edible new orleans summer 2010 . retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title mosca % 27s & oldid 744570684 categories italian american culture in louisianalouisiana creole cuisinerestaurants in louisianabuildings and structures in jefferson parish louisianavisitor attractions in jefferson parish louisianarestaurants established in 19461946 establishments in louisiana navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 16 october 2016 at 03 06 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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