The Best Hole-In-The-Wall Burger Spot In New Orleans, According To A Local

At the corner of Burgundy and St. Roch, Faubourg Marigny, there is a building that any New Orleanian with a penchant for dive bars will recognize. The walls, painted pale yellow and accented viridian, are the canvas for vintage JAX beer advertisements. Signs with black and gold script read from a time before: "Walter Patrolia Beer Parlor. Cigars — Cigarettes — Tobacco."

The building has been Marie's Bar for decades, Marie's Bar and Kitchen a little more recently, but the vibe is all old New Orleans. You can score smokes from a vending machine inside. There are gaming machines, a pool table, and a mean bartender. Most importantly, there is a literal hole-in-the-wall burger stand. A stainless-steel window from which food emerges. A small kitchen not to be missed, because it serves some of the biggest flavor in the Crescent City. The Original Slap Burger is the best spot in New Orleans for a burger, and it's not even close. 

Although I'm a Northeasterner by birth, the first time I met myself was moving to Louisiana. The influence of food that permeates the culture clued me in to something that I hadn't considered very important. In college, living in Baton Rouge, I'd take weekend excursions to explore New Orleans' dining options. Later, I began working for a fresh produce company on a route that brought me into Nola weekly. (Coincidentally, the now-defunct Cowbell was once my favorite burger shop, thanks to its convenient location along said route.) After settling in Mid-City and working as a full-time server, my life became part of the fabric, and I've been burger-hunting ever since. 

At that time, the smashburger had yet to become sensational. It was still a burgeoning art form that would take time before purifying into something as true as the Original Slap. 

There isn't an exact formula for making incredible burgers. Eat 20-plus of the city's most well-regarded, as I've done, and you'll agree. Burgers gotta taste good, obviously. Simplicity is one way to achieve this. Beyond a focus on beef blends and buns, another incontrovertible aspect is this: A burger shouldn't be pretentious, and always affordable. This is America's first fast food, we're talking about. That's why smash burgers have become so loved.

Well before the smash boom hit southeast Louisiana, there were different styles to what people considered the best in New Orleans burgercraft. You had the obligatory elders — Camellia Grill, Clover Grill. Then, there was Beachcorner or Port of Call, which serve heartier patties in a traditional style. Unassuming? Yes. Delicious? Not always. The aughts passed, and in came the concept of gastropubs, putting on airs. And there were bright spots, also. Company Burger arrived, thinning out patties and concentrating flavor. In another universe, this write-up might be about the now-defunct Fharmacy.

It was 2019 when the bubble burst and the grease runneth over. Shake Shack moved to town. A smattering of local pop-ups followed, each progressively more committed to the smash. I imagine that between the new class — Bub's, Burger Nerds, and the Original Slap — I've eaten several dozen patties. (Nola is a city of cyclists, so my cholesterol levels are fine. But thanks for asking.)

Chad Barlow, chef and proprietor of the Original Slap Burger, arrived in the Marigny in 2022 as many of us do: broke, down on his luck, and with an idea of how to turn it all around. Barlow found Marie's, which had an empty kitchen from a pandemic closure. The Original Slap reinvigorated the time-beaten rafters of this iconic building with the smell of sizzling burgers.

I used to bike past Marie's every day, and yet it still came as a surprise to me when the whispers of a searing grill first reached my ears, nose, and eventually, my mouth. A quality hole-in-the-wall restaurant isn't discovered easily. When you do come across one, you'll know it by some of the same signatures of a good burger. Most notably, a lack of pretense, great expense, or the trappings of highbrow service. 

On my first visit, I stuck with something simple — the OG — and I continue to go back for that. A quarter-pound, 80/20 beef patty is cooked in butter and topped with yellow cheese, lettuce, tomato, Vlasic dill, onion, and a succulent sauce. It's enough to make an aging millennial, like this writer, shout (obnoxiously), "this slaps!" Apart from being a burger that devastates your opinion of any other shop around, the OG is cheap — a single patty sandwich comes to just $10. For four bucks more, you can double your luck.

The menu at Original Slap offers plenty of other delights if you're craving something timeless yet exciting. The Heater hits you like a fastball to the face, but the ball is covered in jalapeños. A Western burger mixes BBQ with Slap sauce and a tasteful pile of onion straws. Meanwhile, Barlow's Large Mack is a homemade improvement on the most iconic and commercialized burger to ever reach mass markets. Not to be left out, vegans can even get their fix here, too, with a phenomenally crafted burger cooked on separate surfaces. When you need to cut the salt, a Cuban-style flan is what to reach for. Marie's Bar only takes cash, but the Original Slap — open with varying hours every day — is credit card friendly.

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