Downtown New Orleans has a new excuse to get a little messy at the table. Wow Turkey, a new restaurant built around oversized smoked turkey legs, has quietly opened this month and is turning a carnival staple into full meals, with 24-ounce, house-smoked legs stuffed with New Orleans flavors like crawfish étouffée, jambalaya and five-cheese mac.
Wow Turkey is at 401 Andrew Higgins Boulevard and lists itself as "Now Open" on its website, with weekday hours and late-night weekend service, according to Wow Turkey. Axios included the spot on a spring roundup of new openings and notes the location sits in the former Ugly Dog Saloon space. Booking pages such as OpenTable show reservations are already being accepted.
Stuffed legs and the menu
The menu leans hard into the overstuffed-leg idea. Online ordering lists a mud-bug leg stuffed with crawfish étouffée, a jambalaya leg, a seafood-pasta leg and a five-cheese mac option among other turkey-forward dishes. The choices appear on the restaurant's ordering page at Toast, and WWLTV reports the legs are slow-smoked in roughly a 10-hour process to tenderize the meat and develop a glossy glaze.
Where it fits in the city's food scene
The arrival of Wow Turkey follows a busy spring for New Orleans openings and slots into a trend toward elevated Southern comfort concepts that riff on classic street and fair foods. Axios included the restaurant among its list of recent spots and flagged the concept's social presence as part of the early buzz.
About the owner
Owner Lance Domino is credited with the concept, and he discussed the business and its origins on a Nolazine podcast episode, according to an Amazon Music listing. The restaurant's site also promotes catering and private-dining options as ways the owners hope to expand the concept beyond the single downtown dining room.
Full menus and prices are visible on the restaurant's online ordering page and reservation platforms, and early listings on OpenTable show the new spot earning solid initial feedback as it settles into its first weeks. Expect a hands-on, takeout-friendly meal that plays to New Orleans' appetite for bold, shareable plates.
