We’re going to New Orleans with a big group of friends this weekend. We’re staying in the French Quarter, and our activities probably will be confined to that general area. My husband and I have never been to New Orleans, so we’re looking for some restaurant recommendations. Here are the criteria:
Casual attire allowed.
Preferably priced under $20 per person (not including drinks).
We will arrive after midnight Friday night, so we would love to know of a restaurant that’s open late or all night.
I believe we are legally bound to eat cajun food or seafood while visiting, but we know there are a billion places that serve this. Which ones are good?
Any good places for breakfast?
If you want to recommend other cool places to visit, I’m all ears. We’re mostly agenda-free except for Saturday night, which is a joint bachelor/bachelorette party for a couple who are getting married in a few weeks.
Grab breakfast at the legendary Camellia Grill, a short and pretty streetcar ride from the Quarter to the Garden District.
Get a muffaletta sandwich at the Central Grocery on Decatur Street in the Quarter, along with an icy cold Barq’s root beer in a glass bottle (much tastier than everyday Barq’s) and stock up on snacks and groceries to bring home with you. It’s a fantastic sandwich, and you can probably feed 2-4 hungry people with a whole one.
The world-famous Cafe Du Monde is a very short walk from the Central Grocery, in the heart of the Quarter’s French Market. Sit a spell, order wonderful coffee with chicory and several plates of beignets (delicious French-style donuts, heaped with powdered sugar) and just watch people and listen to street musicians. It’s one of the quintessential New Orleans experiences.
To be honest, I never had a bad meal in New Orleans, and I spent most of my time there (on four separate trips over the years) in the Quarter. What you may want to do is concentrate on sampling a few local favorites at each restaurant, so you can see how everyone does their own jambalaya, or red beans and rice, or fried oyster po’boys. I admit I don’t have much experience eating at fancier, more expensive places, but it sounds like you aren’t looking for the “white tablecloth experience” anyway.
If you’re drinking (and it sounds like you are), you must go to Tropical Isle and get a Hand Grenade (or two, or three). I like them far more than the famous hurricane drinks (popularized at Pat O’Briens), but if you’re there, you might as well try both.
Just be sure to carry your wallets in your front pockets, hold purses and bags close, stay in groups (especially at night), and don’t talk to anyone who tells you they bet they know where you got your shoes.
At least once you might try breakfast at Brennon’s. It’s famous for it.
Check to see if The Coffie Pot is still in business. It’s down the alley from Pat OBrian’s. It had daily specials that a student at Layola could afford.
Big Bad Voodoo Lou’s got a lot of the basics down, but I got to plug Taqueria Corona. Even though I live in Texas now, that’s still probably my favorite Mexican restaurant ever. The food is ridiculously cheap and just awesome. There’re multiple locations around NOLA, but I don’t think any are in the French Quarter proper. There’s one on Magazine Street, though which is close enough for a long walk or a short streetcar ride.
Most recent experience I had was dinner at K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. Very Good. However, dinner + salad or dessert will probably run $30-35 instead of the $20. Menu but they usually have a couple of nightly feature selections as well.
You should also make a point of enjoying a Shrimp Po’ Boy while there (order it dressed). I’m sure someone will be able to recommend a couple of options on where to go.
Serious question about muffalettas: If you’ve eaten at Schlotzsky’s is it still worth getting a muffaletta in New Orleans? Is it one of those things you have to do just because you’re there?
I say it is, ideally at Central Grocery. However, I’m a huge fan of that sandwich to begin with and had it there for the first time, so I’m a bit biased. I like how they serve it cold, whereas places like Schlotzky’s and Jason’s Deli usually toast the hell out of it.
However, you can always order a half-muff or a quarter-muff, so you at least get the experience and the deliciousness, while still saving room for later.
Right in the Quarter, there is the Gumbo Shop I couldn’t believe how good it tasted. I am spoiled for life, unable to eat gumbo here in the north. For seafood, Deanies is great. But a word of warning, if you aren’t hungry, don’t get the platter. Don’t even get the half-platter. The food is great, but you get a huge mound of it. Seriously.
And now I am sitting here with no job wondering if I can swing a trip back down there for the food.
These are all good suggestions, everyone. I appreciate the info.
What does it mean to order a shrimp po-boy “dressed”? I’m a fan of both shrimp and po-boys, so I’ll definitely get have at least one.
Muffalettas are supposed to be served cold? I’ve always had them warm and toasted.
Beignets! I’ve seen them on TV, but never had any. That will be corrected.
I can’t drink all that much anymore. I was just diagnosed with MS so it turns out I need all my spare brain cells. Still, I need to get a little drinking in before I get on the medication. So…
I want to hit Pat O’Brien’s for a hurricane because I need a souvenir glass to match my antique one. My great-great-aunt got one back in the 1940s or 50s, and I have it displayed on our bar. It needs a friend. I hope to nurse the hurricane for quite awhile.
I’m not sure about the Hand Grenade since I’m not a big fan of energy drinks, but I might make my husband get one and take a sip of his. Ah, the joys of marriage!
INTIMIDATING GRIFTER: “I bet I know where you got your shoes!”
UNSUSPECTING TOURIST: “Oh yeah, where?”
IG: “On your feet.”
UT: “Okay, ha ha.” (UT TURNS TO LEAVE.)
IG: “We made a bet. You owe me now.” (IG BLOCKS ESCAPE ROUTE WHILE IG’S FRIENDS MATERIALIZE.)
Better to avoid that scene.
“Dressed” = “the works.” Shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes and pickles, remoulade sauce, possibly hot sauce.
Like I said, I greatly prefer them cold, but I love genoa salami and its cousin pepperoni, and think they taste much better cold. It’s a little easier to taste the unique flavors in the olive salad if it is cold, too. YMMV, and places in town other than Central Grocery may very well serve them warm.
You can almost certainly buy a souvenir glass without getting a drink to go in it.
The energy drink thing is brand new, or at least new since I was last there in 2001. Normally the hand grenade just a very sweet, delicious, highly intoxicating neon-green melon-flavored beverage, and they served them either on the rocks or icy like a daiquiri or margarita.
EDIT: My mom was diagnosed with MS over 20 years ago, but it has never slowed her down very much. She has been a kick-ass high school English teacher for over that entire time, and is looking forward to finally retiring this May. We suspect it may have gone into complete remission, so those kinds of things are quite possible.
Love me some muffaletta Ordered one as part of a lunch special one day - I didn’t realize they brought out the entire sandwich, which is easily enough to feed 3-4 people, PLUS a bowl of gumbo. I did the best I could but didn’t get past more than a third of it, but damn it was good. The meat is just kind of helping hold the olive salad in place
Allow me to recommend against Cafe Maspero on Decatur. I have eaten there twice and was unimpressed both times. The food is cheap and comes in large portions but it isn’t very good. When I was in New Orleans last year, I had their shrimp platter. It was decent but nothing to write home about.
A week ago when I was in New Orleans again, some friends wanted to try the Cafe Maspero so I went along, deciding to try something a bit more local. This time I had their Red Beans and Rice and it was the most flavorless plate of food that I’ve had in a long, long time. I do not intend to return if I can help it.
I’ll have to bookmark this thread so that next time I’m in New Orleans, I can avoid eating there again.
Also, If you’re looking for drink recommendations, I have to agree with Big Bad Voodoo Lou that the Hand Grenade is an excellent pick. It is equal parts melon liqueur, vodka, rum, gin and grain alcohol. It’s very good but a lot stronger than it tastes.
Also, I have to pass along equal recommendation to the Hurricane. It’s a rum drink with a strong passion fruit flavor (the man who introduced me to them described them as “grown up Kool-Aid”.) Be sure to get yours at Pat O’Brien’s on St. Peter St and sit in the courtyard if the weather’s nice.
My father told me a story about a similar scam. Apparently he had been in New Orleans about 20 years ago and someone said “I bet I know where you came from” and Dad just kept on walking. Then, fairly recently when he was back in New Orleans, someone said that to him again, his curiosity got the better of him and was told “From around that corner there” and Dad was then out $20.
That is a weird, weird scam. I’ll remember not to talk to strangers.
That website seemed to say that the Hand Grenade was made with an energy drink, but maybe they just mant you’d be so wasted you would get that crazy drunk energy. Gosh, I hope they can carry me back to the hotel!
I’ll have to try a cold muffaletta. I love olives, salami, and pepperoni too. Can you order halves or quarters? I’m sure I can’t eat the whole thing, and my husband’s one true culinary enemy is the olive so he won’t help me finish it. Maybe someone else in the group will.
flickster: I’m definitely having a dressed po’boy. I just read the links you provided and I wish I had one right now. 9:30am isn’t too early, right?
Lou, I’m glad your mom’s MS has been so manageable. That’s what we’re hoping for too, but it’s so scary not knowing how it will go. My great-grandmother has had it since the '40s, but only was diagnosed in the 70s. She’s 86 and has never had serious trouble walking.
What time do Louisiana bars have to stop serving alcohol? Not long after so many people fled Katrina and landed here in Houston, I overheard a woman on her cell phone complaining to a friend back home in NO that the bars in Texas were so ridiculous because they stop serving booze at 2am.
I think “Grenade” is a new energy drink based on the popularity of the Hand Grenade (alcoholic beverage), and they probably taste somewhat similar.
They sell halves and quarters, but they occasionally (rarely) run out. I don’t like olives very much on their own, aside from olive salad in a muff. You can also buy olive salad by the jar and bring some home with you!
My mom walks slowly and limps, but she also has arthritis, and we don’t know how much is the arthritis versus the MS.
I’m pretty sure there aren’t any mandatory closing times in Louisiana. It was a pretty big surprise to me when I moved to Texas last fall that they do have ones here. Not that I’m a drink-all-night person, but it feels weird to have to leave at a certain time. Louisiana also has creative open container laws. As long as you’re not driving (which it doesn’t sound like you will be), you can get any drink to go.
cbawlmer, if you guys like pizza be sure to stop by Mama Rosa’s at 616 N. Rampart, across from Armstrong Park. Theirs has been ranked in the country’s top 10.
Ordered one as part of a lunch special one day - I didn’t realize they brought out the entire sandwich, which is easily enough to feed 3-4 people, PLUS a bowl of gumbo. I did the best I could but didn’t get past more than a third of it, but damn it was good. The meat is just kind of helping hold the olive salad in place 