New Orleans Restaurant

My wife and I will be spending a couple nights in New Orleans’s in a couple weeks. Does anyone have any destinations to check out or restaurants?

New Orleans has alot to offer. The must stops are..
Pat O’Briens for a hurricane.
Cafe Dumond for Benieghs and good coffee.
The central grocery. It is a 50’s throwback grocery store. Get a muffeletta sandwich there. They are amazing.
Jean Lafittes bar is a fun stop. It is the oldest bar in New Orleans.
There are carriage rides and of course there is the casino.
If you like day trips go see the Destrahan plantation. It is a great look into the old Southern culture and history.
Lots of great restaurants,I would stay away from the street vendors,their food isn’t as good generally. Definitely try some good seafood gumbo and shrimp or crayfish etouffe.
Have fun but be safe. Absolutely stay in the touristy areas. Lots of crime outside.

If your in the French Quarters
POBOYS NOLA!!!! – (Bourbon St) or go to Muriel’s. Great food

Out of town you’ll find hole in the wall places with incredible seafood boils. Bring your appetite

If your up to taking a drive and checking out some unique things to LA, take Hwy 23 south to Venice – bit of a minor touristy thing, but you go along a lot of Gulf/tidal swampland. Incredible some of the birds/wildlife to see

We have done a few of the bayou tours/gator viewing trips. I don’t mean to be demeaning or disrespectful to anyone. But if you do this, you need to find the most deep rooted- hardcore cajun swamp boy you can!!!! I couldn’t find the name with a quick google search, but it was one trip I didn’t think I was coming back from. That crazy basturd had me freaked out. Never understood one word he mumbled, but had a dam good time and saw a lot.

There is a place called “mother’s” a couple blocks off the French quarters that make real deal southern LA food. It is not fancy but a easy walk if you want to get out of the quarters for an hour and get real southern food that’s my pick. It is a al carte menu so could see an upside to having a group and trying a few things. Nothing that’s a 10 but everything is 9’s on the scale from my experience. I have only been there twice so no expert. Best food I had was out of town a ways. Have fun and watch out for the zombies. They seem to wake up off the street right around sunset. Haha

Mahony’s Po-boys and Willie Mae’s have fantastic food. Cafe Dumond for dessert.

Emeril has his operation headquartered there and at least 3 different restaurants; all good, but spendy. The Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel is the birthplace of the Sazerac cocktail; outrageous expensive but fun (maybe you can expense some of this?!). The WW II Museum is impressive. Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar is fun, especially during Shark Week. Hurricanes and Hand Grenade cocktails will make you forget where your hotel is. Try chicory coffee too. Enjoy!

I love the food in NOLA. JW finn’s is the best restaurant I have been to there. All the Emeril’s restaurants are solid too as mentioned above, the more casual one had a great happy hour we took advantage of.

While everyone was heading to the bars/restaurants, I chose a slightly different avenue to spend time while in New Orleans.

Bayou Swamp Tours

I had a great time and would do it again possibly with a fishing guide if time allowed.

They have shuttles from the French Quarter as well.

gunsmith89 wrote:

My wife and I will be spending a couple nights in New Orleans’s in a couple weeks. Does anyone have any destinations to check out or restaurants?

New Orleans is a great-great city and IMO it’s the greatest food city in America bar none. While increasingly, all the cities in America have become Generica–all looking similar–Nawlins and her people will always, thank God, be a different breed of cat.

Food is central to the culture all over LA, so NO is certainly a city where you want to eat where the locals eat and like the locals eat. IMO this can be a little challenging for midwesterners to get their heads around for numerous reasons, but when in New Orleans, do as the New Orleanians do.

There is no place where insider advice from locals is more valuable than in New Orleans. Talk to people! IMO this is the most underrated fun in New Orleans, BTW. You wouldn’t believe what bartenders, waiters, hotel staff, and just locals I struck up a conversation with in a bar have told me.

But don’t ask, “Where should we go…” Wrong question! You’ll get the tourist answer.

Ask: “Where would YOU go for…” Then go there.

I’m not going to tell you where to go, but here’s what I’ve learned about how and when to eat in NO:

Breakfast – If you must get up early–and as you will see, the definition of “early” varies wildly in NO–then you need a great French bakery and, obviously, you need coffee and beignets. Hint: Not Cafe du Monde, try the Vintage.

Brunch – A much more civilized option because if New Orleans didn’t invent the boozy brunch, then they most certainly have perfected it!

Dinner – This ain’t Scandinavian bachelor farmer territory. Dinner is NOT eaten at 5 or 6:00. Only tourists eat that early. Dinner in New Orleans starts at 7 or 8 and it starts with really awesome cocktails (never beer!) and then proceeds at a leisurely pace from there.

Eat Local – Look, it can be a little intimidating to approach a menu full of items that most of us can’t pronounce, but freaking send it! If you don’t know what it is, ask and then try it. If you don’t know how to eat it, ask. They already know you’re a tourist because even if your French is as good as mine (!) you’ll have mispronounced everything anyway. Try the stuff that you’ll probably never have the chance to eat again.

Awesome city, certainly my favorite place in the south. Have a great time.

Bayona, Cochon, La Petitte Grocery, Juan’s Flying Burrito.

Can’t go wrong with any of these or others listed.

As previously mentioned, the muffaletta from Central Grocery is epic.

If you like wood fired pizza and other good Italian eats, check out Domenica in the historic Roosevelt Hotel. It’s a John Besh restaurant. Great happy hour deals.

For burgers go to Port of Call. No fries, just baked potatoes. Great bloody’s.

Cochon Butcher has awesome sandwiches. Or get a roast beef po’boy with debris from Mother’s.

Endless options. Have a great time. NO is fantastic. Be sure to tour the garden district. St Charles streetcar is a cheap way to see a good chunk of the city.

Thank you everyone! I am going to start a list so I can google what is close to where we are staying before our cruise. Much appreciated!!!

A New Orleans food thread and I don’t think I seen Jambalaya or Crawfish boil anywhere ? Like said… ask the locals where they go for some good soul food. 😎

Willie Mae’s. Best fried chicken I have ever had.

Salvo’s in Belle Chaise! Just south of New Orleans.

This topic is making me hungry. Does anyone know of places around east metro for some good Cajun food? After all, Mardi Gras is not that far away now!

Nice Fella wrote:

This topic is making me hungry. Does anyone know of places around east metro for some good Cajun food? After all, Mardi Gras is not that far away now!

Dixie’s on Grand in St. Paul is awesome, and they have the best brunch around (I’m not sure if currently offering it tho).