A Foodie’s Guide to New Orleans! (Part Two)

Hi Guys! If you didn’t catch Part One of my NOLA Travel Guide earlier this week, check it out! Dillon and I had so much fun in New Orleans that I had to break the details into two posts. I’m here today to pick up right where I left off. Let’s get started with…

DAY 2

The original plan this day was to go to Jazz Fest and spend the afternoon eating at food trucks and seeing Tom Petty. When it started absolutely down pouring outside, we immediately decided that a soaking-wet-mud-filled outdoor music festival was not our ideal of a good time, so we changed plans last minute. Sometimes you have to be flexible!

Going to grab brunch and bottomless mimosas at Feelings was the perfect way to start our day, it gave us time to enjoy some cocktails while devising our new plan. This spot was laidback, and pretty reasonably priced. The OJ in their mimosas was freshly squeezed (important!) and although both of our meals were great, Dillon’s takes the (pan)cake. We were both dreaming about fried chicken and hoecakes days after we got home.

What we drank: Bottomless Mimosas with Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice
What we ate: “Fried Chicken and Hoe Cakes” (Southern Fried Chicken with Cornmeal Hoe Cakes, Sweet Cream Butter and Blueberry Maple Syrup) & “BLFGT” (Fried Green Tomatoes, Applewood Smoked Bacon, Arugula with Jumbo Lump Crab Ravigote on a Toasted Brioche Roll)

From there we made our way to Frenchmen Street, which is my biggest takeaway from New Orleans. Spend so much time on Frenchmen Street guys, it is the BEST. This is where you will find amazing music, the best bars, and some awesome street fairs. This day way spent a ton of time in The Spotted Cat (we went to this same bar three times during our trip, it is a must!). The music here is incredible, the drinks are reasonably priced, and the crowd that it draws is really enjoyable to be around. Another awesome part about New Orleans is that you can have open intoxicants on the street. So while Dillon and I spent the majority of this day inside The Spotted Cat listening to Jazz Music, we also would take breaks to walk around the neighborhood and check other things out. As long as you get your drink in a to-go cup, you’re free to roam!

We then went back to the Airbnb and accidentally took a nap…until 10pm. LOL, Frenchmen Street will do that to you. I woke up in a frantic hurry trying to get myself ready so that we could grab dinner and not waste our entire night. After calling a ton of places, the first we found that was serving food until midnight was Royal House. I’m not even going to list what we ate and drank, because this was the one negative experience we had in NOLA. Dillon’s drink was gross, some of my food was half cold, and the waiter tried to add a ton of extra charges onto our bill until I questioned him on it. I had some good gumbo there, but that’s about it.

We then made our way to Café Du Monde for a little dessert! They are open 24 hours, so it’s a super easy place to fit into your schedule. The cafe au lait was a great pick-me-up so that I was ready to tackle Frenchmen Street again that night and eating a beignet while you’re in the Quarter is a must!

We headed back that direction, and stumbled into the Frenchmen Art Market along the way. How awesome is it that an open air art market was open at midnight on a Sunday?! New Orleans is dreamy guys. The rest of the night consisted upon walking into bars on Frenchmen Street and grabbing drinks to-go so that we could enjoy the weather and listen to street performers. One of my favorite groups we saw the whole trip was New Thousand, check them out! They were playing on a curb and the entire street was filled with people dancing along with them, so fun! At around 3:30AM inside The Spotted Cat I looked at my phone and said “Dillon, why haven’t they kicked us out yet?!” to which he said “Amanda. This is New Orleans…there is no bar close. We have to kick ourselves out” Dangerous.

DAY 3

The next day we started off the day at Atchafalaya for brunch. There was a wait, so the hostess suggested we take a stab at their bloody bar to kill some time. I’m normally not impressed with Bloody Marys in other states as we’re pretty spoiled in Wisco, but they had some great options. One of them being a green tomato bloody mix… super interesting. After our table opened up, our brunch was AMAZING. It’s hard to choose, but I think this place would be in my top three recommendations. The atmosphere inside of the restaurant was adorable, and it was such a great mix of having a local New Orleans vibe, while still having a super creative menu. They had a band playing during brunch who I can’t stop listening to since, Up Up We Go. Definitely check them out, the singer’s voice is awesome.

We spent the rest of our day walking down Magazine Street for some shopping. One tip that I wish I had known prior to tackling Magazine Street…it’s 6 miles long. So I would say either bike it, or realize that you won’t make it down the whole street. I also wore heels this day, because I’m really smart and practical. Anyway, here are a couple of stores that were my favorite: Funky Monkey, Magazine Antique Mall, and Jezebel’s. Great vintage shopping on this street! Dillon even bought his FIRST piece of vintage clothing, a t-shirt repping a record label he’s into… I felt like a proud mom! The Garden District of New Orleans also falls in this area, where you will see the most beautiful houses.

We then went back to the Airbnb and freshened up for dinner. The last dinner of the trip was the one we were both the most excited for, Cochon. It definitely did not disappoint! When we got there, the hostess told us that we would be getting seated at bar top seats that were facing into the kitchen. I can be really picky about the environment of restaurants and bars, and Dillon instantly looked at me like “Oh no, she’s not havin’ it.” I really considered telling them we would wait longer to sit at an actual table, but I am SO glad that I kept quiet. Having those bar top seats was such a blessing in disguise. Everything at Cochon is cooked in a wood-burning oven, and the kitchen staff is absolutely hilarious. They were so fun to watch, and were joking around with us throughout the entire meal. As you’ll see below, we went a little crazy ordering. This was the best food of our trip!

What we ate: Wood-fired Oysters with Chili Garlic Butter, Fried Livers with Pepper Jelly & Toast, Grilled Shrimp with Chow-Chow, Smoked Pork Ribs with Watermelon Pickle, & Oven-roasted Gulf Fish “Fisherman’s Style”
What we drank: “The Rub” (rye, apple cider vinegar, bitters) & “Papa Legba” (tequila, velvet falernum, citrus, basil, tonic)

From here we headed over to Bourbon Street, and had a pretty crazy night. I think it would be tough to go to Bourbon Street and not have a crazy night. It’s very touristy, and I’m not even going to list what we drank in detail because most of it was pretty unmemorable. That being said…go here, get a way-too-sugary-drink, dance down the street, stay out way too late, and just decide to be okay with all of the trashiness for one night. Here are some of the bars that we had fun at:

Jean Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop– A bar that has been around since the 1700’s. It is dimly lit by candles and lanterns, and there is a piano to sit around in the back of the bar. Really cool place!
Tropical Isle– This bar is home of the “Hand Grenade” drink. Fun atmosphere, live band.
Huge Ass Beers– This is just as it sounds, they serve some huge ass beers. Like, in a plastic mug twice as big as your head.
Bourbon Pub & Parade– A gay bar that has amazing drag performers. I had to drag Dillon in here (pun intended), but we both had so much fun!

The next morning we packed up our bags and checked out of the Airbnb. Our host let us keep our things at the house until our flight, so we headed over to The Joint, which was right down the street from where we stayed. I had heard that this was the best BBQ in town, and I can’t argue with that. YUM!

What we ate: Beef Brisket Sandwich Topped with Slaw, Green Salad with Smoked Tomato Dressing, Homemade Mac & Cheese.
What we drank: Freshly Squeezed Lemonade

We had a little more time to kill before our flight, and happened to walk passed The Crepe Place while exploring the neighborhood. So happy we found this place! The inside was really relaxed, with a comfy coffee house vibe. And our crepes were delicious.

What we ate: “Fruit and Chocolate” (Strawberry and Dark Chocolate Crepe topped with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream) “Lemon Zinger” (Lemon Juice and Curd with Powdered Sugar)

And then, sadly, it was time to get back to reality. Vacations ending are always bittersweet ? You guys, I loved New Orleans! ? Dillon and I really had the best time together. I’m looking for a reason to go back asap. Also, these travel posts were super fun to write. Not only am I happy to share our experience with you, but also excited about having these memories and photos in one spot to look back on. I’m so happy that you read along, and I hope you’re now itching to make your way there as well! Take me with you?!

Hashtag #347Travels if you’re going somewhere fun and please comment below with any NOLA stories or questions! I would love to hear from you!

Xo Amanda