New Orleans

[thenewguy]

We'll be taking a trip soon and wanted to know if anyone had any 'must sees' or 'must eats' in the big easy.

[Garrett]

Went a few years ago myself! New Orleans is just such a beautifully unique city that I'm sure you'll not have a bad time no matter what you do. Generally, service at restaurants was a little slow, but that seems to just be a cultural thing. I feel like at every single restaurant we went to we ended up waiting about 15 minutes before seeing our waiter.

Naturally, beignets at Cafe du Monde are a must.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cafe+ ... FQAw%3D%3D

We had brunch at Tableau on their balcony overlooking Jackson Square which was very cute.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Table ... FQAw%3D%3D

Also on Jackson Square, Muriels is a lovely higher end restaurant with a "ghost table" that I forget the exact story of.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Murie ... FQAw%3D%3D

I'd also suggest taking the tram into the Garden District to see a lot of very beautiful architecture

[thenewguy]

Went a few years ago myself! New Orleans is just such a beautifully unique city that I'm sure you'll not have a bad time no matter what you do. Generally, service at restaurants was a little slow, but that seems to just be a cultural thing. I feel like at every single restaurant we went to we ended up waiting about 15 minutes before seeing our waiter.

Naturally, beignets at Cafe du Monde are a must.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cafe+ ... FQAw%3D%3D

We had brunch at Tableau on their balcony overlooking Jackson Square which was very cute.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Table ... FQAw%3D%3D

Also on Jackson Square, Muriels is a lovely higher end restaurant with a "ghost table" that I forget the exact story of.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Murie ... FQAw%3D%3D

I'd also suggest taking the tram into the Garden District to see a lot of very beautiful architecture

fantastic! We are for sure doing cafe du monde. We were there about 7 years ago, but it was just for a day, so we did see a few things but there was a ton we didn't get to see or do. Crawfish are on the menu, creole anything, and maybe a hurricane or two.

[Doctor Fate]

Went a few years ago myself! New Orleans is just such a beautifully unique city that I'm sure you'll not have a bad time no matter what you do. Generally, service at restaurants was a little slow, but that seems to just be a cultural thing. I feel like at every single restaurant we went to we ended up waiting about 15 minutes before seeing our waiter.

Naturally, beignets at Cafe du Monde are a must.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cafe+ ... FQAw%3D%3D

We had brunch at Tableau on their balcony overlooking Jackson Square which was very cute.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Table ... FQAw%3D%3D

Also on Jackson Square, Muriels is a lovely higher end restaurant with a "ghost table" that I forget the exact story of.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Murie ... FQAw%3D%3D

I'd also suggest taking the tram into the Garden District to see a lot of very beautiful architecture

fantastic! We are for sure doing cafe du monde. We were there about 7 years ago, but it was just for a day, so we did see a few things but there was a ton we didn't get to see or do. Crawfish are on the menu, creole anything, and maybe a hurricane or two.

We went last year and had a great time. We stayed at The Roosevelt and I would absolutely stay there again. Like Garrett said beignets at Cafe du Monde are a must, though the whole French Market was a cool cultural snapshot and would recommend walking around to see the vendors. Brunch at Court of the Two Sisters is pure Cajun and Creole cuisine and they have live music. I'd also recommend a short ride on the streetcar, just for the experience.

[Louie]

I can't recommend the French market enough. And if you are a fan of oysters, they were bringing buckets of fresh oysters to these shucking tables and serving them not minutes off the boat. Best oysters I've ever had.

[iamjacobm]

I'd recommend Frenchmen Street. It is less chaotic than Bourbon Street but still lively and the music is way better.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I second Frenchman Street and also recommend a walk down Magazine Street in the Garden District. It’s a mix of cool shops, and restaurants. My foodie friend and I ate at Shayla on Magazine Street. It’s middle eastern cuisine rather than New Orleans-style cuisine, but it’s incredibly delicious.

I also recommend Mother’s for po boys. It’s a hole in the wall but it’s oh so good.

[damonhynes]

We'll be taking a trip soon and wanted to know if anyone had any 'must sees' or 'must eats' in the big easy.

If you're an infrastructure geek, the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway is impressive. Also, lots of river bridges with oceangoing ship clearances.

[ricko]

We'll be taking a trip soon and wanted to know if anyone had any 'must sees' or 'must eats' in the big easy.

Preservation Hall. I first went to New Orleans several years ago. The city has a rich musical tradition that revolves around Cajun, Zydeco, and especially Jazz. It was my main reason for going. It was also one of the first cities in the country to have decent food. If you should happen upon a “2nd line”, all are invited to join the procession.

[thenewguy]

Awesome suggestions everyone! For some reason, I think a week there is too short...

We also want to go see Oak Alley Plantation and may do a dinner cruise on a river boat. Problem is time. We are staying on Burbon Street and plan on doing a ton of walking around. WWII museum is on my list, but not hers, so we'll see if that happens. Not even going to get out of the french quarter, basically, so may need to do another trip in the future.

[damonhynes]

Awesome suggestions everyone! For some reason, I think a week there is too short...

We also want to go see Oak Alley Plantation and may do a dinner cruise on a river boat. Problem is time. We are staying on Burbon Street and plan on doing a ton of walking around. WWII museum is on my list, but not hers, so we'll see if that happens. Not even going to get out of the french quarter, basically, so may need to do another trip in the future.

Which hotel? I stayed at the JW Marriott in 2007—funky place, as befitting its location.

[thenewguy]

Awesome suggestions everyone! For some reason, I think a week there is too short...

We also want to go see Oak Alley Plantation and may do a dinner cruise on a river boat. Problem is time. We are staying on Burbon Street and plan on doing a ton of walking around. WWII museum is on my list, but not hers, so we'll see if that happens. Not even going to get out of the french quarter, basically, so may need to do another trip in the future.

Which hotel? I stayed at the JW Marriott in 2007—funky place, as befitting its location.

hyatt centric, I believe

[thenewguy]

well, i'll say this: New Orleans is in my top 3 food towns, bested only by NYC or Boston, and it's pretty damn close even at that. Gumbo and Jambalaya are phenomenal. Oysters, crawfish, gulf shrimp, and etouffe are amazing. Begniettes are pretty good, muffalettas are good. Bourbon street on fat tuesday is psychotic, but it was very clean the following morning (everyday, actually- they have a massive crew that cleans up trash, pressure washes/scrubs the pavement, and trash is emptied overnight. I was really impressed). Lots of national guard/police presence after the ramming last year. There were 2.2 million people over the 7 day period, but it was remarkably well controlled in spite of that amount of people. WWII museum is amazing, french quarter is huge and awesome and i loved it, St. Louis Cathedral is beautiful inside and out, the street music is great, jackson square is great, the weather was great. Crepes are great. I'd go back in a heartbeat...but maybe not during mardi gras ;)

[nativeomahan]

well, i'll say this: New Orleans is in my top 3 food towns, bested only by NYC or Boston, and it's pretty damn close even at that. Gumbo and Jambalaya are phenomenal. Oysters, crawfish, gulf shrimp, and etouffe are amazing. Begniettes are pretty good, muffalettas are good. Bourbon street on fat tuesday is psychotic, but it was very clean the following morning (everyday, actually- they have a massive crew that cleans up trash, pressure washes/scrubs the pavement, and trash is emptied overnight. I was really impressed). Lots of national guard/police presence after the ramming last year. There were 2.2 million people over the 7 day period, but it was remarkably well controlled in spite of that amount of people. WWII museum is amazing, french quarter is huge and awesome and i loved it, St. Louis Cathedral is beautiful inside and out, the street music is great, jackson square is great, the weather was great. Crepes are great. I'd go back in a heartbeat...but maybe not during mardi gras ;)

Yes New Orleans is one of the world’s great food cities, made even better by the fact that 90% of the most popular restaurants are basically within walking distance of one another. Everything from hole in the wall po-boy sandwich shops to the famous chef owned 4 star spots. It helps to have a bit of a cast iron stomach, however, as much of the food is heavily seasoned.

[ChadJK]

We'll be taking a trip soon and wanted to know if anyone had any 'must sees' or 'must eats' in the big easy.

Here are my notes from my trip there in 2023:
viewtopic.php?p=369700#p369700

[thenewguy]

very agreeable for the most part. The only difference for our trip was that it wasn't muggy (though it was a little humid the first day we were there, they had just had rain) but otherwise weather was phenomenal. We also didn't encounter some of the smells we were warned about, likely due to the insane amount of cleaning that was happening. The weed smell was prevalent, though.