Matassa’s Market, at 1001 Dauphine Street in the French Quarter, was opened in 1924 by Sicilian immigrants and remains in operation today. The Matassa family was part a wave of Sicilians who began arriving in New Orleans in the early 19th century. Many became farmers and sold their produce near the French Market. Food stands, restaurants, and corner stores followed.

HNOC’s Matassa’s menu from 2014 is a trifold with a simple but appealing design. It is printed on orange paper—perhaps to help it stand out in a stack of similar menus—with the restaurant’s name, address, and phone number in black text. Food offerings are listed on both sides of the menu. One side features 28 different sandwiches. The Genoa salami, cotto salami, and muffuletta reflect the business’s Sicilian origins.

Another French Quarter corner store, Verti Marte, has Sicilian roots. First established as Leon’s Grocery by the Leone family in the 1200 block of Royal Street, the store was purchased and renamed in 1968 by Shelba Hatfield, a native of West Virginia. Her family still owns and runs Verti Marte today.

Matassa’s Market is only a few blocks away from Verti Marte, but Verti Marte takes a slightly different approach to their menu. The menu is a quad fold and printed on white paper with green text. The cover features an illustration of the storefront, which emphasizes its iconic French Quarter architecture and a caricature of an Italian chef holding a hot po’boy with the tagline “The best kept secret in the Quarter.” The rest of the menu has a more intricate design, including stylized borders that evoke the French Quarter’s famous wrought-iron railings.

Even though Verti Marte embraces the building’s Sicilian roots with its imagery, only a few of their food items reflect this history. They also sell a sandwich called Royal Feast, which consists of cheese, roast beef, ham, turkey, hot pepper cheese, black olives, grilled onions, and their original Wow Sauce. With these deliberate design choices, more Americanized food choices, and creative names for their food items, Verti Marte seems to be targeting visitors to the city rather than an exclusively local or Sicilian crowd.

On the other side of the city, in the University District, is Adams Street Grocery and Deli, a neighborhood favorite that opened before the 1970s and remains in business today. Its menu does not feature the design elements of the others. Its offerings are printed on white paper with black text in a list format, with only food and prices. There are salami and pastrami sandwiches, as well as fried seafood and egg rolls. Adams Street Grocery is one of the only corner stores that sells hot food in the University District.

Though these three corner stores have withstood the test of time, many others have shuttered as corporate dollar-store chains have become go-to spots for quick groceries and supplies. Every menu left behind tells a story. Corner stores may be unassuming on the outside, but they preserve the history of New Orleans by offering a window into the development of neighborhoods, immigration patterns, and the history of these communities.