new orleans

[globetrotter]

I am going to be in New Orleans next week for 3-4 days, for work. I may have a lot of free time, strangly enough. I have been many times in the past, but I haven't been since before catrina. anybody have any interesting ideas about what to do there?

 

[chorse123]

"Home of pirates drunks and whores..."

I can't think hear the name and not think of the Simpson's song. Anyway, I've never been, but may be going down there for a weekend this summer. So hit me with some recommendations, too.

 

[vanity]

Lemme know when the tasteless jokes can begin.

 

[mrpologuy]

Make sure you go to Cafe DU Monde. It is the best coffee and french doughnuts you will ever have. Other then that, just enjoy the city. I was there for a few days in May and have to go bck. I loved it there!!!

 

[dah328]

In case you're wondering, Katrina flooding was concentrated primarily in two residential areas (interestingly, one rather poor and one rather affluent). The French Quarter and other tourist areas were relatively unscathed. If you have time, I would suggest you go see some of the flooded areas. It's an unusual confluence of acts of God, governmental incompetence, and social failure.

 

[dry the rain]

hey, i live in nola. it really depends on what you want to do/what kind of scene you're into, and your age. if you want to give me some more info, i could give you a whole bunch of suggestions. as for places you should hit up no matter who you are:

La Crepe Nanu on Magazine Street. Great atmosphere and a favorite among locals, very tasty food, wine. It fills up early so expect to wait or get there right after it opens for dinner.

Monkey Hill Bar on Magazine (near the park). It's a small bar that turns into a watering hole for the upwardly mobile young white people in New Orleans (there actually are a few) on weekend nights but it stays nice and relaxed at other times.

Circle Bar on Lee Circle. It's a hipster joint on party nights and weekends, but there's a cool crowd regardless and it's a nice dive.

Jacquimo's. It's supposedly one of the best restaurants in the city. I've never been, but I intend to soon.

Upperline Restaurant. Great spot, another one of the top notch restaurants. On Upperline and Prytania.

The Marigny/Bywater. Past the quarter (it's actually technically the upper 9th ward). Frenchman st. is the best row of bars in the whole city.

Cafe du Mond: i'd say the beignets (the french doughnuts) are far superior to the coffee. still a must.

Cooter Brown's: Carrolton and St. Charles. It's got the biggest selection of draft beers in the city. Kinda dive-ish, but it's a good time. It is a sports bar, so i don't know if that's a big deal to people or not.

Bulldog: Magazine St. Another place with a huge selection of draft beers. Right next to...

Nacho Mammas: Yeah, it's a cheesey name. But it's got damn good food and pitchers of margaritas. you have to like the kinda place it is (americanized mexican food and beer style) to enjoy it, but it's a good time if you like that kind of thing.

Delachaise: St. Charles and Delachaise St. Nice and relaxed wine bar. serves some good food too. Varied crowd.

there are others i'm sure...i'll come back later and try to fill in the blanks.

 

[globetrotter]

ok, I'm going to be in New Orleans with my wife for 3 days in may, celebrating our tenth aniversary. for those of you who know the city well, please throw out some suggestions - what to do, what to eat, where to hear music.

thanks.

 

[robertorex]

I love New Orleans. Listen to the locals, but as a complete foreigner with no guides I didn't eat food I didn't enjoy and didn't go to a bar where I didn't have fun. Be sure to sleep as little as possible.

 

[cbird]

I'd recommend the Restaurant Stella on Chartres - fantastic, also happens to be on the grounds of the Hotel Provincial, which is hard to beat as a place to stay - a finely refurbished early 19th century complex, right across the street from the Ursuline Convent, with antique furniture and gas lights burning outside of the windows at night - great atmosphere and reasonable rates, considering. Check out their websites.
For BBQ shrimp, I think Mr. B's Bistro has the best authentic version. For jambalaya, Kpaul's (Paul Prudhomme's restaurant) is great - best I've had. Commander's Palace is probably the best of the famous restaurants in the city and their Creole bread pudding souffle is outstanding. Walker's Southern Style BBQ is an excellent place for lunch (get there early - items disappear from the menu as they sell out).

 

[ChicagoRon]

There are a number of other posts on NOLA here... look up Jazz Fest.

My favorites....

Bayona.
Frankie and Johnnie's
Nola
and the classic 4 (Brennan's, Commander's Palace, Gallatoire's, Antoine's)

 

[NOLA1]

Originally Posted by dry the rain

hey, i live in nola. it really depends on what you want to do/what kind of scene you're into, and your age. if you want to give me some more info, i could give you a whole bunch of suggestions. as for places you should hit up no matter who you are:

La Crepe Nanu on Magazine Street. Great atmosphere and a favorite among locals, very tasty food, wine. It fills up early so expect to wait or get there right after it opens for dinner.

Monkey Hill Bar on Magazine (near the park). It's a small bar that turns into a watering hole for the upwardly mobile young white people in New Orleans (there actually are a few) on weekend nights but it stays nice and relaxed at other times.

Circle Bar on Lee Circle. It's a hipster joint on party nights and weekends, but there's a cool crowd regardless and it's a nice dive.

Jacquimo's. It's supposedly one of the best restaurants in the city. I've never been, but I intend to soon.

Upperline Restaurant. Great spot, another one of the top notch restaurants. On Upperline and Prytania.

The Marigny/Bywater. Past the quarter (it's actually technically the upper 9th ward). Frenchman st. is the best row of bars in the whole city.

Cafe du Mond: i'd say the beignets (the french doughnuts) are far superior to the coffee. still a must.

Cooter Brown's: Carrolton and St. Charles. It's got the biggest selection of draft beers in the city. Kinda dive-ish, but it's a good time. It is a sports bar, so i don't know if that's a big deal to people or not.

Bulldog: Magazine St. Another place with a huge selection of draft beers. Right next to...

Nacho Mammas: Yeah, it's a cheesey name. But it's got damn good food and pitchers of margaritas. you have to like the kinda place it is (americanized mexican food and beer style) to enjoy it, but it's a good time if you like that kind of thing.

Delachaise: St. Charles and Delachaise St. Nice and relaxed wine bar. serves some good food too. Varied crowd.

there are others i'm sure...i'll come back later and try to fill in the blanks.

I agree with most of dry the rain's recs, especially Upperline and Delchaise.

I used to live on Upperline and ate at Upperline and Le Crepe Nanu often. They are both fantastic. Jacquimos is slightly overrated and the wait is ridiculous. The food is good, not great, and it's a fun place to eat (during the wait go pound a few at the Maple Leaf next door). Balcony Bar, Bulldog, Monkey Hill on Magazine are a couple of my favorite bars.

If you're in town for a few days I would definetely hit the following spots:
Dick & Jenny's (unreal for dinner),
Clancy's ( also amazing for dinner - smoked softshell crabs FTW),
Domilises (best po boy on earth),
Irene's (sick Italian), Port O'Call (great burgers),
F&Ms (go around 4am while hammered for the cheese fries),
Cochon (dinner),
Plum Street Snowballs (best snowballs in the city - be sure to get it topped w/ condensed milk), Pat O's is fun too
Restaurant August (Besh's restaurant; actually the Besh steakhouse in the casino is awesome too)
Superior Grill (mexican here is really solid)
Mr. B's (barbequed shrimp)

Just go get lost in the quarter, drink some beers, play a few hands at Harrah's, eat an amazing dinner back to Bourbon w/ a hand grenade, back to Harrah's, hit the nudes, grab some late night lucky dogs on Bourbon, wake up the next morning not remembering the lucky dog but wondering why your stomach is annihilated for the next 24 hours.

 

[robertorex]

when I was there on a volunteer trip my schedule was:

7a: get up, breakfast
9a-3p: gut houses, smash insides of houses with spades and various implements
4p-7p: nap
7p-4a: get lost in the quarter
4a-7a: nap

repeat 6x

 

[Steve Smith]

1. Bar: On the corner of Chartres and Bienville in the FQ, it's called either the Chart House or the Chart Room.

2. Restaurants: The two we ALWAYS go to are K Pauls and Mandina's. Mandina's is a trolley ride out Canal St. Tujaques has a fixed price menu for dinner. Last time out we hit that and it was interesting. There are a lot of great places to eat and drink in the FQ. Bourbon Street is mostly obnoxious unless you are a kid, more touristy and less character.

3. Just walk around in the French Quarter. It's an interesting place.

 

[coachvu]

Restaurants
Cafe du Monde - very famous place near Jackson Square in the French Quarter. 800 Decatur St. They serve cafe au lait and beignets for breakfast.
Johny's Po'Boys - 511 St. Louis St, French Quarter, excellent po'boy sandwiches
Jacques-Imo's - famous restaurant in the Uptown area (you need to take a cab from downtown; it's pretty far away). It's been there forever. It's good but overpriced.
Mother's Restaurant - 401 Poydras St., traditional Southern food, very good breakfast
Reginelli's Pizzeria - it's a local chain, but I thought it was very good.

Pralines - local candy
Southern Candymakers - 334 Decatur St.
Leah's CAndy Kitchen, 714 St. Louis St.

Bars
Pat O'Brien's, 718 St. Peter St. (off of Bourbon) in the French Quarter. Enormous place. Looks small from the outside but has a huge courtyard. It's been there for over 100 years, I believe. Very famous, known for their hurricanes
Maple Leaf Bar - Uptown, next to Jacques-Imo's. We didn't get to go, but it looked awesome, and it's also very famous. Supposedly great music
The Bulldog - Uptown, huge beer selection. 3236 Magazine St.

Music - Preservation Hall, traditional jazz, 726 St. Peter St.

Shopping - Faulkner House Books, 624 Pirates Alley. Has a lot of special edition books and southern writers. Faulkner apparently wrote some stuff upstairs.
Louisiana Music Factory - 210 Decatur St., specializes in local music

 

[Bona Drag]

I live here. Feel free to PM if you're going south. I'm not as creepy/insane IRL as my SF persona. Edit: Chartres House isn't that bad, but...