New Orleans PO-BOY Preservation Festival

Pack your stomach pumps and loosen your belts — it’s po-boy time.

The third annual Po-boy Preservation Festival, founded in honor of the New Orleans culinary staple, returns to Oak Street Sunday. Drawing more than 15,000 hungry patrons last year, this year’s celebration promises to be just as satisfying, boasting more than 40 vendors and 70 different kinds of po-boys.

Infinite variety and limited stomach space might leave the unprepared eater paralyzed in the agony of choosing among so many tempting options. Luckily, there is a universal rule that anything sandwiched between two pieces of French bread is delicious. That said, there are a few necessary eats worthy of special mention.

First, Mahoney’s, a local eatery who won last year’s prize for Best Classic Fried Po-boy, deserves a visit from any lover of oyster po-boys. If you’re feeling overloaded by the excess of fried seafood, the Red Fish Grill’s BBQ Oyster Po-boy and the Boucharie’s NO Style BBQ Shrimp Po-boy are great grilled option. If seafood makes you squirm, try Parkway Tavern’s roast beef, last year’s People’s Choice Award winner. For many, the Acme Oyster House’s shrimp, oyster (battered and fried) or roast beef po-boy is the highlight of the afternoon. Patrons can expect to wait in line for about 10 minutes for many of the stands, but Acme’s popularity makes it an unusually long (but rewarding) wait, so grab another po-boy to snack on to help pass the time.

Prices depend on the type of po-boy ordered, but the average three-inch sample size po-boy costs between $3 and $5. The festival lasts from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., so the truly dedicated connoisseur can tie on the feedbag and take care of brunch, lunch, supper and dinner, and, perhaps, if utilizing the stomach pump, even throw in the Fried Bread Pudding Po-boy from Ye Olde College Inn for dessert.