Central Grocery: Where the Muffuletta Was Born on Decatur Street

Where the Muffuletta Was Born

Central Grocery is a small, old-fashioned Italian-American grocery store on Decatur Street with a sandwich counter, a limited menu, and one of the most important culinary legacies in New Orleans history. This is where the muffuletta sandwich was invented — the massive round loaf stuffed with layers of Genoa salami, ham, mortadella, provolone, and the olive salad that ties everything together. The sandwich is so iconic that it has its own Wikipedia page, its own imitators across the city, and its own fierce debates about who makes the best one. Central Grocery started the argument in 1906 and has been winning it ever since.

The store was founded by Sicilian immigrant Salvatore Lupo, who opened Central Grocery as a traditional Italian market catering to the large Sicilian community in the French Quarter. The neighborhood around Decatur Street was, in the early 1900s, a densely packed Italian enclave where families from Sicily and southern Italy ran businesses, raised children, and recreated the food culture of the old country using the ingredients available in the new one.

The Olive Salad Is the Secret

Everyone who makes a muffuletta uses more or less the same meats and cheese. What separates Central Grocery's version from all comers is the olive salad — a marinated mix of chopped green olives, pimentos, celery, garlic, cauliflower, carrots, and herbs bathed in olive oil. The recipe is a closely guarded family formula that has been passed down since the store's founding. You can buy the olive salad by the jar at the counter, and people do — locals stock their refrigerators with it, tourists ship it home, and transplants order it online when homesickness hits.

The sandwich itself is enormous — a full muffuletta is the size of a dinner plate, served on a round Sicilian sesame bread that soaks up the olive oil and becomes part of the flavor. Most people split a whole with a friend. Some don't. No one judges either way.

The Store Behind the Sandwich

Central Grocery is as much an experience as a meal. The store is narrow and cramped, with shelves of imported Italian goods lining the walls — olive oils, pastas, canned tomatoes, and other provisions that have been part of the inventory since the Lupo family first opened the doors. The sandwich counter takes up most of the remaining space, and on busy days the line stretches out the door and down Decatur Street.

The wait is part of the ritual. You stand in line, you inch forward, you place your order, and you either eat standing at one of the narrow counters inside or take your sandwich to Jackson Square and eat it on a bench with the pigeons. Either way, you're participating in a tradition that stretches back over a century — a Sicilian immigrant's gift to a city that was already the greatest food city in America.

Frequently Asked Questions About Central Grocery

Who invented the muffuletta?

Central Grocery, founded by Sicilian immigrant Salvatore Lupo in 1906, is credited with inventing the muffuletta sandwich. The store has been making them continuously for over a century.

What is on a muffuletta sandwich?

A traditional muffuletta includes Genoa salami, ham, mortadella, and provolone cheese layered on a round Sicilian sesame bread, topped with Central Grocery's signature marinated olive salad.

Can you buy the olive salad separately?

Yes. Central Grocery sells their famous olive salad by the jar at the store counter. It's one of the most popular take-home items from the shop.

Where is Central Grocery?

Central Grocery is located on Decatur Street in the French Quarter, near the French Market. The store is small and the line can be long, especially on weekends.