Restaurants in New Orleans?

Lel wrote:
>
>We'll be going to New Orleans in January, and would like to sample some
>of the local cuisine.  Any suggestions?  Also, is there a restaurant
>archive somewhere?
>

Send a message to:

[email removed]

with the following in the body:

GET /mintir/public/mlist/neworl/dining/norest.faq
GET /mintir/public/mlist/neworl/metafaq.txt

The first file is my Restaurant FAQ, the second is the Meta-FAQ document for the New Orleans Mailing List.  It's got pointers to tons of other stuff.

In terms of suggestions, Antoine's and Mr. B's in the Quarter for "classic" New Orleans Cuisine, Tujague's on Decatur for a more laid-back atmosphere but still "classic" creole food.  Mother's on Poydras for the best red beans and rice in town and one of the best gumbos.

Enjoy!

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Someone wrote:
: We'll be going to New Orleans in January, and would like to sample some : of the local cuisine.  Any suggestions?

Lel,

     Send me an SASE by snailmail and I will send you my "Guide to New
Orleans," based on my frequent trips there to visit my nephew who was (alas, no longer *is*) a student at Tulane.
     In the meantime, here are a few restaurants from that guide:

THE QUARTER
*Bayonna's, Rue Dauphine*
     Evening meal or lunch, moderate prices.  Fairly elegant but not
fussy. Excellent, unique food in the Creole mode. Chef Susan Spicer has been touted as a hot new talent.  Get reservations.  Highly recommended.
*Gumbo Shop*, 630 St. Peter
     Anytime. Inexpensive, Creole, Cajan.  Not as fnacy as Bayonna's
but with good food and service.  Try their crawfish etouffe.  Pland to stand in line a while--but this is the case with almost any good eatery in N.O.  While you're waiting, send someone up the street a few blocks to Pat O'Brians, to the bar just inside the door, and get a coulple of mint juleps to go.  You can take them out and drink them on the street while you wait for a table and even carry them into the restaurant with you.
*Maspero's*, 601 Decatur
*Central Grocery*, 923 Decatur
*Napoleon's*, 500 Chartres (pronounced "Charters")
     All three of these places serve muffaletta sandwiches, a N.O.
specialty made of several kinds of meat and cheese with an olive salad dressing.  I like Maspero's sandwich the best, but Central Grocery (the originator of the muffaletta) and Napoleon's are good, too. Napoleon's has a great European atmosphere, worth going to for that reason alone.  Maspero's is more touristy (if "touristy" has any meaning in the Quarter). Central Grocery should be visited too, just for the atmosphere.
*K-Paul's*, 416 Chartres
     One of N.O.'s most famous restaurants, and deservedly so. But
they don't take reservations and the lines are long enough to attract their own street entertainersc even at lunch.  Patience is rewarded, however, by some of the best food you will ever eat.  Prices are moderate, the place is really quite small with a very homey, unpretentious atmosphere.
*Mother's*, 401 Poydras
     Lunch, casual, inexpensive. Local people, mostly. Mother's isn't
actually in the Quarter; it's across Canal Street in the CBD (Central Business District), near the Piazza D'Italia.  This is pure New Orleans, not a touristy as places in the Quarter. Try their speciality, the Ferdie sandwich, or any of dozen of other things or their daily special.
*Le Madeleine*, 547 St. Ann
     French pastry shop, right on Jackson Square.  Need I say more?

UPTOWN (The Quarter and the CBD is "downtown."  "Uptown" is along St. Charles Avenue, towards Audubon Park and Tulane University.)
*Frankie and Johnnie's*, just off Tchopatoulas, I think.
     The locals, down-home, absolutely without pretense--with great
local cuisine in a tavern atmosphere.  Order some Abita Amber beer and get a couple of baskets of mudbugs (crawfish) and dig in.  Watch the little old ladies with blue hair for great shelling and sucking technique.
*Casamento's*, Napoleon and Magazine, I think.
     Lunch or snack.  An oyster shop with a thirties Deco atmosphere,
not a decorating gimmick, but the real thing.  The place is absolutely 1930s original, including the staff.
*The Columns*, 3811 St. Charles
     A cafe/bar.  I've never eaten there, but it's a nice bar in an
old Greek Revival southern mansion.
*Brightsen's*, 723 Dante
     "Modern Louisiana Cuisine." Dinner, moderately pricey.  The chef
used to work at K-Paul's and was voted one of America's 10 best new chefs a few years ago by Food and Wine magazine.  Get reservations for early in the evening.

OTHER PLACES THAT ARE SUPPOSED TO BE GOOD, WHICH I HAVEN'T TRIED
*Antoine's*, 713 St. Louis
     In the Quarter, fancy, pricey, Creole.
*Court of Two Sisters*,
     Quarter.  Not renowed for its food, but the atmosphere is incredible.
I actually ate there once about 1000 years ago when I was in college.
*NOLA*,
     Quarter. My nephews ate there and loved it; it has a good
reputation with more discerning diners, too.
*Cammander's Palace*, 1403 Washington Av
     Garden District. Elegant, pricey, Creole.
*Dooky Chase*, 2301 Orleans Av
     Jazz brunch. Moderate price.
*Patout's*, 1319 St Charles
     Uptown. Cajan, casual, located in an 1842 house.

     I should also mention the Cafe du Monde, 813 Decatur. It is a
N.O. landmark. Not a cafe, really, except in the French sense, as all they serve--24 hours a day--is coffee and beignets. Beignets are French donuts. Absolutely wonderful! Go for the cafe au lait.  Walk around in the alley behind and peek in the kitchen window to see the beignets being made. I was amused.

Roger Bruhn (on my wife's account: [email removed])
     Snail mail: 1344 C Street, Lincoln, NE 68502

Lel wrote:
> We'll be going to New Orleans in January, and would like to sample some
> of the local cuisine.  Any suggestions?  Also, is there a restaurant
> archive somewhere?

I see you've gotten some good selections for dinners, but for a fine Po'boy lunch (gotta have it with a Barq's root beer in the bottle), try Acme Oyster House [724 Iberville St.].

And you have to have at least one breakfast of beignets and coffee with chickory at Cafe Du Monde [800 Decatur St.]

[On a sour note, one place to absolutely avoid is The Court Of Two Sisters.]