McKenzie's Pastry
Shoppes was a New Orleans institution for several generations.
People used to say they were going to "McKenzie's Bakery," but
the stores themselves weren't bakeries. They were retail
storefronts, literally "pastry shoppes." The main bakery was
down on Desire Street. All the goodies were baked down there, then trucked to the 30+
retail stores throughout the metro area. To this day, you'll
have people tell you that they miss McKenzie's donuts or
turtles, or petit fours, or blackout cake, or...well, you get
the idea. Even my 19-year old misses their chocolate whip-top
pie.
The
McKenzie's chain closed in 2001. This is, to my knowledge, the
only McKenzie's sign left. "Chicken
in a Box" was a feature of the McKenzies on the corner of
Frenchmen and Foy in Gentilly: The
entrance for the pastry shoppe was right on the corner, or you
could go around to the side entrance and get fried chicken.
After the storm, someone took over the entire location and
it's now a take-out chicken-and-sandwiches place.
There was only one "Chicken in a Box."
There was one other variation on the typical McKenzie's store,
the "McKenzie's Ice Cream Parlor, on Harrison Avenue in
Lakeview. That also closed years ago. The location, a bay in a
strip mall, was slated to become a Tastee Donuts prior to the
storm, but it never materialized.
