New Orleans Restaurants: Reviews & Recommendations

[Mayhaw Man]

Obviously, with the ten gillion post I have made on this subject, you can see what I think around here-BUT-

Currently I would reccomend  Restaurant August as highly as any other fine dining in town. John Besh is damn good at what he does and his staff is nothing if not friendly, efficient, and attentive.

←

Brooks can you fill me in a bit on the entree prices at August? The menu looks awesome!

←

It's in the high end of the range, but really, really worth it. John Besh is the real deal and his food, well, it's even realer.

It will not be an outrageous evening, but it won't be cheap either. OTOH, I can't think of a high end place in NOLA that I would rather eat right now-and we have many, many choices.

Here are a couple of reviews by people I know and trust_

Sara Roahen on August

Brett likes it too.

And he still likes it

Here's how the competition stacked up, as rated in Beans, which are, after all, better than stars.

[Della]

Della here, jumping on on LMF's NOLA Trip Food Thread -

Who has a recommendation for the best Soft Shell Crab Po'Boy? One of our group is looking forward to trying one of those sandwiches. I know that there are lots of places that have Po'Boy sandwiches and we have marked some that we might want to try but I am thinking of just the best Soft Shell Crab Po'boy

Does anyone have a favorite spot??

[Mayhaw Man]

Della here, jumping on on LMF's NOLA Trip Food Thread -

Who has a recommendation for the best Soft Shell Crab Po'Boy? One of our group is looking forward to trying one of those sandwiches. I know that there are lots of places that have Po'Boy sandwiches and we have marked some that we might want to try but I am thinking of just the best Soft Shell Crab Po'boy

Does anyone have a favorite spot??

←

I'll help you out, but let's get one thing straight first, or there will be trouble later:

A poboy is a sandwich

A sandwich is a sandwich

Poboy and sandwich need not be coupled together as a term, not should they be.

Today's lesson in New Orleans speak is now over.

Crabby Jack's is a fine spot for this delicacy.

The real deal though, the one that they serve at Jazzfest, is at The Galley Restaurant in Metairie

[little ms foodie]

I'll help you out, but let's get one thing straight first, or there will be trouble later:

A poboy is a sandwich

A sandwich is a sandwich

Poboy and sandwich need not be coupled together as a term, not should they be.

Today's lesson in New Orleans speak is now over.

Crabby Jack's is a fine spot for this delicacy.

The real deal though, the one that they serve at Jazzfest, is at The Galley Restaurant in Metairie

←

LOL!!! SCHOOLED!!!

[Della]

Thanks Brooks!! I need all the help I can get

[CiriloE]

Obviously, with the ten gillion post I have made on this subject, you can see what I think around here-BUT-

Currently I would reccomend  Restaurant August as highly as any other fine dining in town. John Besh is damn good at what he does and his staff is nothing if not friendly, efficient, and attentive.

←

Had a great meal in Restaurant August and Herbsaint. These two are tops in my list.

How is New Orleans Grill at Windsor Court now?

Cirilo

[jg70124]

Just a heads up: Elizabeth's changed hands after Jazz Fest, and closed August 1st for renovations. Target date for reopening is early September.

[Fay Jai]

Hi Wendy!

LUCKY! Man, I envy you guys! You are gonna have a great time.

Cafe Du Monde and Central Market and NOLA...GREAT choices. I'll second, (and have thirds, please ) Mother's for breakfast. Imagine if Beth's on Aurora had great home made food, wasn't as smoky, and had better atmosphere...er, no, imagine if Andy's Diner had WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better food and had more charecter, er, well...no...Crap...No place like Mother's here in Seattle! .

Gotta put this out there...How come no one has suggested Ugleisch's? Have they closed?

AND!

You GOTTA get a Ramos Fizz while you are there...Yeah, so New Orleans is known for the Sazerac. Big Deal, you can get that here in Seattle...But can you get a decent Ramos Fizz in Seattle? It was invented in New Orleans, and it is like a gin milkshake. Mmmmmm....Ginny....

Have Fun you 4!

~Jason

[little ms foodie]

Jason, Dayne loves gin so we will get a gin milkshake for sure!! thanks for the tip.

I'm pretty sure that Ugleisch's closed a few months ago. The family wanted to retire I read.

Hope the city and people stay safe during this huge hurricane!!! eek!

[joiei]

I think it is going to be quite a while before New Orleans is open for business again. It will definitely be a changes place.

[Jason Perlow]

Some of the better known restaurants are semi-outdoor, such as Cafe Du Monde. I'm a bit concerned myself as to how they held up to the storm.

[little ms foodie]

We are very concerned for the city and it's people. Will be watching the news over the next week to see how the situation (hopefully) improves for them.

[joiei]

After talking with my sister, who is still recovering from Ivan in Florida, last year, it will be a very long time before New Orleans starts to see any thing called normalcy. It took them a month to get power back on at her house and her flooding receded in one day. And there are still lots of blue roofs, if you know any roofers needing work, northwest florida is the place to be. I have a feeling the restaurant scene will be very different when the city does start reopening. I hope that not too many restaurants are able to survive the reconstruction period. And the Crescent City farmers market is devastated. The farmers can not get into the city to sell their products.

Brooks, take your time and share with us what you can when you can. Take care of your family first.

I have fond memories of living on Lowerline near the cemetary and living on Palmyra behind Jesuit High School. I figure that area was devastated. We had one flooding when I lived there and the water came up to our bottom step. I read on the nola.com site that all the businesses on Harrison were under water. Hopefully, when I go the the Austin City Limits festival, i will be able to run into all the friends I have not heard from yet. That music and Food festival had become our midyear Jazzfest, with a texas twist.

Now I will go light a candle and say prayers for all those in southern Louisiana who need help.

[MarketStEl]

As of the news reports this evening, it looks like it may be years before New Orleans returns to anything resembling normal.

Efforts to sandbag the breaches in two levees that protect the city from Lake Pontchartrain have been abandoned. The governor of Louisiana has ordered a mandatory evacuation of all persons remaining on the East Bank of the Mississippi in Orleans and Jefferson parishes; it has been reported that the pumps that keep the city and its suburbs dry are likely to fail, which means nine feet of water or more from the river to the lake, from N.O. East to Kenner.

Quite likely, with this much water damage, much of the city's housing stock may well have to be demolished. I hope this does not have to happen, but depending on how long it takes officials to plug the levees, restart the pumps and drain the city, that is a worst-case scenario. Even if the structures remain sound, there will have to be a massive decontamination and cleanup effort.

Tonight we mourn not only those who perished in Katrina, but the ruin of one of America's most fascinating cities.

[Gifted Gourmet]

Please post anything you wish to add to the thread specifically on Hurricane Katrina here.

Thanks for your help in keeping these threads on the specific topics in the Louisiana Forum.

[Rachel Perlow]

We ate at Casamento's last night. Jason had some raw oysters and thoroughly enjoyed them, I don't care for the texture, so I didn't taste. As for the fried oysters, while the quality of the oysters is obviously impecable, I don't care for the Casamento's fried version, that is to say, not as much as other's I have had. At Casamento's the oysters are fried crunchy, it's like they are chicken fried oysters. This leaves the inside a little chewy. I prefer my fried oysters lightly cornmeal encrusted with a creamy interior. I'm glad to have tried them, but my favorite fried oysters ever are still the ones we had at Crabby Jack's last year. I want to go back and have them again!

[sara]

On my recent trip, the best raws I had were at Drago's. This surprised me, since that wasn't what I was there for, but they were better than ones I had at Felix this trip, and better than what I had at Casamentos and Acme on a prior trip. Indeed, they were on par w/ Ugle's.

[Mayhaw Man]

On my recent trip, the best raws I had were at Drago's. This surprised me, since that wasn't what I was there for, but they were better than ones I had at Felix this trip, and better than what I had at Casamentos and Acme on a prior trip. Indeed, they were on par w/ Ugle's.

←

You might give some thought to the names of your favorite spots-Drago's and Uglesitch's-The Slavs have long run the oyster business in South La-it makes sense that they often have the best as they are generally the ones selling them to everyone else.

Bozo's has some pretty swell ones too (once again, Slavic), out in the same neighborhood as Drago's (well, roughly the same neighborhood, anyway)

[sara]

Yeah, actually that was the thought I had when we left Drago's-- the benefit of the quality sourcing was clear.

[TAPrice]

Brooks, so they're not all getting their oysters from P&J? Or does P&J set aside better oysters for certain customer?

Edited April 2, 2006 by TAPrice (log)

[chezcherie]

i'm so excited to be coming back...and bringing my darling sons with me for a wild weekend in new orleans. the 19 yr old is (sigh) a frat boy (but a sweet, relatively mild mannered one), and the 21 yr old is a dreadlocked, tattooed cook. we are an interesting group! ;->)

both love to eat, and both are excited to see new orleans (even with mom!).

so...i need a plan. as a mother, i realize that it will be tentative and fluid at best...but my two requirements of them are (a) that i WILL have a dining companion every evening (lunch optional) and (b) that at no point will i feel the need to take any member of the group to an AA meeting in the quarter...

so, we arrive about 7 on friday...home base is just off the quarter.

here's my first stab at a dining itinerary:

Friday dinner: Acme? Nice and close to the hotel, both boys do oysters...then I can retire for the evening, and they can...explore.

Saturday breakfast--I won't even expect to see them...so I might try Camelia on my own?

Sat lunch--Le Petit Grocery? are they open for lunch? is this a good choice for us? haven't been there myself, and wanted to try it (gotta fit a new place into the trip!)

Sat Dinner Jacques Imo? i've been, i think they'll love it...

Sunday--Brunch? Galatoire's? Is this too much for them? I don't want them to feel all twitchy and stiff-collared...suggestions? (i'm considering it for personal reasons--i have never been there, and we do have a sunday brunch time slot in this trip, so i'm tempted to seize the moment. but i don't want to "punish" them with anything too formal---i have their dad, and another trip, for that!)

Sunday Dinner Upperline, because of a stellar experience I had when I visited last year, when uglesich's closed (oooh, to take the boys to uglesich's...)

Monday--See one boy off to the airport early, need a lunch spot, then we'll grab some muffalettas to take home, and fly out in the afternoon

again, all our plans are fluid at this planning stage, and will remain pretty fluid during the weekend...thoughts? suggestions? what should we not miss?

one of the boys college pals is working at gulfstream..should we dine there, or take her elsewhere? (she's a tulane girl, and hasn't had that much time to dine out in the city, so we may be taking her along on some of our adventures).

also, any recommendations about a cooking class? i've done the new orleans school of cooking thing, and don't need to do that again...anybody know about "cookin' cajun"? i'd LOVE to take the class on sat night at savvy gourmet with leah chase and poppy tooker.....(i have a cooking school, so i'd love to see this) but it's sat night, and i really want to spend the meal time with the boys...they will be on their own the rest of the trip....am i nuts, and should i just let them have sat night? or am i nuts to do THAT? (taking the class will also cut out an opportunity to dine somewhere new, so i'm on the fence..the class subject matter is game, which is not something we have a chance to do much of in southern californai...but i can always learn something at a cooking class, especially with these ladies involved!)

and one more thing---our local travel section just ran a blurb on "disaster tours"...

i'm torn.

we will not have a car, so this is probably our (or my) opportunity to experience some of the lasting physical effects of K. i have no interest in a voyeristic gawk at other people's pain. on the other hand, part of the reason i'm going is to fill friends and students in on the current state of things, and people will want to know. i want to possibly plan a "field trip" for students to go spend some money in the city, as that's what we keep hearing is needed....thoughts on whether this type of tour is a good idea, or just stupid?

oooh, i am counting the hours. thanks, people!

edited for bad typing---have to set an example here. one boy is a food guy, and might actually read this!

Edited May 13, 2006 by chezcherie (log)

[saturnbar]

Glad you are coming. Acme is an excellent choice for raw oysters, but other than that I find their food marginal. So if all need are a couple dozen and a maybe a cup of gumbo you should be good.

The Camelia Grill is closed. Try Stanley for breakfast. Scott Boswell opened it after the storm. Its a small bistro, breakfast and lunch only, on Decatur just below Jackson Square. And there is always Mothers or Elizabeth's.

I wouldn't fret about Galatoire's. The only requirement is a jacket. Sunday Brunch at Galatoires has been a local tradition for a long time. Much longer than the Friday lunch bachanal that everyone thinks of now. The appetizer sampler is always a great way to start the meal. Too may people pass on Galatoire's for one reason or another, and it really shouldn't be missed. There's just nothing else quite like it.

I don't know anything about Gulfstream, so can't help you there. One Restaurant and Lounge in the Riverbend area, might be a good call. Scott Snodgrass from Clancy's opened it and its quite popular, so call ahead if you are interetsed. I think it won best new restaurant or something. It has a very casual feel but the food is quite good.

As far as seeing the devastation, I think it is important for everyone to see what happened. It has a an extremely visceral effect on you. Too many people leave here thinking that everything seems alright, and it is not. This was a horrible tragedy that goes far beyond the physical devastation. People need to spread the word that its not ok down here. I don't want to get preachy on you but I think your sons could well benefit from the experience. When you see someone working on their house, stop and talk to them. Share your companionship. I know my outlook is completely different since the storm. I really hug my kids alot. ch

[chezcherie]

The Camelia Grill is closed. 

←

thanks for that---i thought i had seen it on the list of reopenings, but i'm certain that you are correct. (stanley's a stella! spin off, no?)

and thanks even more for

As far as seeing the devastation, I think it is important for everyone to see what happened.  It has a an extremely visceral effect on you.  Too many people leave here thinking that everything seems alright, and it is not.  This was a horrible tragedy that goes far beyond the physical devastation.  People need to spread the word that its not ok down here.  I don't want to get preachy on you but I think your sons could well benefit from the experience.  When you see someone working on their house, stop and talk to them.  Share your companionship.  I know my outlook is completely different since the storm.  I really hug my kids alot.  ch

←

i completely agree with your suggestions that my sons would/will benefit from the experience of seeing the aftermath. would you suggest doing so on one of these tours? or renting a car to take ourselves out there--bearing in mind that we are unfamiliar with the territory, and also that we don't want to be driving down unfamiliar streets and be perceived as gawkers...appreciate any insight from someone who's living it.

[joiei]

if you do not know New Orleans, then take the tour. try to get in touch with Mayhaw Man, he can direct you to the best tours.

[SusanGiff]

My family and I were in New Orleans the weekend before Jazz Fest (French Quarter Fest was happening). Like you, my husband and I debated whether or not it was 'appropriate' to tour the worst hit areas and gawk. (In fact, I almost emailed Mayhaw Man from our hotel for his opinion, but I got shy, especially since it wasn't a food-related question.) Anyway, ultimately we decided that getting on a Grey Line bus would feel too weird, so we asked one of the bellmen at our hotel if he knew of a knowledgeable taxi driver who could take us around.

He found us someone fantastic, and if you pm me I'll try to round up his number. I can't urge you strongly enough to do this. People will tell you you just can't believe how bad it is until you see it, and it's true. It's absolutely stunning and, I felt afterward, very important to see. And very important for kids to see. It's going to be a big piece of American history, for one thing. And we left there committed to a) keeping closer track of what's going on in New Orleans, a city we really care about and b)continuing to help any way we can.

And, yeah, them Acme Oysters were quite tasty. We had a terrific meal at Herbsaint, but I think if we were going there now we'd probably try Cochon or August, either instead or, preferably, in addition.

By the way, you NOLAns out there--did one of the muffellata places close? Either Progress or Central? I could have sworn they were separated by just one storefront, but when I went looking, I only found one (sorry, can't remember which it was). It was Sunday, so it was closed anyway, but I did wonder.

Susan