Casamento’s Restaurant

Casamento’s Restaurant was founded by Joe Casamento in 1919. Casamento immigrated to the United States when he was 26 years old and began holding low-level restaurant jobs, learning the basics of cooking and how to run an establishment while simultaneously learning English and adapting to American culture.

Soon, Casamento began operating his own restaurant in a rented space on the corner of Magazine and Napoleon. After a large fire razed the adjacent building, he purchased the lot and constructed the building that became Casamento’s Restaurant. According to a 1978 article by Stella Pitts in the Times-Picayune, Casamento spent the rest of his life dedicated to working in the shotgun-style building that housed “the best neighborhood oyster bar and seafood house in the city” (“90-Year-Old Joe Casamento Still Boss of His Restaurant,” May 7, 1978).

According to the Times-Picayune, Casamento died March 21st, 1979 at 90 years old (“Casamento Rites Friday,” March 22, 1979). The restaurant has been kept in the family, and is now currently owned and operated by Casamento’s great nephew C.J. Gerdes and his wife Linda Gerdes (see: Price, Todd. “Keep on Shuckin’ – Gulf Oysters Are Back After Gustav’s Surge Closed All the State’s Beds. But Increasing Coastal Erosion and Warmer Waters Continue to Threaten Their Numbers,” October 10, 2008).

Atmosphere

Casamento’s front door. Photo by Ines Hegedus-Garcia via Flickr under the Creative Commons.

Other than being known for its delicious oysters, Casamento’s is appreciated for its spotless veneer. According to the Times-Picayune, the proprietors take special care in cleaning the restaurant and it has been referred to as “the most sparklingly clean eatery in town.” (“Casamento’s a Pearl in a Squeaky-Clean Shell”, September 1, 2000). Frank Bailey of the Times-Picayune says the cleanliness is amplified by the fact that the entire interior of the restaurant is covered in white tiles and illuminated by fluorescent lighting (“Heaven on Halfshell”, October 26, 1979). The restaurant is small—two dining rooms with 33 seats, and guests must often stand in line while waiting for a spot.

Oyster Season

Casamento’s Restaurant subscribes to the popular New Orleanian opinion that oyster season does not begin until the end of summer. Put another way by Todd Price of the Times-Picayune, “Oysters on the half shell should only be eaten in months with an ‘R.’” (“Keep on Shuckin’ – Gulf Oysters Are Back After Gustav’s Surge Closed All the State’s Beds. But Increasing Coastal Erosion and Warmer Waters Continue to Threaten Their Numbers”, October 10, 2008). According to Terri Troncale of the Times-Picayune, because of this, since its inception, Casamento’s has been closed during the summer months to ensure ultimate oyster quality and to give the Casamento family a chance to restore the restaurant to keep it in line with its spotless reputation (“A Taste of the Sea” June 14, 2010). Because oyster season coincides with hurricane season, there are sometimes disruptions in the supply of oysters. After Hurricane Gustav in 2008, Louisiana’s oyster beds were closed for three weeks. According to Todd Price of the Times-Picayune, this led to Casamento’s considering opening for business without their signature menu item (“Keep on Shuckin’ – Gulf Oysters Are Back After Gustav’s Surge Closed All the State’s Beds. But Increasing Coastal Erosion and Warmer Waters Continue to Threaten Their Numbers”, October 10, 2008). According to Brett Anderson of the Times-Picayune, after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, oyster restaurants such as Casamento’s faced an equally large dilemma: Many of the premier oyster shuckers in New Orleans were displaced to places like Texas and Virginia and had no logical means or incentive for returning (“Shell Shock: It’s a Shortage of Shuckers That Makes Serving Oysters a Challenge”, November 11, 2005).