Here are some. If you search the web for “Louisiana” and “forfeiture” you get a bunch. For all I know the “rural sheriff 15 years ago” you mention may have been at the root of it all, but, why wouldn’t that count? Of course, if his activities have stopped, maybe there is no other problem.
http://www.fear.org/980314.html
I see lots of references to a Dateline expose. It could be that theirs is the thing I thought I remembered as “60 Minutes”.
The best fried chicken in the city is apparently Willie Mae’s Scotch House on St. Ann. Haven’t been there myself, but people rave about it.
My wife and I had some fantastic crawfish etouffee at a French Quarter restaurant while we were there two years ago. I can dig up the name of the restaurant when I’m home tonight.
And you can’t go to New Orleans and not have a po’boy. I’ll third the recommendation of Johnny’s.
Random car confiscations aside, you’ll have a blast. There are many great places to eat in a relatively small area. Check out the Chowhound forum for some foodie advice. The two places I’ve heard a lot about and am dying to try are Stella and Brigtsens.
Be sure and explore off of Bourbon St. Too many people think Bourbon is all that NOLA has to offer and miss out on a truly wonderful city.
Hopefully we’ll be heading down next month!
The OP doesn’t say anything about getting out of NO proper, but the one and only time i was in the area (two years ago) I had way more fun out in the bayou.
Two tours: one was an airboat ride, fast and loud, some wildlife but not too much due to the noise of the boat. The other was a pontoon boat, where we saw hundreds of gators, even many that will swim right up to the boat (they’re not aggressive). Surprisingly, no bugs on either trip (one of the guides explained why, but I forget.) Pick up brochures when you get down there and you’ll find both kinds of tours. I would recommend one of each.
Also, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway is a unique experience.
We also drove around until we saw a neighborhood full of (mostly) boarded up houses. It looked like a lot of them were condemned so maybe they’re gone now.
If you have a little cash to spare, try NOLA (http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/2/NOLA-Restaurant/welcome) and/or Delmonico (http://www.emerils.com/restaurant/3/Emerils-Delmonico/welcome). Those are both Emeril’s places and the food and service are excellent. Some of the best meals I’ve ever had were in N.O.! My favorite city to eat.
To assuage your sweet tooth in the mornings, you can’t go wrong with either the Croissant D’or Patisserie or the Cafe du Monde.
As far as other places to eat…the best suggestion I can make is to just walk around the Quarter and let your nose lead the way.
Cochon is one of the best restaurants in the city. The best thing I’ve had there was head cheese, of all things.
I agree with the Mr. B’s recommendation. The Gumbo Ya Ya and BBQ shrimp are both great.
Jacques Imo’s is very good and a lot of fun, but the place can be hard to get into.
Upperline is another fine restaurant. This is the place that created shrimp remoulade on fried green tomatoes. Very good food and service.
The best jazz clubs are on Frenchmen Street in the neighborhood called Faubourg Marigny, just outside the French Quarter. There is a local free paper called OffBeat that covers the music scene - you can browse the web site or the print version to find out who is playing where.