My wife, cousin, (best friend really) and I are going to be stopping over in NOLA March 6th before we go on a 50th birthday cruise with 27 other friends and friends of friends. All of us turned 50 recently.
Last time I was in NOLA was 42 years ago. We can’t wander too much as my cousin is recovering from a broken kneecap. This restaurant choice would be just for a small group (not all of us).
So…… Looking for a good local restaurant that might have some entertainment as well. Emphasis would be on food though. Perhaps a live band on the side would be nice.
That’s a large question, when you are talking about one of the most amazing food-centric places on the face of the Earth.
Are you looking for seafood specific places? Cajun food? Creole cuisine? Cheap, amazing holes-in-the-wall that locals flock to? Five star splurges, setting each diner back $300-400 per head? Some of the old, legendary spots or one of the new, trendsetting places that have all the buzz currently?
There are at least 20 places that I will be happy to personally guarantee, but those tend towards the more casual, moderately priced, non-formal end of the scale. Over the years I have had many meals at the best of the best down there as well, though the more I travel to New Orleans, the less necessary I find it to spend a couple hundred bucks on a meal, when there are SO many exceptional tastes available for $10 or $15 per person…
I agree with MPB in Salt Lake. I used to live in New Orleans. It is one of the best food cities in the world. It isn’t something you really have to search. It has everything from great low end dives to some of the best restaurants in the world depending on what you want. New Orleans has several of those but casual dining is also outstanding. It is pretty hard to go wrong if you ask once you are there. It is like asking for a good bar in New Orleans. They are everywhere and the less than great ones don’t last long.
wow. not sure whether you will get hundreds of posts or very few. That is a broad question!.
I personally like Irenes Cuisine at 539 St. Philip. No entertainment. The better restaurants often don’t. People take food seriously here and some piano playing in the back doesn’t help with food. Irenes is kind of expensive and frequently crowded. We didn’t have a long wait last time we were there-maybe 20 minutes.
My favorite high end restaurant is Broussards. YMMV. Definitely old style elegant.
If you need good food and some local flavor, one place that seems quite French Quarter is Napoleon House Bar & Cafe at 500 Chartres Street. From what I remember, it is fun and casual. Food is quite good. But I haven’t been there in years. It has been there forever ™, so the food can stand the competition.
Welcome to the city!
If you set some bounds on what you are looking for, you will get better answers.
There are hundred’s of restaurants in the Quarter and downtown. Average doesn’t last long.
My three favorite places in NO are Bayona, the Acme Oyster House, and Johnny’s Po-Boys, though there are a dozen others I dearly love too. None of them typically have live entertainment, but I would be inclined to have dinner, then catch a cab to Frenchman’s Street. Or toodle a bit in the afternoon (you can barely throw a rock in the Quarter without hitting a band playing somewhere), have a nap and rest the knee a bit, then do dinner.
A thread like this regularly gets opened as was noted above; but I don’t care because I love pointing to Jacques-Imo’s and this suggestion will work perfectly with the OPs request since there’s a bar right next door that plays awesome live blues music.
Yes, I know a very, very broad question. Especially considering the city.
Now I’ll make it real hard to nail down. I don’t eat seafood, and my cousin is a vegetarian (I’ll have to check, maybe she eats fish, it’s a new thing she started). My wife would probably prefer seafood. Most any decent seafood place has a good steak and some vegi dishes.
As long as the food is decent, I think we are looking for a fun atmosphere NOLA style. Price, eh, say no more than $50 a plate.
I haven’t had a chance to look at the suggestions yet, but will tonight and get back to y’all. Heh.
Virtually ANY place you end up going (from the most upscale to the corner dive bar) will have several seafood choices for your wife to enjoy, as seafood is part & parcel of the New Orleans dining experience.
The non-meat eating cousin may end up with pasta, but you can be sure it will be exceptional as well…
If after going thru those other threads you have any questions on specific places, don’t hesitate to ask!!!
(I fly down in late April for another visit, and I am already debating on exactly where to have my first meal when I get into town—Seriously!)
There aren’t many places in NOLA that I know of that meet all your requirements. The local cuisine doesn’t have much for vegetarians. Here are a few places that I really like that should make everyone in your group happy:
Thanks, it is going to be a bit tough. I absolutly cannot eat seafood. But a steak, pork or chicken is fine. Or just vegi. I think that my cousin can/will eat seafood, I emailed her and am waiting for a response. Still checking out all the suggestions. And thanks folks
Palace Place has fabulous food. You can walk down the street for additional entertainment. I’m dying to return to NO just to get the Cochon du Lait Pot Pie from their lunch menu.
Deanie’s Seafood is another great choice for real NO traditional food.** Mother’s **is another place for that traditional style.
I kneo if i were going to NO, I’d want a boil day. Just somewhere to go for a real Cajun or Creole Boil up… swimp, crawdads, and any condiments and vegetative matter… corn an taters wouldn’t be out of place…boiled on up with a real cayenne heavy boil.
I figured. My point is NO is not well known for it’s tofu dishes. And I’m not well known for caring about vegetarian diets. (For saying that anyway. Actually I have vegetarian friends and go out of my way to make them good meals or find restaurants that serve good food they can eat. But I’ll still make clear my meatatarian preferences)