Canseco’s Esplanade Market

Love this little market that’s packed with everything. The best part is super friendly staff. The cashiers are always funny and happy.

Really cute market with a great deli bar! The Cuban was sooo good! Had everything we needed!

ONE OF THE BETTER CUBAN PO’BOYS IN TOWN.
I say po’boy because it is not a Cuban sandwich because it is not made on Cuban bread. What makes Canseco’s stand out from other local attempts is the generous portions of pulled pork, ham and Swiss, as well as a good slathering of yellow mustard and plenty of pickles. With a side of Mac & Cheese and beverage the meal totals just $ 10.32 after-​tax.
RANT:
PRESSED OVERPOWERING LEIDEHEIMER RUINS A CUBAN!
PLEASE USE A VIETNAMESE BAGUETTE INSTEAD!
Cuban bread, similar to a Vietnamese baguette, is waxy and chewier than po’boy bread. The texture’s velvety pliable unlike a good po’boy loaf that strives for a crispy crust resembling an alligator back. Consequently the key recipe ratios are vastly different. For every cup of flour a Cuban and a Vietnamese baguette have half the sugar of the po’boy and 2 – 3 times the fat. In fact true Cuban recipes call for lard and not butter. The difference shows up in the grilling process. When Leidenheimer is toasted it has a strong nutty taste that’s quite overpowering. Further it becomes dry and practically falls apart when eaten. Conversely, true Cuban bread when pressed stays slick and intact with just a touch of butter flavor. Toasted Leidenheimer is so pungent and crunchy you can’t taste the subtleties of the two meats and Swiss, accented by the tartness of the mustard and pickles. But when true Cuban bread is used those ingredients blossom in that soft buttery loaf.
BONA FIDES:
I lived in Key West 3 years and one of the subjects Conchs are most particular about is how to make Cuban bread and what not to put in the sandwich (tomatoes, onions, lettuce or mayonnaise!)
GREAT SITE FOR MORE INFO:
BUT I HAVEN’T BEEN BACK!
There are way too many alternatives in the area now that get my dollars!

i love this location however i prefer the one on elysian fields because it has more of a selection. honestly i’m in love with their smoked turkey salad… it’s sooo good with club crackers!
btw: one rule in my house.“don’t mess with my turkey salad or else!!!”

Great lunch specials!
Great Staff!
great selection in the Movie rental machine!

This market is pretty expensive and the produce leaves something to be desired, but it’s convenient if you live nearby without a car.

Had the cuban sandwich at jazzfest… had 2 to be honest… FANTASTIC !!!

Cansecos on Esplanade is one more reason to love my neighborhood. The staff is super nice, and for a little corner mini-​market, the selection is top notch. The prices are a little high for some stuff, yeah, but if you watch the specials, you can get some stuff cheaper here than in Rouses. It ain’t Walmart, dats-​fer-​shur, but the quality and sophistication here is high, and the staff and the management are tippy top. Plus, they have one of the best lunch specials in Mid-​City. I should keep it a secret, but there you go. I grab lunch there at least twice a week.

What a fine, fine store! Lots of goodies, an ATM which comes in handy during Jazz Fest, a deli with loads of options and a staff who is sincere and helpful.
Can you ask for anything else from a neighborhood store?

Ok, I took off a store only because it’s a bit pricey but hey, they gotta survive! One of my friends lives nearby and we exercise on Sundays and make Sunday lunch after church. So if we’re missing ingredients or anything I usually pop in to grab a salad etc. their prepared foods are friggin amazing! Two words-​meat pies! Omfg! Feel like I’m at Jazz Fest without the crowd and the meat pie tastes better than the crawfish pie even though you want the crawfish pie to taste better, you know what I mean?
Plus the staff are super friendly behind the counter. They also have a decent wine selection. Love this neighborhood store! I remember when it was the original Whole Foods back in the day! Plus it’s so convenient near Maple Street bookstore (new and used books and they buy books, Swirl wine bar (fun new year’s eve at a private party there), Fair Grinds coffeehouse (now I finally remember the name! Hehe with the bank lamps and strong yummy chai!), Santa Fe with nice owners and lots of outdoor seating and live music some nights with yummy margaritas!, Nonna Mia (my fav outdoor patio and panini!), Lola’s across the street (can we say authentic paella with the best sangria anywhere!), and Café Degas which I still need to go and use my Groupon!

Avoid this place at all costs– your cost. They are intent on price gouging every item at the price point, and ciphoning off from otherwise well meaning customers. Every item is at least .50 higher than normal retail, and in many and in the case of 2 items recently, $ 1 more than other groceries, and infuriatingly marked ‘on sale’!! (Community coffee $ 7 a bag, $ 6 at Rouses, usually always on sale at Rouse’s for $ 4.50). They are exploiting being the only market in a food desert of Faubourg St. John, rather than sympathizing with this real problem. Fortunately for essential goods there is a solution: Sip wine store next door handles distribution of Hollygrove Market’s weekly CSA box upon preorder at Hollygrove’s website, every Saturday. Really though, it’s one thing for the ‘New Orleans Food Co-​op’ to overcharge in a blantantly bourgeoise, trustafarian, organic grocery pretense, but Canseco’s is also audaciously fronting as a Mom and Pop place. And this is not a ‘Cuban’ grocery, nor anything to be found. The staff is the slowest to be found anywhere, completely consistently spaced out, the prepared foods are terrible, and the wine selection is terrible. I saw an associate stock multiple packages of rotten herbs on the shelf. They should learn that they don’t hold a monopoly on staple goods: Rouse’s is yet another 10 min. walk, and better still is the Italian grocery-​convenience store across the street. Naïve one-​time visitor tourists have all favorably reviewed this place here.

The best little Cuban store in New Orleans. Your only going here for Cuban food which is delish. Get the cuban sandwich which is real with the real cheese the real roasted pork and ham with mustard and pickles on real latin style bread. Hot and cheesy it is a delicacy when done right. Then go to the chips isle and get a bag of fried plantains and you will never want chips again. For dessert get the tres leche cake if they have it, it sells fast. Then you will have a real Cuban meal right here in NOLA.

I come in from out of town a couple of times a month to ride my bike around the city to d-​stress and clear my head when works gets tough. The location is a great place to park and start my ride. This is a nice clean place with a great selection of whatever you need to enjoy your time in the city plus there is a clean restroom. The people are so nice. Last week I had an emergency confrenece call which included printed forms. Walked in and asked if i could recieve a fax for my meeting… no problem. I love these people and this place. Located right across the street from a park. Wow what else could a person ask for in a food market. Locals are so lucky to have a place like this close by.

I love Conseco’s. Some items are way overpriced, but it still has a special little place in my heart from the days I lived in Bayou St John. It’s usually quiet, and it’s funny to see it packed during jazzfest. Friendly Staff.

Convenient, nice location. Pretty decent selection for a small neighborhood grocery (organic products along with conventional grocery store fare). Pretty expensive, but I would rather go here than Rouses.

This is my convenient store. When I forgot to get an ingredient and I am in the middle of cooking, or if I want to get some beer, or wine, or liquor and don’t wanna get in the car and drive, I can walk here and get what I need.
The produce is kind of weak, but the staff is always nice and if I don’t feel like cooking they have a pretty decent hot food selection, and sushi, too.

I always leave Canseco’s with a smile on my face.
–friendly and helpful staff
–aesthetically pleasing
–convenient
–small enough to feel personal
–big enough to have what you need
–deli food is appetizing
–nice cheese selection
–always a few good looking people in the store

Super convenient, tiny little grocery store in Mid-​City. My only complaint is that it tends to be kind of expensive, as in Whole Foods kind of expensive, but they’ve got everything I need and it just makes me happy to go there. Plus I’m too lazy to go to the real grocery store.

The prices here are higher than they need to be, I don’t think anyone can argue with that; I will guess that nearly everything in the store is 20−30%, sometimes 50% higher than the larger, Rouse’s Supermarket nearby. But, I can easily walk there, so end up buying much of my bits and staples from them.
The employees here are very friendly and knowledgeable. Their food and beverage selection is outstanding and seems well suited to its location. The produce is just above average but does always seem fresh. Their prepared/​deli food section is also pretty good, but nothing to do cartwheels over. If the other family grocery on the block (Terranova’s) kept later hours, I would exclusively shop there and ignore this place. But, it is always clean, well-​stocked and open until 10pm. One could do a lot worse with a neighborhood spot like this and I suppose we’re all lucky to have it.

Old Timey folks (ok, those of us who lived here in the 90’s) remember the Whole Foods on Esplanade. Clint Maedgan even likes to refer to it in song. But I have to say that I have been pleasantly surprised by the Canseco’s market that has moved into that building. Right after Hurricane Gustav, when the neighborhood was without power for DAYS (thanks, Entergy), this grocery got a couple of generators and let us creep around in the dark foraging for fruit, canned goods, chips, wine, and anything else that didn’t need refrigeration. There was enough power for them to run one light and one register and the floors were soaking wet, but everyone was in a good, joking mood and the spirit of the neighborhood really came out. I go here now whenever I run out of milk, need a bottle of wine, some local Creole Cream Cheese ice cream, fresh fruit, or even a birthday card for a friend. It beats hitting up the Rouse’s on a weekend or driving out to Wal-​Mart. For staples the prices are a little high, but I will continue to shop here whenever the need arises.