Visiting NOLA from NYC, Need Must Eat Spots

[ginsbera]

I'm about as enamored as one can be with food and I want to make sure that during my NYE trip to NOLA I get to all the must eat spots I can. From the hole in the wall spots to the nicer restaurants (within reason) I'm looking for a mix to scatter through my 4 day stay. I don't get very good cajun/creole food in NY (imagine that) so I want to eat my fill.

So far Cochon, August, Domilise's have been recommended to me. I also was told to go to Commander's Palace for Happy Hour.

I've been to ACME and Jacque Imo's years ago, but suspect that those aren't nearly as good as I can get. I'm staying in the Milan area near Napoleon Ave as a reference.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[sockster]

Really surprised no one here mentioned Green Goddess- Ate there a couple of months ago, and look forward to my tweets from Chef regarding his new "daily" menus. What a fantastic place!!

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Green Goddess
307 Exchange Place, New Orleans, LA 70130

[Bill Hunt]

Probably one of the reasons for that, and some other omissions is that the post is now a year old, and the assumption might be that the OP has come and gone, and hopefully after having many great meals in NOLA.

Still, older threads do surface, when one does a Search, in their investigations of an area, so all comments might well help others.

I have also heard great things about Green Goddess, but have not been able to fit them into the schedules.

Hunt

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Green Goddess
307 Exchange Place, New Orleans, LA 70130

[nolabaconlover]

bayona is awesome, should be great for NYE. In the Milan area go to Casamento's on Magazine at Napoleon, Best raw oysters in the city, also great fried sea-food.
Mahonys for poboys, killer onion rings and fried oyster poboys.
Check out Patois for brunch or friday lunch. Stay away from the rest of the places in the quarter, they are going to be crowded and there are better places.

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Casamento's Restaurant
4330 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Mahony's
3454 Magazine Street, New Orleans, LA

[smilingal]

Last night on one of the food programs - maybe My most favorite things - GARLIC - they had Bayona and how it's known for it's garlic soup?! Looked heavenly.

[FleurdeLis]

Restaurants
Brennans, ( Best Brunch) Awesome redfish and turtle soup
Jaquimos( Best Alligator Cheesecake and blackened red fish),
Dick and Jennys(Love this place! Everything is good. wear jeans!)
Rio Mar
Coops
Napolean House
Commanders Palace(MY FAV)
Muriels(Turtle Soup, Goat Cheese Crepes, and Pecan crusted drum),
Clover Grill
Coffee Pot (FAVORITE RED BEANS and breakfast),
Upperline, Yummy turtle soup and fish
Lilette
Gumbo Shop,
Napolean House( FAV. LUNCH SPOT),
One on Hampson( BEST DUCK GUMBO)
Brennans
Crepe Nanou (Grilled Amberjack with Bearnaise awesome)
Tommys Restaurant
Brigtsens( Everything is AWESOME),
Yo mama bar and grill( BEST HAMBURGERS)
Palace Cafe( BEST PECAN CRUSTED FISH AND BLUE CRAB LEGS),
Domileses(awesome poboys, FRIED SHRIMP and Roast Beef are my fav!),
Cochon( BEst cochon du lait)
Favorite coffee- Cafe du monde
Favorite dessert- Commanders

[Maque Choux]

K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen would be a good one to visit.

[kukubura]

I agree. It's more casual than I thought it would be but the food that we had there was out-of-control good.

[rbriscoe]

Lovely food done great!

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Herbsaint
701 Saint Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130

[edible complex]

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/663272
the above thread on December in the Fr Qtr

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/665065
thread on non touristy eats

and,

My favorite restaurants in the French Quarter are:

Galatoire's (jacket required for men at dinner): oysters rockefeller, oysters en brochette, seafood stuffed eggplant, lamb chops béarnaise, crabmeat au gratin, fried soft shell crabs w/crabmeat, godchaux salad, soufflé potatoes.
http://www.galatoires.com/

Mr.. B's: great gumbo Ya-Ya, BBQ shrimp, any fish of the day plank grilled, and profiteroles for dessert.
http://www.mrbsbistro.com/index2.php

Irene's: the duck is amazing, and the chicken rosemarino is a classic Creole Italian dish.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/neworleans/D41515.html

Muriel's at Jackson Square: good gumbo, goat cheese and crawfish crepes, puppy drum, and double cut pork chops.
http://www.muriels.com/

Iris in the Bienville House for veal cheek ravioli, mussels, foie gras, duck confit, sunchoke and cauliflower soup, scallops and skate wing.
http://irisneworleans.com/

Go to Cafe du Monde (riverside of Jackson Square) for beignets and coffee any time of day.
http://www.cafedumonde.com/

Check out Stanley on Jackson Square for breakfast or lunch. Scott Boswell also has Stella!, but this is his casual restaurant that cranks out some good food too:
http://www.stanleyrestaurant.com/
http://www.restaurantstella.com/

For raw oysters: Desire Bar in the Royal Sonesta, Bourbon House, Acme or Felix's in the Qtr., Luke in the CBD on St. Charles Ave., Pascal's Manale and Casamento's Uptown.
http://www.sonesta.com/RoyalNewOrleans/index.cfm?fa=diningentertainment.home
http://www.bourbonhouse.com/
http://www.acmeoyster.com/
http://www.felixs.com/
http://www.lukeneworleans.com/
http://www.neworleansrestaurants.com/pascalsmanale/
http://www.casamentosrestaurant.com/main/main.html

For good drinks: Carrousel Bar at the Monteleone (a must visit), French 75 Bar at Arnaud's, Lafitte's Blacksmith, Absinthe House, Napoleon House, Hermes Bar at Antoine's, Chart Room on Chartres, Sazerac Bar at (recently reopened) The Roosevelt.

Central Grocery for muffalettas. These are great for the plane ride home. Be sure to check their hours, as they may be closed when you fly home. They pack well, so you can buy a day before flying. If you like your muffalettas warmed (which I do), then eat at Napoleon House or heat up the CG when you get home. I find it opens up the flavors of the meats, cheese and olive salad.
http://www.napoleonhouse.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Grocery

Green Goddess is the newest and most talked about in the Qtr.
Menu looks amazing:
http://greengoddessnola.com/

Other Breakfast places:
Croissant D'or (great pastries
)617 Ursulines Ave
[phone]
Open Wed-Sun 7am-2pm

EAT (great brunch and BYOB
)http://www.eatnola.com/

If you have a car or will take the streetcar, head Uptown for J'Anita's, Martinique, Clancy's and Patois.

J'Anita's in the Avenue Pub on St. Charles Ave. for great BBQ for lunch. They also have the best fish sammich ever!
http://www.theavenuepub.com/food.htm

Martinique Bistro on Magazine has great food and a beautiful courtyard.
http://www.martiniquebistro.com/

Clancy's on Annunciation is terrific; get the oysters w/brie, sweetbreads, the smoked soft shell crab and the veal chops. and their frozen Brandy Alexander's are good for dessert.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/neworleans/D41648.html

Patois on Laurel for rabbit, moules frites, and pork belly. This has become one of the best new restaurants and well worth trying. Open also for Friday lunch and Sunday brunch, if that fits in your schedule.
http://www.patoisnola.com/

Or, head to Mid-City for Mandina's on Canal St. for turtle soup, oyster po boys, and trout or Parkway Bakery and Tavern for the best roast beef po boys.
http://www.parkwaybakeryandtavernnola.com/
(Mandina's is cash only.
)http://www.mandinasrestaurant.com/

In the CBD, across Canal St from Fr. Qtr., try Rambla in the International House Hotel for great tapas, Luke on St. Charles for oysters at the bar, duck and rabbit pate, choucroûte maison, and moules and frites, Domenica in The Roosevelt for goat cheese stuffed squash blossoms, grilled radicchio, and any of the pastas and pizzas. If you are in town for lunch Friday, Restaurant August has a 3 course for $20.09 that is stellar. Other places: Herbsaint and Cochon (both Donald Link restaurants), Rio Mar and La Boca (both Adolpho's restaurants) and his new place, a Mano.
http://ihhotel.com/restaurant.html
http://www.lukeneworleans.com/
http://www.domenicarestaurant.com/
http://www.restaurantaugust.com/
http://herbsaint.com/
http://www.cochonrestaurant.com/
http://riomarseafood.activepixel.com/
http://www.labocasteaks.com/index.html

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Mandina's Restaurant
3800 Canal St, New Orleans, LA 70119

Napoleon House Bar & Cafe
500 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Avenue Pub
1732 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Restaurant August
301 Tchoupitoulas Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Casamento's Restaurant
4330 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Rio Mar Restaurant
800 South Peters, New Orleans, LA 70130

J'Anita's Restaurant
1906 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA

Galatoire's Restaurant
209 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Herbsaint
701 Saint Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130

La Boca Restaurant
857 Fulton St., New Orleans, LA 70130

International House Hotel
221 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA

Rambla
217 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

Green Goddess
307 Exchange Place, New Orleans, LA 70130

Bourbon House
144 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Chart Room
300 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Mandinas Restaurant
4240 Highway 22 Ste 2, Mandeville, LA 70471

[ginsbera]

Wow, that is a lot to sort through. I'll make my way through this list shortly. For me it is all about getting the best of what I can't get in NYC, but also being conscious of cost. I don't enjoy spending upwards of $30 an entree in NY (don't think you need to for that matter) so I won't be doing that kind of spending per dish in NOLA either.

[Bill Hunt]

EC,

I'm sure that you missed a spot, but cannot think of what it was. Great job!

Hunt

[Bill Hunt]

EC,

Just a thought. Going back to when the Superbowl was played in Glendale (Metro-Phoenix), AZ, one of our intrepid posters on the Southwest Board, did a wonderful post, with geographic references, that covered all sorts of foods, from mom-n-pop Mexican to fine dining. I think that I linked to that post for several years, even though it could not stay evergreen - some places come, and some go. Some pick up their game, while others fumble (ignore the US football metaphors). Still, it was so very useful. Maybe you would want to distill your excellent recs. into a general - "When In NOLA - Consider These," post.

Job well-done, and thank you,

Hunt

[uhockey]

That is just about the most useful thread in the entire New Orleans Board - wow.

Thoughts on Cuvee? And aside from Commander's Souffle version - who makes the best NO-Style Bread Pudding in town?

[mimadeli]

I love Lüke's bread pudding, here's a picture, click on it for a larger view

http://www.lukeneworleans.com/

[ginsbera]

It is amazing how many different places I have heard I should visit. Aside from what is listed here I've been referred to so many different spots for po'boys and the like, including:

Domilise's, Willie Mae's, The Joint, Parkway, Cochon, Commander's (lunch), Central Grocery, Crabby Jack's .... there is just so much to sort through and so many different opinions.

I think Cochon is a must for me and the biggest thing is deciding where to get the most authentic an affordable NOLA cuisine and where to get the absolute best po'boy...I guess I could have a worse problem.

[roro1831]

There are many threads devoted to the best poboy. As there are different versions of poboys (roast beef, shrimp, oyster and basically anything else that people put on french bread) the debate goes on in circles over who has the best. As I am partial to roast beef poboys as opposed to shrimp or oyster ( I prefer my oysters raw and shrimp boiled) R&O's and Parkway are my two favorites, Shortstop is up there as well.

[ginsbera]

I personally am a big meat eater, so would prefer the roast beef po'boy. Not a huge shrimp fan, but I do love oysters and catfish.

[ginsbera]

Looks like my hosts made reservations at Mr. B's for New Year's Eve, looking fwd to it. Cochon is also on the menu, then a quest for the best Po'boy (roast beef, catfish and oyster).

[joedontexan]

Try at Guys Po Boys on Magazine, Marvin the owner personally makes all the poboys and they are pretty good.

[HalfShell]

Mr. B's is OK, not great. Kinda touristy. I'd get the BBQ shrimp -- which is not barbecued, just so you know. (See other threads.)

I'd recommend Parkway, Mandina's, Parasol's, Ye Olde College Inn, Guy's for good RB poboys. R&O, Mandina's, Domilese's, Bozo's Parran's for seafood poboys. Mandina's and Joey K's for Italian meatball poboys -- my fav.

Just so you know, with poboys, "dressed" means mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato and (usually) pickles. It's the only way to eat these sandwiches, in my opinion. The fried seafood poboys usualy benefit from some ketchup and hot sauce -- adds some tang to the proceedings.

[ginsbera]

Great tips. I actually was just infomed that I am going to Bayona, not Mr. B's for New Years. Looks like a well decorated (culinary wise) restaurant so I'm expecting a great meal. Thoughts?

[shanefink]

FYI The quash blossoms are no longer in season and they are off the menu. They were fabulous, but I love Domenica and there are plenty of other great items to choose from.

[edible complex]

yes, they are substituting w/eggplant prepared a similar way right now.
the grilled radicchio is also off the menu, but can be found shredded on some pizzas. if they have whole radicchio, then the kitchen can still do the grilled version.
can't wait for squash blossom season to open!

[roro1831]

Hopefully the rec for Domilise's was for the shrimp poboy and not the roast beef.