New Orleans - Recommend me foods and stuffs

[MrHat]

I'm hitting New Orleans w/ my woman over New Years next weekend.

We're staying in the French Quarter (got a great rate and a 2-star). 

What awesome spots are do-not-miss while I'm there? Some super awesome food spots? I literally have nothing picked out yet :(

[Evildrider]

Commander's Palace is pretty much one of the top restaurant's in NO.  I ate there once and I thought it was pretty good.  I also ate at Emeril's.  I know, TV Food Network Emeril?  Yes, but the place was great.

[01101010]

Pat O'Briens - and not the dumb ass one in the mall - the one off Bourbon. That is almost a requirement. Seeing your other post, I'd say the heavy drinking is out, but I can't recommend Hand Grenades enough. I have never blacked out in my life other than the time I drank 2 of those. I actually woke up in the courtyard of Jackson Square. As for the stuff... Walk the river after the mall where the paddleboats dock - there is always some old timers out there playing the horn. Sit and listen and drop a $5 note if they have their case open. Something intoxicating about listening to the sax sitting on the mississippi river bank in New Orleans... bonus points if you can smoke a joint first, if you are into that sorta thing. Most relaxed I ever have been was stoned and listening and chatting with soe old sax player down there. I miss that place a lot.

[voodoolily]

If you're going touristy, hit Cafe Dumond for beignets and chicory coffee. Otherwise, eat at least one meal at a hole in the wall that has a tiny, ancient black woman in the kitchen. Order more food than you can possibly eat. I recommend the oyster stew.

[sigil]

Commander's Palace is pretty much one of the top restaurant's in NO.  I ate there once and I thought it was pretty good.  I also ate at Emeril's.  I know, TV Food Network Emeril?  Yes, but the place was great.

Commanders Palace is where the tourists go, and it's subpar to what it used to be. Mulate's got big when Alton Brown  raved about it, but it is good stuff.

Emeril has three restauraunts in NO. Delmonico is the best of the three. It's  outside of CBD, but not far.  You can take a trolley, as  it's off St Charles. Definitely get reservations. Domilise's is a good place for poboys.

Mufaletta from central grocery is  a decent choice for lunch. Napoleon house is decent, but I've had several from central and it's consistently good. It's the olive salad that makes it.

Pat O's, The Old Absinthe house, The Napoleon House for drinks as a tourist.  Preservation Jazz Hall is worth a look.  There's better, but this is a safe selection.

Cafe du monde is overrated, but one of those you might as well places. Don't expect too much. It's beignets and cafe au lait.

Only go to the house of blues if there's someone you want to see. Everything on the riverwalk is overpriced crap you can get at you own mall.

[01101010]

Holy shit how could I forget, Acme Oyster Bar. Fantastic Po-Boys... catfish or shrimp - and of course, fresh oysters straight outta the gulf. Amazing atmosphere too.

[Ozzu]

It's been quite a few years since I was there, but I specifically remember two places being pretty damn tasty:

Acme Oyster House
The Court of Two Sisters

[BoatApe]

Galatoire's - 209 Bourbon St. - try it midweek but if the line is more than a block long forget about getting in. Can be a bit pricey but worth every penny. Be prepared to spend a few hours over lunch soaking up the food and the culture.

At the other end of the spectrum, Coop's on Decatur St., next to Molly's on the Market. Looks like a total dive bar, you'll eat on old folding tables and chairs, the prices are great and the food is out of this world.
I highly recommend the Duck Quesadilla or any of their pasta dishes if your tastes run in that direction.

For music, One Eyed Jacks in the Quarter for harder rock most nights, or get over to the Marigny and Frenchman St. for a more eclectic selection of jazz, blues and world music.

A lot of folks overlook the Aquarium of the Americas but it's one of my favorite spots to spend a couple of hours. From there you can catch a paddlewheeler for a river cruise. Not too long and a great way to see the city from a different angle.

Get out of the city to Destrehan Plantation or Oak Alley if you have time...hell, I'm homesick and could go on and on.

Have a blast!

[Hawkbit]

I enjoyed Pat O'briens, have a hurricane.  They're about the best in the city, imo.  Food was pretty staple... good but not adventurous.  

Hit a voodoo shop/museum.  It's worth the $5.00 for admission, unless you're scared.  

Don't walk around just the two of you at any point alone.  Stay with other people and stay in the French Quarter.  Too much bad shit happens to folk.  Maybe carry a fake wallet with $10 in it in case you get robbed, give them that.  

Also make time for a hand grenade.  By the time we got there I had to physically restrain my wife from trying to stick her arms into the hand grenade suit, not sure what was happening by that point.  There's a picture floating around of me passed out with my tongue flopped out on a table at a pizza joint at 4am.

The 'absinthe' at the old absinthe house isn't really absinthe.  You can skip it.  

My favorite time was at Lafitte's Blacksmith shop/bar after dark.  Whole place is lit by candlelight and it just has this atmosphere right out of 1750's pirate lifestyle.  We spent hours there on all three nights.

We lucked out when we went a few years ago because it was Satchmo festival, ?100th? anniversary of Louis Armstrong's birth.  Parades all over, good food and I lived off shrimp remoulade.  

Been wanting to go back badly, maybe this summer. !! Have fun!

EDIT:  Oh yeah, breakfast at Cafe Dumond each morning, without question.

[01101010]

The midnight graveyard tours are done pretty well - but I have not been back to NOLA since Katrina so I have no clue what has changed about them. I doubt anything since they were a huge cash cow. Definitely go at night. I took my mom during the day and it was a tad boring - pretty but boring. Night however is a totally different game.

[BoatApe]

Midnight graveyard tours are great, but don't take it upon yourself to have a go at it. Go with an organized group.

Most of the alarmist warnings about the crime are waaaay overblown, but going to a graveyard alone at night in New Orleans is kinda asking for it...

[SnakeCharmer]

For food:  Drago's, Galatori's, Acme Po Boy Shop.  All highly recommnended.  Especially Drago's. 
Preparty spots (where to go to get your groove started): The Wine Loft, Lucy's
For nightlife:  Pat O's, Cat's Meow, Tipitinas (usually over crowded, but still a good time), Howlin' Wolf (if it's still open), The Circle Bar

Be prepared to say 'holy shit' alot on the drive on I10 or I610.  Looks like a war zone.  Just stare straight ahead.
Watch your wallet.  Stay on the main streets.  You will see things on NYE you can't unsee 
Don't fall for the 'I betchoo 5 dolla I kin guess where you got yo shoes' routine.

[Bunk]

Dickie Brennan's Steakhouse in the French Quarter has an Oyster bar next door that still lets you order steaks off the menu, but is much more casual than the actual Steakhouse. The ribeye was to die for, and you can slurp down raw oysters while you wait. Also, be sure to try gumbo at least once.

Cafe du Monde is touristy, but worth it touristy. The voodoo shops are worth it just for the thrill.

I wish I could go again.

[01101010]

For food:  Drago's, Galatori's, Acme Po Boy Shop.  All highly recommnended.  Especially Drago's. 
Preparty spots (where to go to get your groove started): The Wine Loft, Lucy's
For nightlife:  Pat O's, Cat's Meow, Tipitinas (usually over crowded, but still a good time), Howlin' Wolf (if it's still open), The Circle Bar

Be prepared to say 'holy shit' alot on the drive on I10 or I610.  Looks like a war zone.  Just stare straight ahead.
Watch your wallet.  Stay on the main streets.  You will see things on NYE you can't unsee 
Don't fall for the 'I betchoo 5 dolla I kin guess where you got yo shoes' routine.

Cat's Meow - god that is a memory fuck. I haven't been down I-10 since 1999 but it was not a shining beacon of glamor then either. And yes, NOLA is the spot for pick pockets so keep the wallet in the front pockets and the purse straps across the chest at elbow height.

For the record, I spent the Y2K new years eve right in front of Jackson square... you definitely can not unsee stuff there, ever. Though the hand grenades can help speed up time so you don't have to bear it too long.

[SnakeCharmer]

...you can slurp down raw oysters while you wait....

Do not eat the raw oysters from the New Orleans area.  I wouldn't even eat the cooked ones.  Anything from the Mississippi River/Delta area and west?  Do.  Not.  Eat.  If they're coming from Alabama or Florida?  Go ahead and enjoy - but still be wary of the risks.  But ask your waiter where they are from.  If he/she says New Orleans or Texas?  Skip it.  The Gulf Coast has also had record rainfalls, which is bad for oysters as well (silting).

For the record, I spent the Y2K new years eve right in front of Jackson square... you definitely can not unsee stuff there, ever. Though the hand grenades can help speed up time so you don't have to bear it too long.

Heh.  We started off with hand grenades from Tropical Isle for my bachelor party some years ago.  The bar crawl continued at which point we ended up in some hole in the wall joint where I've never felt so out of place in my life.  People walking around in full S&M gear, goths, some being led around by chains to collars while on their hands and knees.  We drank our minimum then got the hell out of dodge with a quickness.  I think it was called The Dungeon.  The looks we got (bunch of yuppie preppie guys wearing polos and khakis) were priceless.  No amount of brain bleech has removed that memory from my mind.

[01101010]

Heh.  We started off with hand grenades from Tropical Isle for my bachelor party some years ago.  The bar crawl continued at which point we ended up in some hole in the wall joint where I've never felt so out of place in my life.  People walking around in full S&M gear, goths, some being led around by chains to collars while on their hands and knees.  We drank our minimum then got the hell out of dodge with a quickness.  I think it was called The Dungeon.  The looks we got (bunch of yuppie preppie guys wearing polos and khakis) were priceless.  No amount of brain bleech has removed that memory from my mind.

What the hell is that street called that intersects Bourbon opposite way from Canal? I recall starting my graduate program at LSU and being taken down to the Quarter and was told anything past that street and you were entering the "land of rainbows and pink triangles." Of course this was coming from a homophobic southern born male - but still, he was dead on about a definite demarcation point.

[CmdrSlack]

Heh.  We started off with hand grenades from Tropical Isle for my bachelor party some years ago.  The bar crawl continued at which point we ended up in some hole in the wall joint where I've never felt so out of place in my life.  People walking around in full S&M gear, goths, some being led around by chains to collars while on their hands and knees.  We drank our minimum then got the hell out of dodge with a quickness.  I think it was called The Dungeon.  The looks we got (bunch of yuppie preppie guys wearing polos and khakis) were priceless.  No amount of brain bleech has removed that memory from my mind.

That place was one of my late-ish night haunts after Kagan's closed. It was a bit odd, but hey, by the time we'd arrived there, we were all seriously bent as it was.

[sigil]

...you can slurp down raw oysters while you wait....

Do not eat the raw oysters from the New Orleans area.  I wouldn't even eat the cooked ones.  Anything from the Mississippi River/Delta area and west?  Do.  Not.  Eat.  If they're coming from Alabama or Florida?  Go ahead and enjoy - but still be wary of the risks.  But ask your waiter where they are from.  If he/she says New Orleans or Texas?  Skip it.  The Gulf Coast has also had record rainfalls, which is bad for oysters as well (silting).

I knew I was forgetting something. I don't eat oysters, but this  x 10. Tons of rain this year. Bay and the delta are all fucked up from normal.

For the record, I spent the Y2K new years eve right in front of Jackson square... you definitely can not unsee stuff there, ever. Though the hand grenades can help speed up time so you don't have to bear it too long.

Heh.  We started off with hand grenades from Tropical Isle for my bachelor party some years ago.  The bar crawl continued at which point we ended up in some hole in the wall joint where I've never felt so out of place in my life.  People walking around in full S&M gear, goths, some being led around by chains to collars while on their hands and knees.  We drank our minimum then got the hell out of dodge with a quickness.  I think it was called The Dungeon.  The looks we got (bunch of yuppie preppie guys wearing polos and khakis) were priceless.  No amount of brain bleech has removed that memory from my mind.

Edited out a good memory of the second floor of that place 

[Hayduke]

If you go to Domilise's just make sure you tell them no ketchup.  Most of the touristy restaurants have been mentioned.  I'd try to go to Pascal's Manale (kind of far though).  Drago's is good.  Magnolia Cafe is good, it reopened with new management after K.  Cafe du Monde is a waste, I'm a native and I'll never understand the appeal of beignets and chicory coffee is everywhere and most people hate it if they're not from N.O..  Jack Dempsey's is good if you want authentic kind of food, but the neighborhood is kind of scary for a tourist.  I generally avoid the French Quarter as much as possible.

[sigil]

Cafe du Monde is a waste,

Thank you for this. I remember being dragged there by one of the people in the above censored story at 4  for some of that stuff. It was wretched. it was fried dough with powdered sugar and chicory coffee is disgusting. I understand why it was made, but God  if  that isn't some nasty shit.


So, where should I go for a sandwich that's not a poboy next time I'm doing business in NO?

[Bunk]

Each to one's own. Mind you, I like my coffee bitter, maybe that's why I like it. I won't drink coffee if it has even a hint of sugar in it. I still have six cans of Cafe du Monde's blend in my pantry.

Beignets, well, yea it's a fried donut lump with six pounds of icing sugar in the bag. What's not to love?

[sigil]

 Takes all kinds on chicory coffee,  but  having had good beignets, these were crappy clumps of sugar coated grease nuggets, and not in a good way. 

Also in the day, the swarm of humanity makes the place smell the business end of bourbon street from  shoe level.

[Sheepherder]

This one person from NO that used to be in my WoW guild once told me this story over Ventrilo about how he walked into his dorm during Mardi Gras to find his straight A law student dorm-mate blazed out of his mind.  Aside from that anecdote, I've got nothing.