I figured this would be a good place to ask. Headed down next week for the first time (during the French Quarter Festival) and I'm looking for suggestions and general knowledge of the city. Restaurants, bars, areas to see, areas to stay away from....really anything to make the trip better.

(04-05-2013 08:23 AM)wh49er Wrote:  I figured this would be a good place to ask. Headed down next week for the first time (during the French Quarter Festival) and I'm looking for suggestions and general knowledge of the city. Restaurants, bars, areas to see, areas to stay away from....really anything to make the trip better.

There's tons to do around the French Quarter.. You can throw a rock and hit a bar or restaurant.. One of my favorite restaurants is Cafe Mesapero.. It's on Decatur, make sure you bring cash.. You can't go to NOLA without hitting Pat O'Briens either.

Bourbon Street is ok and there are some cool places to go into.. We found Howling Moon last time we were down and we're going down again in May with some friends, and we'll definately be going there again.

Go uptown and hang out, go to Pat O's and Jax.

National WWII Museum is awesome as well.

Mother's Restaurant... Ferdie Special Po Boy was quite possibly the greatest thing I've ever eaten. It may be a tourist spot, but it's freaking unreal.

(04-05-2013 08:57 AM)ECUGrad07 Wrote:  Mother's Restaurant... Ferdie Special Po Boy was quite possibly the greatest thing I've ever eaten. It may be a tourist spot, but it's freaking unreal.

Mother's also has the best jambalaya I've ever had.

Mothers is great. You might also try the Camellia Grill for breakfast.

It's a great diner with no tables, only counter seats.

You can take the streetcar on St. Charles and get off and walk across the street to get to it. The streecar ride goes right by a ton of beautiful homes in the garden district, Audobon park, and Tulane University.

Camellia Grill

The Camellia Grill
626 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA
(504) 309-2679 ‎

Quote:The Camellia Grill is a landmark diner in the Carrollton section of New Orleans. It is on Carrollton Avenue near its intersection with St. Charles Avenue on the St. Charles Streetcar line.
The Camellia Grill opened in 1946. Despite suffering little physical damage, the restaurant was closed after Hurricane Katrina until April 2007, when it reopened under new ownership. During this period of closure, the Camellia Grill's front door was festooned with hundreds of notes from locals and tourists who missed it.

The restaurant only offers counter service and its staff is usually gregarious. It is well known for its long-serving waiters, the most famous of whom was probably Harry Tervalon, Sr., who was the first waiter hired in 1946, and who even after his 1996 retirement remained associated with the restaurant (including cutting the ribbon when the Grill finally reopened after Katrina), until his death in August 2007. The establishment is noted for such casual cuisine as giant omelettes, cheeseburgers, "freezes", and pecan pie heated on the grill.

I've been a few times. I loved the atmosphere and food at Parkway Tavern. It's a little off the beaten tourist path, but well worth it. If you're into craft beer, the Avenue Pub is one of the best craft beer bars in America, and a really unique place to have a beverage.

Cooter Browns for sports watchin n oysters. Cam. Grill for a fun breakfast. Pascals Manale for some bbq shrimp. Surreys for breakfast. Cowbell for lunch. Maple Leaf bar for live music or frenchmen st.

I'll pm a better list later.

Mandina's on Canal St. is a good lunch/dinner spot that's close to Downtown. It's about halfway between Downtown and the cemeteries. The food is what I would describe as traditional New Orleans, i.e. Creole with a hint of Sicilian. It's streetcar-accessible. One drawback is that Archie Manning used to show up there. But he's got his own restaurant now, so you're probably OK.

If you are looking for something other than the usual cajun feast, check out the Green Goddess on Exchange Place...is between Royal and Chartres...runs perpendicular to and is just off of Beinville.

Is pretty tough to go wrong with any selection, but if you want something a little out of the ordinary with a blend of cajun accent, the Green Goddess is your guy.

The Boucherie is pretty great. Its over off of Carrollton on Jeannette St. Its small though, so you might want a reservation. They serve a bit of everything there


Another good (fairly inexpensive) place is Squeal on Oak Street. Some of the best BBQ I've had.

Also, if you want to get away from the throngs of people in the FQ, try going up to the city park and visiting their urban forest off of Harrison Ave, in the center of the park. Its a pretty serene place.

(04-05-2013 10:47 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  If you are looking for something other than the usual cajun feast, check out the Green Goddess on Exchange Place...is between Royal and Chartres...runs perpendicular to and is just off of Beinville.

Is pretty tough to go wrong with any selection, but if you want something a little out of the ordinary with a blend of cajun accent, the Green Goddess is your guy.

It is tough to go wrong. My only suggestion in that regard is that there are some tourist traps. Maybe there are some good restaurants right on Bourbon but in general I'm wary of them. That Oceania place pops to mind... they bombard NOLA with advertising, pay local TV/radio personalities to lie on their behalf, and so on. I wasn't even hip to this until they showed up on a truly horrifying episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

One of the best places to eat in the city is Drago's, but it's out in Metairie, so the tourists don't often find it.

Quote:One of the best places to eat in the city is Drago's, but it's out in Metairie, so the tourists don't often find it.

Ahh, but there's also one in the Riverfront Hilton, right off the lobby. Same food. Char-broiled oysters a must.

(04-05-2013 11:03 AM)TU77CAL82 Wrote:  

Quote:One of the best places to eat in the city is Drago's, but it's out in Metairie, so the tourists don't often find it.

Ahh, but there's also one in the Riverfront Hilton, right off the lobby. Same food. Char-broiled oysters a must.

I didn't know that. That's really good to know.

(04-05-2013 10:56 AM)AndreWhere Wrote:  

(04-05-2013 10:47 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  If you are looking for something other than the usual cajun feast, check out the Green Goddess on Exchange Place...is between Royal and Chartres...runs perpendicular to and is just off of Beinville.

Is pretty tough to go wrong with any selection, but if you want something a little out of the ordinary with a blend of cajun accent, the Green Goddess is your guy.

It is tough to go wrong. My only suggestion in that regard is that there are some tourist traps. Maybe there are some good restaurants right on Bourbon but in general I'm wary of them. That Oceania place pops to mind... they bombard NOLA with advertising, pay local TV/radio personalities to lie on their behalf, and so on. I wasn't even hip to this until they showed up on a truly horrifying episode of Kitchen Nightmares.

One of the best places to eat in the city is Drago's, but it's out in Metairie, so the tourists don't often find it.

You are right. I found out about the Goddess by walking into a restaurant and asked the maitre d' if he could recommend something off the 'beaten path'. He scored on that one.

There is also a really good po-boy joint not to far from the Bienville House to the north...can't remember the name of it...was a tad tipsy...was recommended by one of the hotel employees. He scored too.

Good stuff guys, thanks.

Pjs coffee...(citywide) Wow cafe (canal)... Drago's (Hilton)...

(04-05-2013 01:50 PM)pablowow Wrote:  Pjs coffee...(citywide) Wow cafe (canal)... Drago's (Hilton)...

WoW was started by Scott Ballard (Tulane DB from the mid 1990s). A lot of people run it down; it's basically a chain restaurant staffed by suburban kids. I like WoW a lot, though, particularly if there's a game I want to watch.

Hands down, the best sammiches in the world are at Johnny's Po Boys. They are on a side street just of bourbon a block or two. I believe they deliver. Don't leave Nola without eating a fried oyster poboy and a muffelata.