As a city literally bursting with restaurants, New Orleans is known to be an amateur connoisseur’s heaven. When visiting New Orleans, your days are filled with walking from one meal to the other, even stopping in between for some light snacks to keep you sustained. Below, are must-try restaurants in the area to get the whole NOLA experience.
Photo by nola.com
Café Du Monde
If you leave New Orleans without trying a beignet, you might as well go back now. What sounds better than fluffy pieces of dough that are fried to perfection and topped with mounds of powdered sugar? Although hundreds of places in the area claim that they have the best beignets, do not be fooled. You must go to Café Du Monde and order a serving of beignets (all three better be for yourself) with a café du lait for the full effect. I’m sure once you’ve fell in love with the beignets, you will want to bring home a packet of beignet mix–a little piece of NOLA.
Location: 800 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA, 70116.
Hours of Operation: 24/7
Muriel’s
All around the French Quarter, there are countless restaurants bragging about having the most authentic Creole dishes. Right in Jackson Square, surrounded by the hustle and bustle of entertainers and tourists, lies the best Louisianan restaurant: Muriel’s. The perfect time to go is Sunday Brunch when there is a complimentary Jazz ensemble playing. If I were you, I would only order the bread pudding and keep ordering it until I had to leave the city. Warmed to perfection, topped with a rum glaze, and served with vanilla bean ice cream, this bread pudding is phenomenal. You have never tasted anything like it before.
Location: 801 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA, 70116
Hours of Operation: Lunch: Mon-Sat: 11:30am-2:30pm, Sun: 11am-2pm. Dinner: Mon-Fri: 5:30pm-10pm, Sat-Sun: 5pm-10pm.
Clancy’s
Finally, once you have spent your days roaming the hole-in-the-wall restaurants that serve nothing but fried foods, you might crave a meal that is less than 2000 calories. A couple miles outside of the French quarter is Clancy’s. Since it is tucked within the elite neighborhoods of New Orleans, when you eat there you get a meal at one of the best restaurants in the area and get to see the who’s who of the city. Be fair warned: the bread is to die for. Served with a full stick of butter (that will be completely consumed by the end of the night), the bread loaves are served hot and free flowing throughout the meal.
Location: 6100 Annunciation St, New Orleans, LA 70118.
Hours of Operation: Mon-Sat: 5:30pm-10pm.