5 Day Trip Review
TLDR: New Orleans is an absolutely incredible city, and if I have one regret from the way I approached things it’s that I got too cute with the trendier/newer restaurants and didn’t lean heavily enough into the classics.
Day 1
Checked into Bienville House in the French Quarter.
Dropped my bags and walked straight to Napoleon House for a warm muffaletta sandwich. Delicious.
Walked over to Loretta’s in the French Market. Line took about a half hour, and beignets took another half hour after ordering. Praline stuffed beignet especially was lovely.
Walked over to Jackson Square, had a cocktail at Muriel’s and enjoyed that gorgeous view from the second level balcony.
Walked around after and got caught up in the Bourbon Street Brass Band’s procession, truly surreal experience.
Walked over to Jewel of the South for a few more cocktails. Insanely good drinks with a really cute interior.
Stopped into Cure on the way to dinner. Best cocktails of the trip, friendly and passionate bartenders.
Dinner at Saint Germain. The food was good but they were a bit disorganized, running behind. A guy who looked and sounded like Seth Rogen kept saying “oh yeah oh yeah” whenever he brought a new dish, it got old real quick. Restaurants like this need to either lower their pricing or up their staff’s professionalism, it was all very awkward. Not a bad meal but for a place that’s constantly mentioned as a current top 5 restaurant in the city this was not my experience.
Day 2
Headed over to Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe about 15 minutes before they opened, a few people were there already. This was the move, it all went very quickly and this was probably the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Excellent mac and cheese and gumbo too.
Rode the St. Charles Streetcar from Canal Street to Audobon Park, took a relaxing stroll around the park for a bit.
Two Chicks Garden District walking tour was tremendous. Tour leader was a woman named Dannell who was a wealth of information.
Dinner at Emeril’s. Very expensive but the food was tremendous and the staff and service were top notch. Really hit that sweet spot between friendly and refined.
Day 3
Was feeling pretty rough after a 3.5 meal with wine pairing and didn’t make my 9am Brennan’s reservation. Bananas foster will have to wait until next time.
Lunch at Commander’s Palace. Wore a suit to revere the institution, and was disappointed at how many old boomer dudes were wearing Hawaiian shirts smh. Shrimp and tasso henican and the bread pudding souffle were outrageously good. What a treat.
Sazerac House tour - fine, but not essential.
Sazerac Bar - extremely phoned in sazerac, not sure why it’s mentioned among the best in the city so often.
Bar Tonique - incredible Ramos gin fizz.
Walked around Treme and went to the Backstreet Cultural Museum. This was a surprise highlight - I had no idea it focused so much on the Mardi Gras Indians, heavily featured in the show Treme that I had been watching a lot of leading up to this trip. As essential as any tourist activity in the city imo.
Dinner at Dakar. Really interesting and unique food, first time having Senegalese fare and some of the flavors really popped. A few dishes were slight misses though and overall I felt this was overpriced for what you get.
Day 4
Breakfast at Molly’s Rise and Shine. Breakfast sandwich was good but that fried chicken biscuit! Incredible.
Headed up to City Park and walked around there for a bit, toured the Sculpture and Botanical Gardens, and walked down to St. Louis Cemetery No. 3 after.
Walked over to Parkway for lunch. Fried shrimp po boy was solid but I wish I had opted for Domilise’s instead. 13,000 steps in before lunch!
Dinner at Mosquito Supper Club. Sat with some very fun people and had a really good time. Food was very good but again, felt overpriced for what you get.
Day 5
Attempted to get to Carousel Bar before opening for a Vieux Carre but there were at least 100 people lined up already. Pass.
Lunch at Mr. B’s. Gumbo ya ya was the best I’ve ever had, and the barbecued shrimp were incredible too. It was at this point I realized I probably should have stuck to the classics instead of going where I did for dinner each night.
Checked out French Quarter Fest. Incredible music, people just relaxing and enjoying themselves, loved every minute of it.
Stopped into Felix’s for chargrilled oysters. Maybe the best single bite all trip, simply incredible.
Dinner at Clancy’s. They didn’t get any soft shell crab in that day so I opted for the smoked duck and crawfish beignets. Absolutely phenomenal.
In summary - even though the smart advice seems to be to just wander around without a strict itinerary, I couldn’t not because it’s just how I prefer to travel. Packed as much as I could into 5 days and can’t wait to return one day. My trip would not have been anywhere near what it was without this sub, thanks so much to everyone who has posted over the years.