Metairie-ites in the know love this family run po’ boy and platter shop on Clearview, and with good reason — it dishes large portions of homestyle eats, from sandwiches and salads to daily dinner specials. Speaking of large portions, World Deli’s muffuletta is as big as it gets, and the mini muffuletta party tray is a Mardi Gras favorite.

Scot and Stephanie Craig, owners of Katie’s restaurant, also have Lakeview’s Francesa’s Deli; Stephanie came from St. Louis (which has a huge Italian American community), and the restaurant celebrates that, namely by using Provel cheese, a St. Louis cheese mash-up of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone. This ultra-stretchy cheese makes the muffuletta stand out from the crowd. This version comes on a toasted Gendusa bun, with Kalamata olive salad for a twist.

Metairie’s charming, family-run Giorlando’s restaurant opened in 1972 and is much loved by locals and neighbors. Giorlando’s muffuletta comes on a nine-inch round of fresh baked bread, filled with salami, ham, mortadella, mozzarella, Swiss, and John G’s olive salad, served hot. Now run by the second generation, the restaurant’s Facebook page is pretty adorable with mostly family photos. Good to know: It’s closed on the weekends.

Metairie’s Nor Joe’s resembles Central Grocery in that it’s both a market and deli with plenty of cool Italian items to take home. The muffuletta here is served hot or cold (though usually hot) and the eatery piles the olive salad in the middle of the layers of meats and cheeses. It makes for a well-balanced sandwich, but if you like the olive salad oil seeping into the bread, it might not be the perfect one for you. Mini muffas are perfect for a party, buy them by the tray.

This 1940s-era Creole Italian restaurant in Mid City is known for its own special twist on the classic muffuletta, called the “Frenchaletta.” Forget the round seeded loaf. Liuzza’s stuffs it all in po’ boy bread. It’s basically the opposite of the one at Parran’s (muffuletta bread stuffed with po’ boy fillings).

Creole House, because of its location on Canal at Decatur, draws a largely tourist crowd. But locals in the know that happen to be nearby would be well advised to check out the restaurant’s solid menu of Nola dishes, from char-grilled oysters to po’ boys, red beans and rice and — ta-da — a damn fine muffuletta, served pressed to melt the cheese.

Donald Link’s Cochon Butcher raises the bar with any sandwich it has on its menu. When it comes to the muffuletta, Butcher is crowd favorite, thanks to its fluffy bread, and high quality house-cured meats and olive salad. With meats weighed precisely and piled according to texture, the sandwich is architecturally perfect. It’s served warm from an oven that applies both steam and heat.

Napoleon House pairs its hot muffulettas with opera music in a French Quarter spot full of history: The building was once set up to receive Napoleon in exile. He died before he made it and now it’s home to stellar muffulettas and cold Pimm’s Cups. If it’s nice out, grab a seat in the courtyard.

Located in the French Market, Alberto’s Cheese and Wine Bistro is basically a little lunch counter with a Mediterranean menu that borrows from the chef/owner’s Spanish roots. He serves a dynamite version of the muffuletta with a few twists. In addition to provolone and mozzarella cheese, salami, mortadella, and freshly house-made olive salad, he sneaks a little chorizo in there. For vegetarians, there’s a muffuletta with mozzarella, provolone, olive salad, lettuce, tomato, and avocado.

Fiorella’s may be best known for its award-winning fried chicken, but the decades-old family business now headquartered in Gentilly offers much more. This old-school counter service shop is one of few area red sauce joints, known for meatballs, veal, and chicken parmesan, as well as New Orleans classics like fried chicken, po’boys, and muffulettas. They love their muffuletta bread so much they also use it for the stromboli.

Dimartino’s is a must-stop on the West Bank for a muffuletta or roast beef po’ boy since 1975. Now with three locations, including one of the Northshore.