New Orleans is a vastly historic town in the United States where many influences from other countries and historical eras can be seen. There’s a lot of French historical influence, and sadly, a lot of influence based on the slave trade, from the import of foods from those regions and the use of slave labor to cultivate foods in the area. It’s good to be aware of all this when you visit, but all the history, good and bad, lend to an interesting and unique food culture. It can be overwhelming when you visit, but here’s a list of some of the places (and menu items) I enjoyed on my first visit to the area. Hopefully it will help you find some places you may want to try as well. And feel free to leave me comments on other places I might not have tried that could be worth it if a future visit is on the books.
Mosquito Supper Club
I’ve already given Mosquito Supper Club a proper post recently as it was really my favorite place of the entire trip. If you love food history, and you love good food, it’s definitely a must-go location on any trip to the area!
Recommendation: It’s a set menu, so enjoy it all!
Commander’s Palace
This is the pinnacle of fine dining in New Orleans. It’s one of the early restaurants of this type, it’s still around, and there’s a good reason! Most of the food, including my stuffed quail, was phenomenal, but skip the soups as you can get better versions of most of them anywhere else. They do a great job with the flavor combos, but the desserts are really where they shine!
Recommendation: The Creole Bread Pudding Souffle was my favorite dessert of the whole trip!
Mais Arepas
South American food in New Orleans? Sometimes you want something different, and Mais did not disappoint. The arepas are stuffed huge and stuffed full, and they really shine with their starters. We had plantain cups filled with mushrooms and avocado and street corn, and they were both great starts to our trip!
Recommendation: A bunch of stuff to share, but the plantain cups were a winner!
Boucherie
This one’s a bit off the beaten track, and although the street car takes you right here, it’s near the end of the line, so if you’re staying near the French Quarter, be prepared for a small trek! It’s worth it though, with a great selection of modern New Orleans food in a cute house-turned-restaurant!
Recommendations: The liver mousse beignets were the highlight of our meal!
Oak
This cute wine bar also serves food, but it’s right down the street from Boucherie, so if you’re in the area, it’s a great place to stop in for a drink for Happy Hour! They also have Wine Wednesday where many of their wines by the bottle are half off, so bring some friends and share!
Recommendation: WINE!
The Turkey and the Wolf
This is definitely one of the more interesting places we went on the trip, thanks to a tour from Sidewalk Food Tours (although it was already on my list as it came highly recommended from friends). Fancy a fried bologna sandwich that is better than any you may have had growing up? This is the place. The collard greens melt really is something special, although I had to try it using the recipe from their fantastic cookbook.
Recommendation: Fried Bologna Sandwich or Collard Greens Melt (plus pick up a cookbook!)
District Donuts
Several blocks up from The Turkey and the Wolf in the Garden District is District Donuts! I’m not usually a fan of donuts, but again we made it here on the tour (and again, it was recommended by friends), and honestly, it was 150% worth it. These may be the best donuts I’ve eaten, as they were so light and fluffy.
Recommendation: Pick your favorite, but the filled ones were spectacular.
Bacchanal Wines
If you’re really ready to get off the beaten track in New Orleans, and you want some amazing food and wine, then Bacchanal Wines is the place for you. It’s connected to a wine shop, where you can buy any bottle to have there, plus they have a great selection of small plates to share. There is also some great local live music, even sometimes over lunch hour! It’s a bit of a trek, so be prepared for a long bus ride, walk along the river, or cab ride!
Recommendation: The steak was pretty amazing, but everything we had was really great! Plus they had bottles of our favorite Lebanese wine.
Felix
There seems to be a big battle in New Orleans on which oyster house to visit, Felix or Acme, and since I tried both, I can tell you the absolute winning choice is Felix. It’s honestly not amazing overall, but two dishes really stood out. My jambalaya was fantastic and my partner’s etouffee was heavenly, so I would have been disappointed if we hadn’t had gone knowing that!
Recommendation: Etouffee and Jambalaya all the way!
Mr. B’s Bistro
Honestly, I was dubious about any restaurant in the French Quarter, I was worried it was going be too touristy, but a friend really recommended Mr B’s to me and said I couldn’t go to New Orleans and not get their Barbequed Shrimp. She was right. It was one of my favorite dishes over the entire trip. It’s really rich, so don’t do what we did and order one each, maybe get one to share, but ask for two bibs (yes they gave you a bib). The sauce is heavenly and you just want to keep eating it even though it’s basically butter and amazing spices. (The recipe is online, look it up!) The rest of our food was okay, but not comparable.
Recommendation: Barbequed Shrimp. I don’t know what else, maybe just eat two orders and die from butter.
Arnaud’s Jazz Brunch
Another fine dining staple in New Orleans, Arnaud’s is another example of historic dining in the French Quarter. If you want to visit, the Jazz Brunch was definitely a winner for me, as you get to try a few interesting dishes and listen to great music. It’s three courses with a starter, main and dessert. The best thing I had? The Turtle Soup. I’ve never had turtle before, and the soup was absolutely delicious. It’s got some warmth and and spice and is just layered with flavor. The savory cheesecake is also great, but a bit rich.
Recommendation: Turtle Soup
Carousel Bar & Lounge
Also nearby both French Quarter restaurants is Carousel Bar & Lounge. It’s definitely something you could stop into after dining at either place; their big gimmick is a giant circular bar in the middle that rotates! It’s pretty popular, so it can be hard to get a seat, and there are always people hovering around waiting for patrons to get up. We sat at a table to watch, and since the drinks were so good, we decided to have a second which led to us snagging the premium seats when a couple left and no one was hovering near our table. This led to many more drinks moving around the bar, and while disconcerting at first, I got used to the motion after a few rotations.
Recommendation: Grab a Vieux Carre as this is where they were invented.
Southern Food And Beverage Museum
A bit of an unusual addition to the list, but they do have a bar inside that you can buy drinks at and walk around the museum. There are sections for almost every southern state where you can get a look into the history and culture of food in each of them. There’s also a huge section on Absinthe, which was right up my alley. There’s also a great cookbook section which is where I discovered that The Turkey and the Wolf has a cookbook.
Recommendation: A sazarac and a wander!
Happy Raptor Distillery
This was a happy random find heading back from the museum, as it’s just around the corner, so make sure to stop by on your way back. They are a Rum Distillery, and while I’m usually not a huge fan of rum, theirs is definitely something special. It’s not too sweet, and all the molasses flavors come through hard, but for me, their winning rum is the Bananas Foster Rum which involves them soaking the rum in dried banana chips. If you are more organized, you can even book a tour and tasting!
Recommendation: Do a tasting, but possibly bring me back some bottles of Bananas Foster Rum if you live in the bay area!
Cafe Du Monde
This literally sounds as basic as possible, but yeah, I stopped in and wow. We were in the park, and they’ve opened up a location there, and honestly the lines weren’t bad, so I figured I should give it a go. I got the beignets and cafe au lait, and while I could seriously pass on the coffee next time, I would eat hundreds of the beignets. They were so light and fluffy.
Recommendation: Beignets! Beignets!
That’s it! While it’s not everywhere I went, my thorough research definitely landed me in some top places for eating and drinking. Some places weren’t quite as exciting, but I left feeling like I hit a lot of great food in the French Quarter, Garden District and beyond! Feel free to let me know of other places I might have missed for future visits to this historic city.
