First timer in New Orleans

It depends on what you are looking for.

Food:
Saint-Germain. Probably the best restaurant in the city and isn’t on the level of Emeril when it comes to dress code and such. I find it more casual.
Lilette
Mosquito Supper Club since first time in New Orleans
MaMou
Palm & Pine
Pigeon & the Whale for oysters and happy hour


Cocktail bars:
You nailed the majority of them. I’d add:
Bouligny Tavern
Beachbum Latitude 29 for tiki drinks
It will still be hot, but sitting on the porch at the Columns with a cocktail is always fun. They have pretty good cocktails

Craft beer:
Courtyard and Parleaux are solid. I’d also check out Brieux Carre. Avenue Pub is a good spot for a tap list. Occasionally Cochon Butcher will get guest taps as well. I’ve honestly never been a fan of Bayou Beer Garden.

Find a hotel with a good pool to stay cool

Good list, from your options and knowing you will want to see multiple neighborhoods:

- Li’l Dizzy’s Café
- Acamaya
- Atchafalaya
- Peche
- Parkway
- Addis

I would also add Bearcat (CBD or Freret) for breakfast.

All 4 cocktail bars are great options, would also add Barrel Proof in the Lower Garden District. For daytime/happy hour people/streetcar watching on St. Charles Ave will add the front porch of The Chloe and Columns Hotel.

Beer, along with Courtyard, Parleaux, Avenue Pub I would consider Urban South and Care Forgot (next door to Avenue Pub). I love Bayou Beer Garden for the scene and if you want to watch some games, but its mostly outside and will still be hot in September.

Music is a whole other list, but for outside options Bacchanal on an early Friday/Saturday night is what you want, all outdoor tables, and good cocktail bar upstairs.

Last, its very good (not the best meal in town but still close), old school and iconic, see if you can do Friday brunch at Commanders Palace, it will be a reservation you will have to make now.

Friend,

Please accept my salutations on your arrival to one of the world’s great cities. If we are in town during your stay we hope you will exchange a visit to a soul siphoning bar for a visit to our home, where tea, hot chocolate and Mother’s fresh chocolate chip cookies will provide a far more salubrious and salutary experience. Perhaps we can try to start the 350 and take a private poor boy tour.

Failing that, I would suggest you exchange Domilese’s for Guy’s if you are uptown in need of a poor boy. Guy’s is superior in every way. I would also skip Jacques Imos; Brightsen’s is the more sensible and superior suggestion in that neighborhood, unless you prefer tourist traps. Katie’s is fine, but if you want the Mid-City neighborhood experience, Mandina’s is much better. I would also skip Peche, but for different reasons. We prefer Leah Chase’s restaurant to Lil Dizzy for Black Creole cuisine.

You should schedule a dessert at Brocato’s and experience New Orleans snoball culture by visiting a stand in the late afternoon or early evening. Pandora, Plum Street, Hansens and Rodney’s are all viable options.

You should not visit New Orleans without a trip to Metairie. In Middle Aged Metairie there exists the greatest restaurant in America, Impastato’s. Mr Joe is still there nightly, even as he is well into his 80s, and the food is as good as any Italian restaurant in our country. The chargrilled oyster at Drago’s is also required eating. Although you can eat at the Drago’s in the downtown Hilton, the Metairie location is the original and is more consistent.

Please enjoy yourself and let us know if you would like to join us for hymn and cookies. You will be pleasantly surprised by the neighborhoods of New Orleans, each with more life, lift and joie de vivre than any I’ve found in Chicago. Having said that, I still love purchasing from Marshall Field’s mint Frangos as small gifts for friends at Christmas.

Yours,
TulaneLSU

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Wife and I also love to check out cocktail bars. On my current list, I have Jewel of the South, Cure, Peychaud’s, and Bar Tonique. Any I should remove or add?

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Manolito, Cane & Table, Latitude 29, Hot Tin are some good ones that I've hit up the last time or two i've been to the city. First three have food as well, so they are a bit more than just a cocktail bar.

I'd say it is worth at least stopping by The Sazerac bar for a ramos gin fizz if you are over near it, though plenty of other places do it well.

GW Fins is a no-brainer for someone from out of town. menu Book NOW !!
Best fish selection in the city. IMO, GWF is a comparable food dining experience to Girl and The Goat (in CHI) for someone visiting a city for the first time.

crispy pork belly with watermelon


scalibut


lobster dumplings


tempura fin wings



Angelo Brocato's for dessert. spumoni, cannoli, gelato, coffee, etc .... been around for 125 yrs and a local favorite






Live Music Calendar


Cafe Du Monde (beignets and coffee) is right across the street from Jackson Square and the St Louis Cathedral
bottom right in picture with white/green stripe awnings

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dessert at Brocato’s

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excellent suggestion

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Although you can eat at the Drago’s in the downtown Hilton

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Please avoid that Hilton location. The service AND the food were absolutely awful. The Metairie location was much better.

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Although you can eat at the Drago’s in the downtown Hilton


Please avoid that Hilton location. The service AND the food were absolutely awful. The Metairie location was much better.

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Fat City location may be better, sure. It shouldn't even be a remote consideration for a first timer on a long weekend in New Orleans, though. No more so than Impastatos.

Courtyard can be a controversial subject because of the politics of the owner but it has really gone downhill. I was there last fall and the beers sucked. I peaked into the back where they brew and it looked like the equipment hadn't been cleaned in years.
Liuzza's By The Track for the Barbecue shrimp poboy. Guys for a shrimp poboy although there isn't much room to sit and eat there.

On Fridays you can get a "flight" of snoballs at Chance in Hell