New Orleans eating

[bushido41]

Hello Everyone,

This summer the wife and I are going to be attending ITG4 and will be driving from Florida. In route we are planning to visitthegreat city of New Orleans and we enjoy Cajun food a lot . We are hoping that someofthe members can advise us of good places that we can visit to enjoy a great Jambalaya, gumbo, Muffaleta....

Thank you very much for all the suggestions in advance.

Ed

[Redgloves]

cafe Demund is a must!!!

[jjjonz]

cafe Demund is a must!!!

Man I love those "benyas" !!!!

[madjack]

...that's actually Cafe du Monde and beignets...great stuff BUT it can be kinda touristy and hard to get into...most of your "name" restaurants can be touristy as well...Central Grocery in the French Market has the best muffalettas but they are served cold...gotta bring 'em home to heat up in the oven...some of the easiest to find good foods would be to drive up and down Esplanade or Elysian Fields and find a little neighborhood restaurant or a bar with plate lunch/dinner............
madjack

[wagondude]

Mad Jack knows his stuff! Also, Cafe Beinet is good But very small and right next door to the NOLA PD. Brennan's is across the street, if you want some Bananas Foster.

Edit: If you feel like tying some gourmet pizza, take the trolley a couple of miles up the Jefferson line to a little place called Slice. I suggest the shrimp and andouville sausage. The owner is a hoot. New Orleans has some of the friendliest people on earth.

[GPW]

For seafood and generally Wonderful local food .... Mandina's on Canal St (easy to get to , you can ride the streetcars... and reasonable )
For a warm Po boy style muff (Frenchulata), go to Liuza's Frozen mugs of Beer too ... Mmmmm!! (right off Canal St ... another easy one to find)

You want REAL GOOD Cajun Cooking ??? You gotta' come to my house !!! Chef GPW ...

[planovet]

Mother's for breakfast!

[bushido41]

Everyone,

Thank you very much for the suggestions, we are taking notes of the places you suggested. I agree with Mad I prefer non tourist places, regular Mom and Pop restaurants are the best for authentic local food. I think we have the Muffaletta and Beignets, now where is the best Jambalaya asides Chefs GPW's house ?

By the way do you have any suggestions for camping places near the city?

Thank you.

[dmckruit]

You have to go to Mulates. They have some of the best cajun food ever! The prices here are not expensive, and its casual dining.
http://www.mulates.com/


Also, if you happen to be a gourmand, Antoines is one of the finest restaurants in town. This is where the Oysters Rockafeller was invented.
http://www.antoines.com/

[GPW]

Ed , Cajuns are pretty independent , so naturally all the recipes vary from house to house... We've found that "Cajun" restaurants out of town (other states) tend to make all the food Hot with pepper(usually run and cooked by Non Cajuns)... Couldn't be further from the truth ... We do spice the food (tastefully) more so than other parts of the country , but it's not HOT ... Hope that's not what you're expecting ...
Lots of small restaurants , many variations on a theme...

ER, Antoines is strictly for the tourists ... Expensive , pretentious, a place where you get a piece of chicken and a leaf for 30 bucks , served by a waiter who speaks french .... PASS !!!

There are RV campgrounds (FWIW) , even one right next to the Quarter... Don't know if that's what you want ...

PM me for neighborhoods NOT to go in ... just like any big city , certain "elements" have taken to violence... usually on each other, but they're such bad shots ... They "miss" a lot and take out innocent bystanders ...

[BILLYL]

Thanks for the info -

We are going to be there next week - the daughter moved down there a few months ago and now it is time to get her stuff down there. So places to eat and visit would be nice to know...........

Thanks

Bill

DA MOOSE is staying home........

[bushido41]

GPW,

I could not agree more with you about the twist some adventurous chefs put on local foods, the more popular the more they vary. I am from the Island of Puerto Rico, although I have been in the states for over 30 years. Everyone we first meet ask us how hot is our food, and we have to explain that not all spices are hot and the majority of them provide flavor. The French Creole food is similar to our food because evolved from what the poor people could afford and they put all sorts of spices to enhance the flavors and attempt to tenderize the meats. I joke around I say that we can make rice and beans on so many ways that you can eat for weeks without try a the same. I starting to sound like Bubba in Forest Gump .

I will try to PM you later and pick your brains if I may.


Thank you,

Ed

[tinksdad]

Ruby Slipper has two locations. I haven't tried the downtown location on Magazine; but the mid-city on S. Cortez has absolutely great breakfast menu. Some of the best and creamiest grits I done ever put in my mouth.

[madjack]

...a couple of further thoughts for the rest of your trip thru Louisiana...when it comes to food, New Orleans=Creole and the rest of South La=Cajun, two distinctive types of foods...if you are going to take I10 out of N.O. to maybe I49, when you leave out of Baton Rouge, you will cross the Atchafalaya Swamp on a verrrry long bridge, at the West end of that bridge are the small towns of Henderson and Breaux Bridge(about 120mi from N.O.)...almost ANY restaurant located between them and Lafayette is gonna have good Cajun food...........
madjack

[GPW]

OOH !!! Jack's right ... There's a place in downtown Breaux Bridge , got Turtle soup so good ," make you wanna' slap your Mama"... True Dat !!! YUM !!!!