ISO New Orleans restaurants

[kwormann]

We are going for a couple of days next week (DH is going for business). I would like a couple of restaurant ideas. I thought there was a thread on this in the past, but I sure couldnt find it! We cant afford to go very expensive (ie any of Emerils restaurants) and living in Houston have no desire for Mexican, but would like good suggestions (maybe seafood???)

TIA

[Jessica]

OK, well this might not help since I don't know the NAME of this restaurant, but we went to a bar right in the middle of Bourbon Street that had the most amazing red beans and rice--nose-tingling and rich. It is in the 300 or 400 block, I think, and they have a Cajun band playing and people dancing and the bar is open to the street. I know this is sort of vague...

We also had a wonderful meal at a place called The Gumbo Shop and it was pretty inexpensive, although we had lunch there and they might raise prices at dinner.

If you want to try a fancy place, you might want to think about having lunch and then going for a small (there is no light in New Orleans :)) dinner. Many of those wallet-chomping restaurants in the Emeril category offer reasonable prices at lunch.

Do NOT eat the meals on the riverboats--the food on ours was so bad I went looking for bar food and found the above red beans and rice.

Have a great time!!!

[m4star]

I really do suggest you try some of the more expensive places at lunch. DH and I went to Nola (one of emerils) for lunch and it was pretty reasonable ($50 for 2). We each had a bowl of gumbo, a main dish and a drink. We wanted to have dessert but couldn't fit in another bite. It's definately worth the experience and the expense.

[deb]

kwormann, maybe this link will help. (Hope this works.. I have never posted a link on this BB before. Have fun! http://www.cookinglight.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=6681

[lindrusso]

Hi Kim.

We were just in NO last month. We ate at NOLA and K-Paul's (Chef Paul Prudhomme's place). You said you weren't considering these kinds of restaurants because of your budget, but what about lunch? (Okay, duh, this has been suggested twice already - must be a good idea :) ) I know that NOLA has a lunch menu, but I'm not sure about K-Paul's. Both places have excellent food. My only complaint is that NOLA is very busy and loud, not very intimate/romantic. K-Paul's was much more intimate, but also more pricey.

Also, if you are there on Sunday and would like to treat yourself without breaking the bank, Le Meridien has an excellent Sunday Brunch. Lots of good food, live jazz and even a guy who makes incredible balloon animals (he made Mickey Mouse riding a bike - amazing! I felt like a little kid because I was getting so excited watching him do these!). This brunch has all-you-can-drink champagne, my favorite part (and it's good champagne too!) :D . The brunch runs about $35 per person - not bad for good food and lots of champagne!

No matter what you decide, you can't help but have a great time in NO!

[JoanneOR]

I know you said you want inexpensive, but you've got to try K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. It's very difficult to get in for dinner, but you can get in for lunch. They don't take reservations, but you can go there when they open and you shouldn't have a problem getting in. We've done this a couple times and have gotten there about 1/2 hour before they open and waited. I'm not sure what time they open, but the food is absolutely amazing! The best meals we've ever had. The prices for lunch are probably less than dinner, but I don't remember.

[lindrusso]

Just FYI. I don't know how it works for K-Paul's for lunch, but they do take reservations for dinner now. We called on a Saturday night and were able to get in that evening. It's supposed to be more difficult than that, so maybe we just got lucky (we got lucky with NOLA and got a reservation only a week in advance).

K-Paul seemed much less busy than NOLA, so maybe Emeril is cutting into their business???!!! But I agree, we've eaten their twice (once back when you had to wait in line and share your table with strangers) and both times it was fabulous and worth having to share a table!!

[Jessica]

The Court of Two Sisters also had a delicious brunch.

[masimmons]

The Acme Oyster Bar is pretty cheap and they have crawfish, oysters and lots of other sea food. Not fancy, but always packed. The House of Blues has good food and is fairly reasonable for N.O. For a step up, try The Palace Cafe on Canal Street. This is owned by the Brennans and is wonderful. For a less expensive, yet absolutely delightful meal, sit at the bar and order a piece of thier crabmeat cheesecake - to die for - and a bowl of gumbo. I did this for a Sunday "brunch" and added a (really good) Bloody Mary. I think they have a web site so you can check it out for yourself. There is a restaurant across from the HOB called Olivers which is really good authentic Creole. Have fun. N.O. is one of my favorite places, no matter what time of year you are there.

[DanaSD]

Originally posted by JoanneOR
I know you said you want inexpensive, but you've got to try K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen. It's very difficult to get in for dinner, but you can get in for lunch. They don't take reservations, but you can go there when they open and you shouldn't have a problem getting in. We've done this a couple times and have gotten there about 1/2 hour before they open and waited. I'm not sure what time they open, but the food is absolutely amazing! The best meals we've ever had. The prices for lunch are probably less than dinner, but I don't remember.

I visited New Orleans in April and really wanted to go to KPauls but thought it would be too diffiuclt to get into K Pauls so we decided to try NOLAs - called but they were booked but said we could try as a walk in. Well when we showed up they said it would be 3 hours until we got a table. We left and walked down the street and passed KPauls so we decided to see how long - No Wait! we would be seated when the next table opened. Within about 20 minutes we were seated at a table - It was a Saturday evening around 7 or 8pm.

The food was WONDERFUL, very pricey but worth it. It was the best part of the trip to have jambalya and blackened fish at KPauls - the places that made Lousianna food famous.

[Robyncz]

I went to college in New Orleans (Roll Wave Roll!!) I was POOR, so the only time I went to one of the expensive restaurants in the four years I lived there was graduation brunch at Brennans (I still dream about that meal!). It is very very easy to find great cheap food in New Orleans. I'd recommend visiting at least one of the higher-end places and spending the rest of the time checking out the cheap but excellent places that abound in N.O.

Some favorites:
You *MUST* have a Muffaletta from Central Grocery (across from the French Market). Take your sandwich and a cold root beer outside and watch the folks in the street while you eat. Oh, I'm getting a little teary-eyed as I write.

If you make it uptown (which I would highly recommend--just an easy streetcar ride through the beautufil garden district and past my alma mater) try Camelia Grill. It's a very old lunch-counter kind of place that is open 24 hours. Most of the wait staff is about 200 years old--and they've been working there their whole lives. You might have to wait in line if you go for breakfast on a weekend morning, but the ambience (and the yummy food) is worth it. I killed many a hang over at Camelia Grill.

If you happen to pass a snoball stand while you're in town, by all means HAVE ONE! You might be tempted to think a snoball is another name for snow cone, but it's definitely NOT. I don't know how they do it, but I remember these icy treats being as creamy as ice cream--and oh-so-refreshing on a muggy New Orleans afternoon.

[athena]

This was years ago - and I do mean YEARS ago - but while in New O I ate at a place called "Friends"....I still remember it because it was one of the best inexpensive dinners I've ever had (I had the crawfish etouffe). I have no idea if it's still there, and apologize for my lack of details, but it may be worth checking out.

[Beth]

Brunch at the Court of Two Sisters or Brennan's can fill two meals. I've been to a place called TuJaques (or something like that -- pronounced kind of like two jacks). Its off the square and across the street and down a block from the Cafe du Monde (which HAS to be a stop for breakfast or late night treat). It's not cheap, but they serve a fine fixed menu dinner which has always been good and more reasonably priced that the bigger name places.

Other than that, I could show you places I've eaten, but can't remember names of them all. DH said he would check with a couple of folks from there tomorrow, so I'll try to get you some more info.

[PattyO]

I love New Orleans. Our trip there was all about the food. We went to NOLA and Delmonicos and they were fabulous so the lunch idea is definitely a good one. On the less expensive side, we really liked the Napoleon House, the Gumbo Shop, ACME Oyster House and the Chameleon Grill. But our favorite by far was Mothers. It is a real tiny place that has been there forever with limited seating but has great cheap food. The food network did a profile on the place on one of their specials on NO. If you go, you must have the debris sandwich. It is so good!! Have a great time!!

[kwormann]

Thanks for the help! Id love to continue to hear of other ideas. Maybe we will break down and go someplace expensive for a lunch (provided Scott isnt working ALL of the time).

[sandy77d]

I love going to New Orleans! I am planning on going in the fall. You should definately try Mothers. The po-boys are great. I also like Acme Oyster House (very spicy food) and The Gumbo Shoppe. I have never tried the expensive New Orleans restaurants because we enjoy the casual inexpensive places so much. Enjoy!!

[amcleod]

Acme is a must. $6 for a dozen oysters...you cannot beat that!

I went to a place called The Bon Ton. It is in the area by the convention center...it is a local place. In fact, the place used to only be open for lunch! When I was there (2 years ago), they were only open for dinner M-F. I highly recommend it. They are famous with locals for their etouffee. In fact, I think we were the only locals in the place. Definitely call for a reservation.

[cas]

We went to New Orleans is May and ate a lot of delicious restaurants althought most were on the expensive side. We ate
at a Nola's for lunch which was quite reasonable. We also enjoyed Arnauds and like someone else previously mentioned Friends. That is on the outskirts of the city and you definately need a taxi to get there but very, very good.
Personally, I thought Bourbon St. was dirty and wouldn't eat anywhere there.

[kwormann]

This is so much fun! I cant wait to go. Ive only been one other time...actually funny story:

Scott took me for MY 29th birthday 2 years ago. We met his best friend there. The two of them spent the day talking about rental cars while I walked a few steps behind them. Then at dinner time, I wanted to chose a restaurant (recall:MY birthday), but DH's friend wouldnt go to a restaurant because we had to go to a bar that had 3 beer for a dollar...needless to say Im still a bit bitter (can you tell?)

Im looking forward to the trip with just US this time!

[Little Bit]

My dad went to school in New Orleans for a while, years ago, and loved one particular restaurant's coffee shop. You could order items from the restaurant menu, and be served in the coffee shop. Could this have been Galatoires or the Ponchatrain Hotel? Wish I could remember. (Naturally, Dad's out of town and unavailable for comment, sorry about that!)

Anyhow, Galatoire's is/was one of Dad's favorites.