Al Scramuzza: The Crawfish King of New Orleans

"Seafood City, very pretty! You'll never be a looza, if you come see Al Scramuzza!"

If you lived in New Orleans anytime between the 1960s and the 2000s, that jingle is lodged permanently in your brain. Al Scramuzza — the Crawfish King, the star of his own gloriously low-budget TV commercials, the man who did more than anyone to turn crawfish from a poor man's food into a cultural obsession — was one of the most colorful characters in a city that has never had a shortage of them.

French Quarter Kid

Al Scramuzza was born on September 19, 1927, in the French Quarter. But his early life was anything but romantic. The Great Depression hit the Scramuzza family hard. His father abandoned the family, and his mother, unable to care for all the children, placed several of them in orphanages. Young Al was sent to Hope Haven in Marrero, where he grew up, discovered a love of sports, and developed the scrappy, self-made resilience that would define the rest of his life.

Scramuzza came out of Hope Haven with no money, no connections, and no blueprint for success — just energy, ambition, and a talent for talking that would eventually make him famous. He bounced through odd jobs and hustles, learning the produce business and developing an eye for what people wanted to buy.

Fifteen Cents a Pound

In 1951, Al Scramuzza started selling crawfish from a Mid-City produce stand for 15 cents a pound. At the time, crawfish was considered a subsistence food — something Cajun families ate out in the country, not something that respectable city people served at dinner parties. The idea of crawfish as a culinary centerpiece, a social event, a reason to gather — that hadn't happened yet.

Scramuzza saw what nobody else saw: potential. He recognized that crawfish weren't just cheap protein. They were an experience — messy, communal, fun, and perfectly suited to the way New Orleanians liked to eat: together, with their hands, making a glorious mess. He didn't just sell crawfish. He sold the idea of crawfish as entertainment.

Seafood City

In 1960, Scramuzza opened Seafood City at 1826 North Broad Street, and the crawfish revolution began in earnest. What started as a modest seafood market grew into an operation that eventually occupied an entire city block. At its peak, Seafood City was moving more than 20,000 pounds of crawfish in a single day — a staggering volume that reflected just how thoroughly Scramuzza had transformed the market.

Seafood City wasn't just a store. It was a destination. People came from across the metro area to buy crawfish by the sack. During crawfish season, the place hummed with the energy of a festival. The parking lot was full, the lines were long, and nobody cared because buying crawfish from Al Scramuzza was part of the ritual.

The Commercials

Al Scramuzza's TV spots were works of accidental genius — low-budget, high-personality advertisements that became as much a part of New Orleans pop culture as the food they were selling. Scramuzza starred in his own commercials, mugging for the camera with the confidence of a man who has never once considered the possibility that he might not be the most interesting person in any room.

The jingle became legendary. Kids sang it on the playground. Adults hummed it in the car. It was the kind of earworm that advertising agencies spend millions trying to create, and Scramuzza probably made it for about forty bucks. The commercials were rough around the edges, wildly energetic, and completely authentic — just like Scramuzza himself.

Like Frankie and Johnny's Furniture and other legendary local TV spots, the Scramuzza commercials proved that in New Orleans, you don't need a big budget. You need a big personality. Scramuzza had enough for ten people.

Scram Records

As if running the biggest crawfish operation in New Orleans wasn't enough, Scramuzza also launched Scram Records in the early 1960s. The label eventually expanded to include additional imprints, and Scramuzza used it to promote rising New Orleans musicians, including Eddie Bo, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and Johnny "Little Sonny" Jones — artists who were part of the rich musical ecosystem that made New Orleans the most important music city in America.

The record label was a natural extension of Scramuzza's personality. He was a promoter at heart — whether he was promoting crawfish, promoting music, or promoting himself, the skill set was the same: find something good, get excited about it, and make sure everybody else gets excited too.

Coach Al

For all the fame that came from crawfish and commercials, the work Scramuzza was proudest of may have been his decades as a youth sports coach. For years, he coached football, basketball, baseball, and soccer at Johnny Bright Playground in Metairie, mentoring thousands of kids who needed exactly what Al had needed as a kid at Hope Haven: someone who believed in them.

Scramuzza coached with the same intensity he brought to everything else. He showed up — day after day, year after year, for decades. The kids he coached grew up, had kids of their own, and sometimes brought them back to the same playground to be coached by the same man.

On his 97th birthday in September 2024, Jefferson Parish honored his decades of coaching by renaming the street outside the playground "Al Scramuzza Way."

The King

Al Scramuzza died on May 11, 2025, at the age of 97. He had lived long enough to see crawfish become exactly what he always knew it could be — the centerpiece of Louisiana's food culture, a multi-billion-dollar industry, and an excuse for people to gather around a table covered in newspaper and eat with their hands. He didn't invent crawfish. But he invented the idea that crawfish was something to celebrate, and that idea changed everything.

Scramuzza was a French Quarter orphan who became the Crawfish King, a record label owner, a beloved coach, and a TV star — all without ever losing the scrappy, hustling energy that got him started selling mudbugs at 15 cents a pound from a produce stand in Mid-City. New Orleans is full of self-made characters, but few made themselves as thoroughly, as joyfully, and as loudly as Al Scramuzza.

You'll never be a looza. The King made sure of that.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was Al Scramuzza?

Al Scramuzza (1927-2025) was a New Orleans entrepreneur known as the "Crawfish King." He founded Seafood City on North Broad Street, launched Scram Records, starred in iconic local TV commercials, and coached youth sports for decades at Johnny Bright Playground in Metairie.

What was Seafood City?

Seafood City was a seafood market at 1826 North Broad Street in Mid-City New Orleans. Founded by Al Scramuzza in 1960, it grew from a modest market to an operation spanning an entire city block, selling over 20,000 pounds of crawfish in a single day at its peak.

What was the Seafood City jingle?

The famous jingle went: "Seafood City, very pretty! You'll never be a looza, if you come see Al Scramuzza!" It became one of the most recognizable advertising jingles in New Orleans history.

What was Scram Records?

Scram Records was a record label launched by Al Scramuzza in the early 1960s. The label helped promote New Orleans musicians including Eddie Bo, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, and Johnny "Little Sonny" Jones.

What is Al Scramuzza Way?

In September 2024, on Scramuzza's 97th birthday, Jefferson Parish renamed the street outside Johnny Bright Playground in Metairie "Al Scramuzza Way" in honor of his decades of volunteer youth sports coaching.