Angelo Brocato | Best Cannoli Anywhere | New Orleans

Vintage New Orleans

Among the great, long-standing New Orleans food destinations, Angelo Brocato belongs in the top tier. It began in 1905 on Ursulines Street in the French Quarter. At the time, the French Quarter was mostly a residential neighborhood. It moved to its current location in Mid-City shortly after we first came across it when writing the first edition of our restaurant guide book Roadfood (published in 1978). The place on Carrollton Avenue lacks tumbledown charm. But it retains all the old-world flavor of the original. Most important, it still makes what might be the world’s best cannoli.

Cannoli To Love

These cannoli do not sit around waiting to be filled. When you order one, a person behind the counter grabs the crispest imaginable cookie shell. They then fill it. The fact that they are filled to order means the pastry retains its fresh, brittle crunch. The filling benefits, too. Lesser cannoli all too often suffer when they get refrigerated. Long, cold storage saps the filling’s flavor. Angelo Brocato fills them with just-right-sweet ricotta that is barely cooler than room temperature. The cheese fairly blooms with fresh dairy flavor. The traditional way to fill them is to put vanilla ricotta in one end and chocolate in the other. (Although you may request a single flavor.) The cannoli constructor then dips its ends in finely ground pistachio nuts. A dusting of powdered sugar and cinnamon completes the process. Pastry paradise!

Gelato And More

Expect excellent gelato here, too. Bright flavors that range from Amaretto to Zuppa Inglese infuse the dense, custard-rich ice cream. Further exploration of the menu will take you to strudels and babas au rhum, eclairs and cream puffs, Napoleons and sfogliatelle.

Such a nice place to visit. Sit on wire-back ice cream parlor chairs under spinning overhead fans. The staff, in my experience, radiate the joie de vivre of people who realize that they are part of an enterprise that is a New Orleans cultural treasure.