Places to eat/drink in New Orleans

Wow, you only have a weekend and you'll have to spend time and meals at wedding events? If you're a foodie, you can easily spend a week eating and drinking your way through New Orleans. ;D

If you're sticking with the Quarter, you HAVE to go to Pat O'Briens and get a hurricane in the patio at night - it's amazing. For food in the Quarter, there's breakfast at Brennan's and dinner at Antoine's. Both are pricey. Antoine's used to have lunch, which is more moderate. I think they still have some limited lunch hours. Right on the edge of the Quarter on Canal St., there's the Palace Cafe, another nice but relatively pricey place. A less pricey but classic New Orleans suggestion for the Quarter would be a muffelatta from Central Grocery. Cafe du Monde is also good. (I think Morning Call in Metairie has better coffee.) I don't think that much of Mother's, but I'm not a big fan of roast beef and their roast beef poor boy is supposed to be one of their better things. Acme Oyster house is another solid choice.

Beyond the Quarter, there's Commander's Palace, pricey but very nice. Jacque Imo's is a solid choice, too, but they don't take reservations unless you have a party of 5 or more and the wait can be HUGE. For a classic New Orleans place, there's New Orleans Food and Spirits - amazing corn and crawfish bisque and shrimp poor boys at a great price for lunch. It's in Lakeview, which suffered a lot of Katrina damage, but the restaurant was on the side of the levee that didn't give way. If you like Vietnamese and want to visit the West Bank, you can go to Kim Son. And if you want the best snow crab and spicy tuna in sushi, visit Kanno Sushi in Fat City.

Ah, New Orleans food ... YUM! If you're going to do seafood though, remember that right now oysters are not exactly in season so they won't be rancid or anything, but they just won't be particularly good.

 

Best coffee ever... Man, do I love that place...

 

It's expensive as fuck and tough to get a table, but Gallatoire's is an amazing experience...

 

Oh my god! I'm so embarrassed that I forgot Galatoires. GO TO GALATOIRES!

It's right in the Quarter. And, since Katrina - at least as of the last time I was there at the end of January, it wasn't that difficult to get a table for lunch. I've only been there for dinner parties for dinner. But lunch basically runs what a medium to medium-expensive dinner would costs, and it's well, well worth it if you're going to do a New Orleans dining experience. The name escapes me right now, but they have an amazing salad with lettuce, tomatoes, lump crabmeat and (large) shrimp in it - it's SOOO good. If they have them (they don't have them every day,) they're fried softshell crabs are amazing. And, the last time I was there, they had this amazing sweet potato cheesecake. Go to Galatoires - you won't regret it.

I'm not sure what the deal is since Katrina, but they used to not take any kind of credit cards. So be prepared to pay cash. I think the dress code is no jeans for lunch and a jacket for dinner.

There's been lots of places listed on this thread (and I added my fair share.) But, since you have a limited amount of time and are looking to stay in the Quarter, eat at Galatoires, drink at Pat O'Briens and have beignets and cafe au lait at Cafe Du Monde. If you do that and have the time to get to New Orleans Food and Spirits and preferably Hansens for a New Orleans style sno-ball, you'll be doing great. But don't miss out on Galatoires.

 

Fritzel's European Jazz Pub (733 Bourbon Street) is the place of which you speak of. Been there once, worth a stop for sure.

I know you've indicated a preference for staying in the Quarter, but if you venture Uptown (a pretty cheap taxi ride away), here are my favorite Uptown stops:

Juan's Flying Burrito's: On Magazine Street in the Garden District. Good and big burritos. Lots of combos.

Fat Harry's: At St. Charles and Napoleon. Good college-type joint. Lots of Tulane co-eds. Good looking waitresses. Good bar food.

Cooter Brown's: At Carrolton by the levee. Good sports bar with a bazillion types of beer on tap an in bottles/cans. Oyster bar. Great bar food. Love the cheese fries and the decadent stuff they dump on top of a greasy cheesburger.

The Kingpin: On Upperline and Lyons, near Tulane. Good bar to chill out in. Mix of college, yuppie and hipster crowd. No food. Good shuffleboard game. Good jukebox.

I also echo the Jacque-Imo's tip. Some of my NOLA friends insist it's the best food in the city. No reservations though, so get your name on the list and tell them you're going to be waiting at the Maple Leaf Bar, which is a couple of doors down. They'll come and get you.

 

I'll second that one. Great experience. Especially if you get a good waiter. Actually, they're all good. But if you get a great one it's a real treat. Coat and tie for the gentlemen though. Galatoire's has been in New Orleans forever and you can feel the history oozing from the walls.

Easy to find too. Right on Bourbon next to the Hustler Club.

Another good place in the Quarter, and I think it's still there, is The Court of the Two Sisters.

 

My wife is in the wedding, so the only actual wedding time I have to devote is Friday night for the rehearsal dinner and Saturday for the wedding.
The wife definately wants to go to Cafe du Monde and I've heard of Mothers before, so we'll probably go to both places. If I'm lucky, maybe the in-laws will take us to Gallatoire's.
I hope to go to every watering hole in NOLA on Thursday night and maybe Friday night.

Thanks for all the info on restaurant/bars to check out.

 

I'll throw in another vote for Cafe Mespero. Good food, decent prices (maybe $5-$15 for an entree). But when I was there last summer, they didn't take credit cards so make sure you have cash. They do have an ATM in the restaurant.

Commander's Palace is also phenomenal. If you have time, go just for the experience. We went for lunch a couple years ago (it was $75 with the tip for two people, and that was on the low to mid end of the scale). I took a sip of water, and I swear to god I saw the water girl spot my glass from down a hallway, about 30 feet away, and immediately pick up the pitcher and walk over to refill the glass. Just incredible.
And they'll wrap up your leftovers in the shape of a duck.

 

Rita's in the French Quarter for dinner. Hidden gem. Outstanding if you like seafood. Not expensive either. The Taste of New Orleans is outstanding.

 

Yes it did...and yes, Mothers is the place to go

 

Crawfish are going out of season, too, right?

 

Mother's for a debris-laden po-boy.

Christian's for an incredible sandwich inside a church.

Luigi's on Decatur for a cosmic muffaletta.

Antoine's for Oysters Rockefeller and Baked Alaska.

Brennan's for Eggs Sardou and mimosas galore.

Brigtsen's is my favorite restaurant there.

Oh, and best little trip place: Lafitte's Landing by the Sunshine Bridge. WOW!