Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Louisiana > New Orleans
 [Register]
New Orleans New Orleans - Metairie - Kenner metro area
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 10-21-2012, 08:00 PM
 
62 posts, read 277,035 times
Reputation: 126

Advertisements

Mwah's right that aside from some restaurants (like Herbsaint), there's not a ton to explore in the CBD (central business district), unless you just enjoy dense, urban architecture. The warehouse district is a good spot for some bars and restaurants (namely, Cochon or Emeril's). I've always thought that parts of the CBD look and feel like parts New York or Boston. You can walk the CBD in pretty quick time on your way to or from something else. The World War II Museum is towards uptown and just on the outskirts of Warehouse/CBD if that interests you.

My advice to you would be to keep all the sites and restaurants people recommend to you on hand, but also have a go-with-the-flow mentality and don't marry yourself to a to-do list. Some of my best days in NOLA have been when I just meander aimlessly and fall into seeing / doing random things.

Here is a list of restaurants and some things to do/see that I've been compiling for a while, my favorites are in bold.

Breakfast/Brunch
French Quarter: Stanley, Cafe Amelie, Cafe du Monde (the last one is a famous New Orleans spot for coffee and beignets, but typically has impossibly long lines)
Bywater: Elizabeth's
Uptown/Riverbend: Dante's Kitchen, Refuel Cafe, Camelia Grill

Po' Boys
Garden District / Irish Channel: Parasol's, Joey K's
Mid-City: Parkway Bakery

Dinner (some open for lunch too)
Uptown/Riverbend: Jacques-Imo's (my favorite restaurant), Dante's Kitchen (second favorite), Brigsten's
French Quarter: Cafe Amelie (sit in the candle-lit courtyard), Mr. B's, Gumbo Shop, Port of Call (burgers); Super-Fancy: Galatoire's, Antoine's, Arnaud's, Bayona,
Garden District: Atchafalaya, Commander's Palace, Coquette
Uptown: La Petite Grocery, Upperline Restaurant, Baru, Clancy's
East Carrollton: Boucherie
CBD: Cochon/Cochon Butcher, Herbsaint
Bayou St. John: Cafe Degas

Classy Drinks
Garden District: Columns Hotel (enjoy a drink on the front porch), Delachaise
French Quarter: Carousel Bar at Hotel Monteleone, Napoleon House (get the Pimms Cup); Arnaud's 75 French
CBD: Sazerac Bar in Roosevelt Hotel


Drinks and Music
French Quarter: Preservation Hall, Pat O'Brien's (kind of rowdy)
Frenchmen Street: Maison, Blue Nile, Spotted Cat, Snug Harbor, d.b.a., Three Muses, BMC (basically anywhere with live music; usually a band playing out on the street)

To Do
- Ride the St. Charles Ave. Street Car
- Art galleries on Royal Street in French Quarter
- Take a cemetery tour
- Explore the Garden District and Uptown mansions (St. Charles Ave. street car is good for this)
- New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park
- Stroll along the Riverwalk
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 10-22-2012, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Denver
605 posts, read 1,049,670 times
Reputation: 706
I second Jacques'imos! But be warned - they open at 5pm and they fill up FAST. It's not uncommon to have a wait of over an hour. The good thing though is you can get your name on the list and hop over to the Maple Leaf next door for a couple of drinks while you wait. Also, check out the Jamie Hayes gallery close by if it's open.

Make sure you try the shrimp & alligator cheesecake!

If you're in the mood to watch some sports while you're in the Carrollton/Riverbend area, head south on Carrollton to Cooter Browns. Rowdy sports bar with a decent beer selection, and I'm told their oysters are pretty good (I don't eat them myself).

In fact, if you're a craft beer drinker, do not miss The Avenue Pub, on St Charles in the lower garden district.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2012, 12:04 AM
 
Location: New Orleans, LA
683 posts, read 4,606,647 times
Reputation: 363
Back in July I went on one of the Cajun Swamp Tours. It was great! I was staying in the French Quarter and they have a van that will transport you round trip. The driver of my van was a really nice helpful guy. You go out to a town called La Place, and I think the tour itself was like 1 1/2 hours. The tour guide we had was a Cajun guy, knew his stuff and even called alligators by name. He had a baby alligator on board, and he passed it around so we could hold it. I can't remember the cost, but it was a really fun an interesting tour.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-23-2012, 09:28 AM
 
Location: Mostly in my head
19,855 posts, read 65,587,238 times
Reputation: 19374
There is - or used to be - one that left from the foot of Canal St. It went through the locks on the West Bank and through the swamps. Not sure of the cost or the time involved.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-24-2012, 06:26 PM
 
Location: New Orleans, LA
1,291 posts, read 1,512,022 times
Reputation: 747
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mel2882 View Post
Back in July I went on one of the Cajun Swamp Tours. It was great! I was staying in the French Quarter and they have a van that will transport you round trip. The driver of my van was a really nice helpful guy. You go out to a town called La Place, and I think the tour itself was like 1 1/2 hours. The tour guide we had was a Cajun guy, knew his stuff and even called alligators by name. He had a baby alligator on board, and he passed it around so we could hold it. I can't remember the cost, but it was a really fun an interesting tour.
I think I went on that one. It was really fun! They are very friendly.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-24-2012, 08:48 PM
 
Location: NOLA
5 posts, read 6,063 times
Reputation: 15
virginia33 gave a list of FANTASTIC suggestions. I'd also add Cure for fancy cocktails, if you come Uptown ... and Three Muses on Frenchmen is amazing! Great tapas, good drinks, and live music.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-27-2012, 09:22 PM
 
2 posts, read 3,084 times
Reputation: 10
Funny, I am going to be in Nola exact same dates. Former native. I've discovered that the new Orleans Comic Con is that weekend so I'm looking forward to even more costumed freaks than normal. Also Christmas in the Oaks is special in City Park. My favorite place in new Orleans is the bar & courtyard on the 4th floor of the ritz Carlton - go on Saturday night.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-28-2012, 09:52 PM
 
1,392 posts, read 2,844,682 times
Reputation: 1124
May I suggest u take in the ww2 museum, a little pricey, but well worth it. Don't miss the beyond all boundries show while ur there, it's that good.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 10-30-2012, 12:18 PM
 
Location: MS
4,396 posts, read 4,885,347 times
Reputation: 1558
Just got back from NOLA on Sunday. We have been making at least 2 trips a year for the last few years and here's what we like:
Breakfast - Oceana Grill - The gator omelet is awesome. Cafe Beignet - I like the beignets better than Cafe Du Mond's.
Lunch - Central Grocery - The inventor of the muffaletta. Get one to go also. It's great for a drunken late night snack in the room. Johnny's Po Boys - I haven't been yet but it was recommended by at least 5 different people we ran into. K Paul's - Paul Prudhomme's little restaurant. Lunch is casual but seating is limited.
Dinner - Oceana Grill - Crab cakes are our favorite. Plus their red fish is unreal. Ask for it blackened (not mentioned on the menu) with their special sauce. Felix's Oyster House - While the tourists go across the street to Acme, the locals go to Felix's. The bayou sampler is great.

Music - Krazy Korner from 2pm to 7pm to see Dwayne Dopsie and the Zydeco Hellraisers. Dwayne is the son of zydeco legend "Rockin" Dopsie but has his own R&B/Zydeco style. Turtle Bay - Jimmy Naquin is a cajun musician with an awesome band. Alex, the washboard player, is unbelievable. Opera House - 8pm until ?? for more of a rocking band. I can't mention their name due to it's meaning on the Urban Dictionary but they are worth a stop if you like hard rock. "Crank" Sinatra on guitar is great. At 1am Sunday morning they were playing a Metallica medly of Enter Sandman/For Whom The Bell Tolls/One.

Tours - Haunted History Tour that leaves from Reverend Voodoo's. Take the Ghost Tour and see if you can get Ernie. After the tour, we walked along with him and his personal stories were better than the tour and the tour was great. Carriage ride from Jackson Square - ask for Howie. He's a native of NOLA, former police and former history professor. His stories are just the opposite of the ghost stories and just as interesting. I've taken both French Quarter and Cemetary tours with him. Honey Island Swamp Tour was great also. It's a drive to and from Slidel but worth it. I didn't ask about their "monster" living there but it is covered on their site.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Louisiana > New Orleans
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top