When searching for iconic restaurants in New Orleans, there were a few that kept coming up time and time again.

Of course, there were diners and fine dining and chocolatiers and more.

One of those was Pascal's Manale.


Pascal's Manale is known for BBQ shrimp, a messy experience you gotta have.

The 1950s brought the infamous BBQ Shrimp to Pascal’s Manales. A good friend of then owner Pascal Radosta, Vincent Sutro was a frequent visitor to New Orleans to play the horses and eat at Pascal’s. He came in one night raving about some dish he had eaten in Chicago. He explained it to Jake, Jake recreated this dish with his Louisiana spin and put it in front of Vincent to try. When asked if it was the same, Vincent said NO, it is better. Pas loved it so much, he immediately put it on the menu. The rest is history! The BBQ Shrimp is the restaurants lasting contribution to local cuisine. It is this dish that has brought worldwide notoriety to the restaurant. It is this dish that tourist and locals alike pour in night after night to eat.

Clad with a bib, I was ready to try these BBQ shrimp.

They come out whole - head and all - drenched in a thin, tangy sauce.

But, first, bread!

I came to realize New Orleans serves bread with literally every meal. But here, it was particularly great because it helped sop up all that tangy deliciousness.

So, I had the waiter teach me how to eat these. He was very gracious. But, essentially, grab ahold of a set of the legs and rip them over to one side so you can peel the whole thing off. With any luck, the whole thing comes off in one go and the head is easy to pull off.

They are tasty! I've never had shrimp like this, and it was a whole experience. The flavor of the shrimp really shines here, with the sauce only accenting it.