There are about a million and one reasons we could give you to visit New Orleans. It’s a city steeped in culture and tradition, with a pulse that is all its own. On our way headed West, we stopped in the Big Easy for two reasons, Mardi Gras, and to eat! Neither disappointed!

New Orleans is a foodie’s paradise!

When you come to Nawlins, come hungry.  With more James Beard award-winning restaurants than you can count and even more hole-in-the-wall amazing eateries, its a big ask to come to the Big Easy and expect to hit everything on your “to eat” list because the truth is you’ll always be stumbling across something new and unexpected!

We took ourselves on our own DIY food tour of this culinary mecca and what an adventure it was! So without further delay here is the complete list of everything we stuff our faces with!

Po Boys:

Domilise’s Po-Boy’s & Bar

Location: Uptown

What We Ate: Off the menu special; fried shrimp, swiss cheese, roast beef gravy, creole mustard, pickles and lettuce.

Why We Went: You simply cannot bring up the topic of Po-boys in New Orleans without someone telling you, you HAVE to eat here! This local neighborhood eatery has been slinging out delicious sandwiches since the 1930’s. The po-boys were tasty, the atmosphere was even better!

Belle Chase Dairy Dip

Location: Belle Chase

What We Ate: Dairy Dip Special & Spicy Sausage Poboy

Why We Went: We stumbled upon this little roadside gem on the way back to our campsite one evening. Somehow despite all we’d already eaten we were miraculously hungry and stopped for a snack. We ordered 2 full sized Po boys, big mistake these are sharing size! A Dairy Dip Special (ham, roast beef and gravy), and a Spicy Sausage, the special was our favorite but they were both phenomenal!

Cajun Fare:

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Gumbo Store

Location: French Quarter

What We Ate: Creole Combination Platter (Shrimp Creole, Red Beans and Rice, and Jambalaya)

Why We Went: We popped by the Gumbo Store on a whim, wandering through the French Quarter we can almost guarantee you’ll work up an appetite. Wandering past the Gumbo Store we caught a good whiff of what smelled like tasty eats and they drew us in! The food was good, not great and a bit pricey for what you get but the atmosphere of the old building makes up for it. Would it be at the top of our eat there list ever again? No, but it’s not a bad place for a quick bite in the Quarter.

Mulate’s

Location: Just Outside the Quater

What We Ate: We split the Cajun Triple Play ( Fried Crawfish, Crawfish Au Gratin and Crawfish Etoufee)

Why We Went: We had heard the even over the famed Mother’s restaurant Mulates was the place to go for cajun food and while we thoroughly enjoyed our meal, we’d be lying if we didn’t say that the promise of live Zydeco music and dancing didn’t seal the deal.

Cocktails:

 Miel Brewery

Location: Uptown

What We Drank: The Gylden Saison & a Lagniappe ( Irish Stout)

Why We Went: We had zero plans to visit Miel Brewery true confession we didn’t even know they existed until we tried the doors to Nola Brewing and found them locked, the good news for us was Miel was just a few blocks away and open for business. This funky little basic brewery serves up the local craft in a relaxing atmosphere. If you’re looking for a good brew to wash down a po-boy from Domilise’s this is the spot!

The Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone

Location: Just Outside The Quater

What We Drank: Sazerac, Cognac, and a Dirty Vodka Martini

Why We Went: It’s funny how things from your childhood stick with you! I (Katie) can remember being a kid growing up in New Orleans, walking past the windows of the Monteleone and wistfully looking in at the Carousel Bar. Obviously, that wasn’t happening back then but getting the chance to experience it as an adult was something I wasn’t going to miss out on. This is, of course, a bit of an attraction so go early or be prepared to wait for a seat at the bar. Cocktails here are expensive but tasty!

Sweet Treats:

Belle Chase Dairy Dip

Location: Belle Chase

What We Ate: Pineapple Sno-ball filled with Vanilla Soft Serve

Why We Went: Since we had already stopped for po-boys, we figured why not wash it down with a New Orleans classic sno-ball. They’ve got about a billion flavors to choose from, but no matter what you choose make sure you get it filled with soft serve vanilla ice cream- come on, is there really any other way?

Café Du Monde

Location: French Quarter

What We Ate: 1 Order of Beignet & a Café Au Lait

Why We Went: You will not get away coming to New Orleans without at least a dozen people telling you that you HAVE TO GO to Café Du Monde, well we’re here to tell you that you don’t have to! Is it a historical café? Yes. Are the beignets good? Yes, but not great. Is the place overly packed with tourists and dirty even by New Orleans standards? Yes. All that being said we really did enjoy the beignet but the Café Au Lait and the atmosphere seriously left something to be desired. If you feel like you have to go don’t skip it but we’re here to tell you there are better places to get a cup of joe and some fried bread in the Big Easy!

District Donuts & Sliders Brew

Location: Magazine Street

What We Ate: The Fried Chicken Sandwich, King Cake Donut with King Cake Crème Filling & A Vietnamese Coffee Donut with Chickory Crème Filling

Why We Went: If you go to New Orleans and you don’t at least pop by District Donuts you’ll be sad! We are not the biggest donut fans in the world, in fact, I’m not entirely sure either one of us really like them all that much but these were good enough to make even us believers. We loved them. If we didn’t have so many other awesome places on our “to eat list” we might have made this place a daily ritual.

Obviously, we still have a big and growing list of places we need to visit on our next stop through New Orleans, the short list includes famous and infamous places like Wille Mae’s Scotch House, Cochon Butchery, Bevi Seafood, Sucre, and Shaya. Do you have a favorite place to eat in the Big Easy? Maybe a secret spot worth sharing? Let us know, drop it in the comments!