There is no excuse for eating bad food in this city. Whatever your budget, you can find something to fill your tummy and make you happy. I’ll be writing about some of the places we’ve visited that we’ll keep coming back to.
Fiorella’s Fried Chicken
Fiorella’s
You have to visit Fiorella’s for the fried chicken. It is outstanding. A little bit hot, perfectly crispy, juicy and tender. It’s one of those meals you remember and crave when you get home. You’ll find it opposite the French Quarter. It’s an unassuming little hole in the wall, with friendly staff and even friendlier prices. We had a 3-piece dark meat platter with excellent mashed potatoes ($9.99), a 3-piece white meat platter with fries ($11.99) and 7 lemonade and vodkas for ($4.50) for a whopping total of $55.97. The best deal in the Quarter! It’s a place we return to every trip.
Buffa’s Sunday Jazz Brunch
Buffa’s
Sunday brunch at Buffa’s is not to be missed. The jazz band Some Like it Hot fill the room and the patrons with energy and good spirits. Where else can you dance on a Sunday morning? The food is okay, standard breakfast fare. I had the corned beef hash. It comes with two slices of toast and a couple of perfectly over-easy eggs. The hash was a bit disappointing, but I’m not sure if it is a regional thing. I prefer my hash with crispy brown edges, the onions, potatoes and peppers with caramelized bits from the hot skillet. The corned beef in this was shredded and wet, leaving the dish a bit soggy. It wasn’t bad, just wasn’t what I’d expected. My son had a bacon/eggs/hash browns breakfast and was happy. The $3 mimosas are a deal. You refill your own water and coffee. The servers were super friendly and efficient and didn’t rush us along, despite the place being busy. This is a local neighbourhood hangout at its best.
Buffa’s Brunch Band
Acme Oyster House
This 100+ year old restaurant on Iberville in the French Quarter has my favourite oyster poboy. It also happens to be my son’s favourite catfish poboy. The servings are insanely huge and the food is fresh and hot. The only drawback to this place is the line! This past trip, every time we passed Acme the line was enormous. The food is good, but there’s no shortage of great restaurants in New Orleans, so we didn’t wait. If you happen to pass by and there is no line, consider yourself lucky and give it a try. Prices are average for the area and service is adequate.
Felix’s Oyster Poboy
Felix’s
Felix’s is across the street from Acme. We decided to try a poboy there when we couldn’t get in to Acme. Our server was fantastic– funny and very welcoming. Typical New Orleans. My oysters were fresh and the beer was super cold. I didn’t love the bread, though. It was good, but I prefer Acme or Mahony’s on Magazine St. They did deliver an oyster platter to the table beside us that I wish I had tried. It looked amazing.
Central Grocery
Visit this small Italian grocer in the French Quarter for a massive muffuletta sandwich or poboy and take it to the park for a picnic. The muffuletta is a loaf stuffed with meats and cheese and olive salad and is great for sharing. The service is no-nonsense, but it’s a deli counter, so just know what you want when you get up there and no one should get impatient with you! Don’t forget to pick up some Zapp’s chips too. My fave are the Hotter ‘N Hot Jalapeno.
NOLA The Elvis
NOLA
We popped into Emeril Lagasse’s French Quarter restaurant for a fancy dessert one night. This three-storey restaurant still felt warm and cozy and the service was attentive and professionally friendly. I was jonesing for some bread pudding, so got The Elvis, a concoction of peanut butter bread pudding, bacon pecan praline, brown sugar bananas, drunken monkey ice cream. It confirmed that I don’t enjoy bacon with my dessert, as much as I love it any other time. My son had the Banana Pudding Layer Cake. I think it was a good gooey delicious choice. With coffee and water, our bill came to about $25. I didn’t pull out my “real” camera in NOLA as it was a bit more upscale and we were in the middle of the restaurant, so all I have of my pretty plate is a grainy iPhone pic.
Fiorella’s
