Best of Boston

Editor’s Note, July 1, 2 p.m.: After our 2016 Best of Boston issue was published in print and online, reports surfaced that Po Boy has closed, future unknown. Calls to the restaurant have gone unanswered.

It’s not just the Mardi Gras beads or the TV tuned to French Quarter street performers. Eric Cormier’s tiny, chatty Newtonville shop—with its three nicked booths and the scent of fried seafood hanging heavy in the air—feels like something ripped right out of Elysian Fields. More important, Cormier’s take on New Orleans’ ubiquitous sandwich, the po’ boy, is a faithful facsimile, a crusty baguette layered with tangy rémoulade and Captain Marden’s–sourced catfish and oysters.