Best Of New Orleans

[Insidious Rex]

PEOPLE OF NEW ORLEANS (and familiar outsiders) I beg for your assistance. I have been to the city three of four times now (although not in ten years) and have left dizzy from the array of wonderful cuisine I have sampled. But I am far from an expert on the true subtleties of NO cuisine and would like a much better perspective then mine but Im leery of being given a long list of places Ill need to actually choose from (not good at eliminating good choices...). So instead of an in depth discussion about the best restaurants to visit I would ask if you could instead indulge me the favor of simply filling in the blanks I have provided, to each their own area of expertise:

Best place to get an oyster, raw:
Best place to get a Po Boy:
If you really like shrimp try this dish at:
Best traditional New Orleans Seafood restaurant:
Single best fried food you have ever had and where:
Best grits in the city:
If you must eat on Bourbon Street the best place to eat is:
Best use of meat for breakfast/brunch:
Best diner/greasy spoon:
Best overall use of locally sourced food:
This place WILL make it spicy for you (any cuisine):
This place has been around for 100 years and they still are as good as ever:
Most tastes like something mom would make (if mom was the Cajun Queen of New Orleans):
Best dive bar:
Best beer bar:
Any good BBQ in New Orleans?:

Thank you for your invaluable assistance! Bon temps!

[paz5559]

Most tastes like something mom would make (if mom was the Cajun Queen of New Orleans): As a point of clarification, most food found in New Orleans is not Cajun. Acadiana is 2-3 hours to our West

[Insidious Rex]

My apologies for that. I was going to say "the Queen of New Orleans" which would have meant an entirely different thing of course but thought id embellish the question by adding a familiar line from a CCR song as a means to accentuate rather then redefine. Of course CCR is from California. Wont happen again.

That all being said, I do remember riding on a boat called the "Creole Queen" once when I was visiting New Orleans so Im assuming that adjective would be fair game in NO culinary circles?

Which reminds me I had two more scenerios to add to the above checklist:

Best bowl of red beans and rice.
When natives move away from the area, what dish do they miss the most and from where?

[roro1831]

Things like beans and rice and jambalay or crawfish I cook myself and do as good of a job as any resturant. I don't normally order things like that out and it;s what I miss the most, but I will stock up on beans and pickle meat this weekend when I am home.
THe BBQ shrimp at Mr B's is something I miss from a restaurant.

As far as something from a resturant that I have to have, I would say a Sazerac as no one up this way knows how to make one.

[N.O.Food]

Best red beans and rice: Crescent Pie and Sausage. Monday's special.

[JazzyB]

raw oysters...Felix's standing at the bar w/ an Amber or Manale's
grits...Zea's roasted corn. skip the rest of the menu
beer bar...Bulldog
Bourbon St...Galatoire's
fried food...Willie Mae's chicken, Brigtsen's softshell w pecan meuniere, Casamentos or Bozos
fried oysters
locally sourced...August
100yrs...Galatoire's
spicy...Basil Leaf's "Thai hot"
shrimp...Mr. B's bbq

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

Brigtsen's Restaurant
723 Dante St, New Orleans, LA 70118

[N.O.Food]

raw oysters: Luke
best poboys: Crabby Jack's
best shrimp dish: Giant Dippin Shrimp at Crazy Johnny's / Shrimp tasso henican at Commander's
seafood restaurant: Charlie's Seafood
best fried: Anything at Casamento's
best grits: Cochon
best bourbon st: Galatoire's is pretty much the only option
best meat at brunch: Shrimp and grits at Dante's Kitchen
best diner: Camellia Grill's pretty much the only option and I wouldn't go there
best local ingredients: August
spicy: ?
good as ever: Galatoire's
mom-like food: Joey K's and Liuzza's are good calls
dive bar: The Kingpin
beer bar: Cooter Brown's / Avenue Pub (also has really good burger)
best bbq: The Joint has the best bbq I've had here.

-----
Liuzza's Restaurant & Bar
3636 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70119

Crabby Jacks
428 Jefferson Hwy, New Orleans, LA 70121

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

Cochon
930 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130

Camellia Grill
626 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118

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

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

Dante's Kitchen
736 Dante Street, New Orleans, LA 70118

Joey K's Restaurant & Bar
3001 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

[GDPhalp]

Best place to get an oyster, raw: Casamentos
Best place to get a Po Boy: Parkway Bakery & Tavern
If you really like shrimp try this dish at: Mr. B's Bistro
Best traditional New Orleans Seafood restaurant: Galatoire's
Single best fried food you have ever had and where: Oysters - casamentos
Best grits in the city: Patois
If you must eat on Bourbon Street the best place to eat is: Galatoire's
Best use of meat for breakfast/brunch: Duck pbj & Bayona
Best diner/greasy spoon: Camellia Grill
Best overall use of locally sourced food: Green Goddess
This place WILL make it spicy for you (any cuisine):
This place has been around for 100 years and they still are as good as ever: Galatoire's
Most tastes like something mom would make (if mom was the Cajun Queen of New Orleans): Joey K's
Best dive bar: Molly's by the Market
Best beer bar: Cooter Brown's
Any good BBQ in New Orleans?: No

-----
Camellia Grill
626 S Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118

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

Parkway Bakery & Tavern
538 Hagan Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

Bayona
430 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70112

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

Joey K's Restaurant & Bar
3001 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Green Goddess
307 Exchange Place, New Orleans, LA 70130

Orleans Seafood
3301 S Claiborne Ave, New Orleans, LA 70125

[piglet3000]

For home style food and atmosphere I would hit up Liuzza's on Bienville. We always have amazing food there. I love their Gumbo, their Red Beans & Rice with Sausage is delicious. The whole place is a great, fun and very reasonably priced experience. For dive bar I would add in The Chart Room on Chartres near Canal. Love it.

-----
Liuzza's Restaurant & Bar
3636 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70119

Chart Room
300 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70130

[uptownlibrarian]

My extemporaneous, off the top of my head opinions:

Best place to get an oyster, raw: Casamento's
Best place to get a Po Boy: Guy's or Tracey's
If you really like shrimp try this dish at: fried shrimp at Casamento's, BBQ shrimp at Manale's
Best traditional New Orleans Seafood restaurant: Galatoire's
Single best fried food you have ever had and where: crab claws at Casamento's
Best grits in the city: shrimp and grits at Patois brunch
If you must eat on Bourbon Street the best place to eat is: duh Galatoire's
Best use of meat for breakfast/brunch: pork belly sandwich at Dante's Kitchen
Best diner/greasy spoon: Clover Grill
Best overall use of locally sourced food: Green Goddess
This place WILL make it spicy for you (any cuisine): 9 Roses
This place has been around for 100 years and they still are as good as ever: Galatoire's is the only restaurant that is both 100 years old and good
Most tastes like something mom would make (if mom was the Cajun Queen of New Orleans): This doesn't make sense
Best dive bar: Mayfair
Best beer bar: Avenue Pub
Any good BBQ in New Orleans?: No

[Insidious Rex]

Thank you uptown. Im excited to try those places. As for the Mom question, essentially what I was trying to say was what place serves food just like a traditional New Orleans mother would cook? In other words, if you are native, what place would be first on your list for "this place serves the best home cooking around".