New Orleans. NOLA. The Big Easy. Doesn’t matter what you call this famous city known for its “Laissez les bons temps rouler!” (“Let the good times roll!”) attitude toward life. New Orleans is filled with delicious French-inspired Creole and Cajun food, live jazz, street performers, and an appreciation for all of life’s temptations. In 3 days and 2 nights, we explored and ate our way around town. If you are planning a trip to New Orleans, this blog post will be helpful in providing you with all you need to know to get the most out of your trip!

We arrived in NOLA early in the morning and had a full day to enjoy. Renting a car was one of the best decisions we made. It allowed us to easily get around and not have to waste any time waiting for trolleys or taxis. By the time our trip was over, the rental car paid for itself and was worth it. Street parking was easy and there were plenty of parking garages around the city.

Our first stop was for breakfast at Surrey’s Cafe & Juice Bar. Surrey’s is self proclaimed as an electric and funky cafe and juice bar. They have two locations off Magazine street, we visited the one in the Lower Garden District.

I ordered the Banana Pancake (pictured above) and my boyfriend, Sean, ordered the Crab Meat Omelette (pictured below). I was blown away not only with the size of my pancake but its taste. Wish I could have eaten the entire pancake, but I knew I needed to save space for lunch. My boyfriend loved his omelette! It was stuffed with avocado and brie cheese, topped with a creamy lump crab sauce.

Next, we headed to the Sculpture Garden at the New Orleans Museum of Art. Admission was free and we had a great time. We walked around and took pictures with the different sculptures and found a nice spot to sit down, relax and enjoy the garden.  

Not far from the Sculpture Garden was the Treme neighborhood of New Orleans. While this is not the best area in town, if you are looking for the best fried chicken in the world, then Willie Mae’s Scotch House is a stop worth making. Willie Mae’s is the recipient of the 2005 James Beard Foundation Award for America’s Classics, which is basically the equivalent of an Oscar in the culinary world. Even President Barack Obama ate lunch at Willie Mae’s just a few weeks before our visit, during his trip to New Orleans on the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. There is always a line out the door and we found out why.

Once inside, we were seated at a table in the main dining room. While there was not much to the decor of the restaurant, there was an authentic New Orleans homey feel. The thing to order is America’s Best Fried Chicken, white meat. For $12, you get three pieces of fried chicken and a side. We ordered two orders of the fried chicken; one with french fries, and the other with macaroni and cheese. Also, we tried the butter beans. The fried chicken comes in a hot, flaky batter. The chicken is moist and juicy, perfectly seasoned and every bite leaves you wanting more. The macaroni and cheese also had a bit of a kick and tasted delicious. The fries and butter beans were also great compliments to the main event. We enjoyed it so much the first time that we knew we couldn’t leave New Orleans without at least one more stop at Willie Mae’s. It was even better the second time. Sean even bought a shirt.

We decided to stay at Hotel Indigo in the Garden District. It was the perfect location because it was close enough to all of the action, but far enough away to avoid the craziness of the downtown area. For those who don’t have a car, there is a trolley stop conveniently located just outside of the hotel, at the St. Charles car line. The room was very spacious and chic. The bed was super comfortable and the room was very clean. We even had a city view to wake up to.

For dinner, on the first night, we went to Commander’s Palace. This restaurant has been open since 1880, and is often noted as one of the best restaurants in New Orleans. Known for their take on Creole classics and high-end cuisine, they specialize in dishes such as turtle soup and pecan-crusted Gulf fish, both of which we ordered, in addition to the filet mignon. We started with a sampling of three of their soups, including the turtle soup, a seafood gumbo, and a kale and bacon soup du jour. Our personal favorite happened to be the bacon and kale soup du jour. The pecan-crusted gulf fish was incredibly tasty, and surprisingly filling for a fish entree. Also, we ordered the filet mignon with a garlic-thyme demi glace, which was cooked as well as any steak we’ve ever tried. For dessert, we ordered the Creole bread pudding souffle, which was a great, sweet finish to the meal. Due to the poorly lit dining room, we were unable to get any great shots of the food we ordered, and didn’t want to use my flash in the dining room. (iPhone photo below)

After dinner, we had to walk off some of our meal. We headed to Bourbon Street to check out New Orleans’ most famous tourist attraction. Located in the French Quarter, Bourbon Street is known for being the place where the party literally never stops. Quite frankly, it was very loud, disgusting, and filled with drunks, bars, and strip clubs. (watch where you walk, that is not spilled drinks on the street) One very cool thing about the French Quarter, though, has to be the jazz music scene, which led us to our next destination.

Established in 1961, Preservation Hall is the single most famous jazz venue in all of New Orleans. To skip the very long lines, you can purchase tickets beforehand, which also gets you seats in this tiny, historical venue. Without tickets, you have to stand in the back of the room for the hour-long show. There is no air conditioning and no photography allowed during the performance. Each of the musicians were very talented and have learned the traditional style from the greats that played before them at Preservation Hall. We had a great time listening and dancing in our seats to the music.

After the show, we walked over to Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee. Established in 1862, Cafe Du Monde is the original french market stand. Open 24/7, this place was the perfect way to end our first day in New Orleans. I’m not a coffee drinker but Sean basically lives off of coffee and ordered the Cafe Du Monde iced coffee and chicory. He thought it was good but nothing special. As for the beignets, we felt it wasn’t anything special either. My expectations were set too high based from the reviews I read online. I really wanted to love it, but it just fell flat compared to all the wow food I had eaten earlier in the day.

Day 2, started at District Donuts. Sliders. Brew. Everything here is made in house from scratch and by hand. They have over 100 doughnut options in their catalog that are rotated 7 at a time everyday.

We tried the Cereal + Milk and the Chocolate Glazed Sprinkle Doughnut. The Cereal + Milk Doughnut was amazing. Covered in Fruity Pebbles and freshly baked, this was definitely our favorite of the two.

I have a shellfish allergy so I couldn’t taste this one, but my boyfriend ordered their featured slider of the day, which was the soft shell crab slider. The crab was lightly battered and fried, making it easy to bite through the soft shell and into the fresh crab. It came topped with tomato, cucumber, and aioli. Sean thought it was amazing and loved every bite. I ordered the waffle fries and sprinkled on the “Slap Ya Mama” Cajun seasoning, which was amazing. We actually bought some of the seasoning to bring home while at the airport. I later found out you can actually purchase it locally at home at some grocery stores. 

After breakfast we decided to check out some of New Orleans’ famous cemeteries. Because the city is built on a swamp, and rests below sea level, the deceased have to be buried above ground. The elaborate crypts are what make the cemeteries of New Orleans a tourist attraction. They have come to resemble small villages, and have been given the nickname “Cities of the Dead.” The most famous cemetery is St. Louis Cemetery No. 1, located on the historic Basin Street, and is the burial place of Marie Laveau, the legendary voodoo queen. To visit that cemetery, you must be accompanied by a licensed tour guide. Since we were unable to arrange a tour guide, we visited two of the city’s other famous cemeteries. The first was Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, across the street from Commander’s Palace. The second was St. Louis Cemetery No. 2 which is just behind St. Louis Cemetery No.1.

For lunch, we went to Chef John Besh’s Luke. This brasserie on St. Charles Street has one of the city’s best happy hours, which includes $.75 oysters, in addition to its take on traditional New Orleans Creole fare, like seafood gumbo, shrimp and grits, and bread pudding.

Although New Orleans has several very famous, touristy oyster houses, Luke features oysters from some of the most desired regions of the U.S. During the happy hour, his prices even beat out famous oyster houses like Acme and Felix’s. Sean found them to be some of the best and freshest oysters he has ever had.

The entree dish to order here is the shrimp and cheesy grits. Loaded with big shrimp, andouille sausage, and jalapeno cheesy grits, this may have been the single most flavorful dish my boyfriend had while visiting New Orleans.

I ordered the burger and fries, which was the best burger I have ever eaten. Not pictured is the bread pudding, which Sean says, also, was the best bread pudding he has ever eaten.

After lunch, we took a stroll through the French Quarter.

Walking around the French Quarter, you will see many street characters.

We stopped to listen to music at Musical Legends Park in the French Quarter.

Quick coffee break for Sean at Spitfire Coffee. He loved this place.

The French Quarter also is known for its street music with very talented musicians scattered throughout the neighborhood.

The most anticipated dish of the trip, for Sean, was the alligator and shrimp cheesecake from Jacques-Imo’s. So, before we went for dinner, we drove out to the restaurant, which was about 15 minutes outside of the French Quarter.

Pictured above is the shrimp and alligator sausage cheesecake. To clarify, this is not a dessert cheesecake. It’s not an easy dish for him to describe, but he did note that it had a quiche-like texture. The dish was creamy and savory, and was beyond delicious.He also ordered their Creole Jambalaya, pictured above, which he really enjoyed.

We stopped to check out the Harrah’s casino in between dinners. The casino featured Mardi Gras decor and was beautiful inside.

Of course, I had to play the Butterfly penny slot. I thought it would be lucky. It wasn’t.

For dinner #2, we stopped by Mother’s Restaurant to try their famous debris sandwich and fried chicken. We were both underwhelmed by the food they served. Don’t waste your time here. It might be the most well-known, but it’s definitely not the best.

For the last stop of Day 2, we got dessert at Sucre in the Garden District. Here, they serve gelato, macarons, cupcakes, chocolates, coffee, and other various sweets.

Sean got the gelato and thought it was really good. I tried the chocolate gelato, which I wish I got instead of the red velvet cupcake. The macarons were also delicious.

To start Day 3, Sean thought it would be a good idea to save time and grab a po’ boy while I was getting ready for the day. He went to Domilise’s and ordered a fried shrimp and oyster po’ boy.

He said this was one of the best sandwiches he has ever had, saying that the batter wasn’t too heavy, and that the sandwich was loaded with shrimp and oysters, as well as their secret spicy sauce.

After visiting Willie Mae’s for a second time, we decided to check out the National World War II Museum.

My grandfather was a tanker in World War II, so it was awesome to get a chance to see a tank in person.

My great grandfather was the inventor of the fuse that was used in this mortar. I always wanted to see it in person.

After the museum, Sean decided he was hungry again. So, he wanted to make sure he visited New Orleans’ most famous oyster house, Acme. While he didn’t think the oyster themselves were anything out of the ordinary, the char-grilled oysters were something he had never eaten before, and he loved those.

After Acme, Sean concluded that oysters were simply not enough. So, we headed to Cochon Butcher for a New Orleans culinary staple: the muffuletta.

The muffuletta was filled with the house cured meats with an olive salad, on fresh sesame bread. Sean loved this sandwich, and thought the meats they were curing in-house were as good as it gets.

The hunger continued at “Dat Dog.” Known for the best hot dogs in Nola, it sure did “put a smile on [our] face.”  

Sean ordered the Crawfish Sausage hot dog and I was my typical boring self and got a plain hot dog. We both enjoyed our dogs and were about ready to roll out the door from being stuffed to capacity.

Overall, we had the most amazing time in New Orleans. The food, the entertainment, the culture all were a one of a kind experience. I highly recommend everyone to take a trip down to New Orleans, where the party…or in our case…the food…never ends. I hope you found this blog helpful if you are planning a trip to Nola. We can’t wait to go back!