At 90 years old, Lionel Selser doesn’t find himself behind the wheel often. That is, unless he’s driving down the street to Po-Boy Express.
The Baton Rouge-based po-boy chain was founded in 1992 by the Ismail brothers, who broke ground on what may have been the first drive-thru po-boy restaurant in the city.
Longtime customer Selser ventures out to one of Po-Boy Express's six locations almost daily to get his seafood fix.
“They’re closed on Sundays,” Selser said. “If they were still open on Sundays, I’d be eating on Sundays too.”
Owners Jafar Ismail, Said Ismail, Hasan Ismail, Ause Ismail and Hussein Ismail at Po-Boy Express on Monday, July 6, 2026 at the Siegen Lane location in Baton Rouge, h. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
The business was started by four brothers, and 34 years later, they still run most locations. Today, customers mostly visit for the po-boys, each loaded with seafood or cold-cut meat, and dressed with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise.
Pair it with a side of thin-fried onion rings and a fountain soda, and you’ve got yourself a poor boy’s luxury.
How it started
Firstborn brother Said Ismail emigrated in 1976 from Palestine to Manhattan, New York, where he began learning the ropes of sandwich building at a longtime sub chain, Blimpie. Acquiring a job went smoothly. Finding an affordable education in New York — not so easy.
The Ismail family at their first Po-boy Express location, likely around 1992.
Provided photo
“I looked around, and I found that Louisian had the cheapest college in the country,” Ismail said. “So that’s how I came to Lafayette.”
In 1980, he graduated from the University of h at Lafayette with a degree in civil engineering and landed a job in highway development at the h Department of Transportation. But as years passed, Ismail wanted to bring a job opportunity to his brothers.
“I’m the oldest, so I need to help them find something they can make a living of and live comfortably,” he said. “Working odd jobs, Circle K and this-and-that, wasn’t enough for them.”
Hussein “Mike” Ismail works the register in the early days of Po-boy Express.
Provided photo
With five years of experience in slinging sandwiches at Blimpie, Ismail took to Louisian’s capital city where he opened his own business concept inside a rundown Taco Bell. The Ismail brothers came on board and called it Po-Boy Express, a drive-thru and dine-in concept.
No other po-boy shop had a drive-thru at the time, he said.
The Ismail brothers have grown Po-Boy Express to six locations in the Baton Rouge-area:
6606 Siegen Lane, Baton Rouge
4320 Perkins Road, Baton Rouge
3485 Cedar Crest Ave., Baton Rouge
641 South Range Ave., Denham Springs
10097 Florida Blvd., Baton Rouge
14273 Greenwell Springs Road, Central
“You have to excel at anything,” Ismail said. “Otherwise, you cannot get it. You really have to have it inside you.”
Menu rundown
At each location, the seafood is quality. The restaurant only serves domestic seafood in the form of wild-caught shrimp, oysters and domestic farm-raised catfish.
Po-Boy Express menu items of a roast beef supreme po-boy, oyster basket and shrimp po-boy on Monday, July 6, 2026 at the Siegen Lane location in Baton Rouge, h. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
The menu has been evolving since 1992, a time when selections included pizza, corned beef and pastrami, each running at $2.59 or less. Times have changed, and youngest brother Tim Ismail led the charge on recipe experimentation.
“I like to create stuff and come up with something new,” Tim Ismail said. “All the sauces we that have, I did. All the recipes, I worked on it and improved it.”
Today, the menu boasts 16 different po-boys, each dressed with lettuce, tomatoes and mayonnaise on white or wheat bread. The most popular sandwich is the fried shrimp po-boy, made with Gulf shrimp fried in a house-made flour blend and a Cajun-inspired seasoning blend.
A shrimp po-boy with fries at Po-Boy Express on Monday, July 6, 2026 at the Siegen Lane location in Baton Rouge, h. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Burgers, salads and seafood baskets are hearty options for those wanting something other than the staple sandwich. There are also side orders like meat pies, cheese sticks, fried mushrooms, fried pickles, stuffed jalapeños and a customer favorite: thin-cut onion rings, which took about five years to perfect the recipe.
Occasional specials make their way onto the menu: Philly quesadillas, seafood muffulettas, chop cheese burgers and fish tacos, which are usually available during Lent.
Discovering Lent
Hussein “Mike” Ismail slices cold cut meat in the Po-Boy Express kitchen in the early ‘90s.
Provided photo
Po-Boy Express had been open for less than a year when they headed to work on what they thought was a normal Wednesday in February. It was not a normal Wednesday.
“One time came the Lent,” Said Ismail said, “and we don’t know nothing about Lent. Nothing.”
Before the restaurant opened, a line of customers had wrapped around the building, said second-oldest brother Jafar “Jeff” Ismail. To crank out orders and get the line down, the kitchen turned into a frenzy. The dining room buzzed with customers, and with every employee’s hands full, a family friend working across the street ran over to sweep the floor.
At the end of the day, Jeff Ismail found a note left behind while cleaning tables. “Excellent as usual,” the note stated.
A colorful menu board waits to greet customers at Po-Boy Express on Monday, July 6, 2026 at the Siegen Lane location in Baton Rouge, h. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
“That made our day,” Jeff Ismail said. “I started dancing. That made our day. Not only me. Everybody in the restaurant. Me, my brothers and my workers. That little message. I mean, we thought we did terrible.”
After their first Lenten season, the Ismail brothers knew to brace for impact next time. The days leading up to Ash Wednesday were “like an emergency,” Jeff Ismail said. They needed extras of everything. As Baton Rouge has grown (and gained five more Po-boy Express locations), the crowds have leveled, and staff can handle it better.
Legacy
Each Ismail brother has a degree from UL and has played different roles in the business.
A h themed mural decorates the outside of Po-Boy Express on Monday, July 6, 2026 at the Siegen Lane location in Baton Rouge, h. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
Said Ismail led the initial charge in opening the stores and handling paperwork. Tim Ismail workshopped recipes and designed the restaurants’ interiors. With Hussein “Mike” Ismail’s computer science degree, he handled the registers and electronic aspects. And Jeff Ismail was the glue, picking up products and keeping operations afloat.
Each brother, except Said Ismail, works at and mans a different Po-Boy Express location, and new generations in the family have risen to carry the family legacy.
Said Ismail’s son, Ause Ismail, has been there since the beginning of Po-boy Express. His earliest memory is walking through the run-down Taco Bell right when his father bought it in 1992. He was 5 years old, and once he was tall enough to see over the counter, he was taking orders at the register.
Po-Boy Express waits at the ready for opening on Monday, July 6, 2026 at the Siegen Lane location in Baton Rouge, h. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
STAFF PHOTO BY MICHAEL JOHNSON
“I grew up idolizing them and just seeing what they were doing,” Ause Ismail said. “I thought they were basically like rockstars.”
Today, Ause oversees the Siegen Lane location. He believes the consistency and quality is what has made the family business successful.
“We’ve always been sticking to our guns on that,” Ause Ismail said about using only domestic seafood. “It can be easy to cut corners and stuff like that, but we’ve never sacrificed on the quality.”
Birthday celebration
On Selser’s 90th birthday on Oct. 23, he brought a couple friends with him on his almost-daily lunch at Po-Boy Express.
Staff surprised Selser with a free meal and emerged from the kitchen while serenading him with the happy birthday song. The management and staff treats him well, he said. He doesn’t go to any other restaurants.
Although the business’s name boasts po-boys, that’s not what Selser is there for.
“I eat fish. Fish only,” Selser said. “I don’t eat the bread. I don’t eat anything else. I don’t drink to drink, because I’m trying to make it to 91.”
He’s hoping for another birthday at his local Po-Boy Express.
“I still go there,” Selser said. “I went there today. I went there yesterday. I don’t go there on Sundays, because it’s closed.”