Eats
If you get a bad meal in New Orleans, it's probably your own fault. Finding good food here is like finding wheat fields in Kansas. The following list represents not necessarily the best local restaurants, nor even the most diverse, but instead a short, somewhat eclectic and highly subjective guide to locations you might not otherwise come across during your stay in New Orleans. Bon appetit.
Cafe Atchafalaya. Its deliberate casualness and off-the-beaten-path location often leave this little gem flying under the radar, but this is the real deal for blue-eyed soul food, distinctly Southern with a largely local and in-the-know clientele. Fried green tomatoes, crawfish beignets, chicken and dumplings and pecan-smothered trout head the list here. Or just get anything smothered in gravy. The neighborhood can be sketchy at night, so we recommend the cab ride from downtown. 901 Louisiana Ave., 891-5271.
Camellia Grill. A New Orleans classic and favorite destination for streetcar travelers, this tiny diner (28 stools) has changed little in its 50 years of operation. It is neither gourmet nor particularly diet-conscious - the healthiest thing on the menu is probably the four pounds of cole slaw they pile on top of the turkey sandwich. The clientele is cops to debutantes, and the cooks and wait staff put on a performance as lively and entertaining as any you'll find in the street shows on Jackson Square. Expect to wait in line. 626 S. Carrollton Ave., 866-9573.
Clancy's. There are easily two to three dozen world-class dining restaurants in the city and they're all in your guidebooks. Truth to tell, most of them are, indeed, world class. Clancy's, tucked away in a neighborhood street corner Uptown, is one of the great lesser-knowns, a little out-of-the-way but well worth the trip. It's small and friendly, leaning heavily toward veal and seafood, particularly soft-shell crab. The baked oysters and brie appetizer is a taste treat to behold. Jackets suggested, reservations recommended. 6100 Annunciation St., 895-9111.
Clover Grill. "Grills just wanna have fun," is the motto at this campy little Bourbon Street diner, a late-night greasy spoon packed by drag queens, drunk frat boys and adventurous tourists. The trademark special is the cheeseburger cooked under the hub cap of a 1956 Cadillac. The Clover closes for four hours each year - from midnight to 4 a.m. on Ash Wednesday so if it's late and a BLT and chocolate shake are calling your name, you're in luck. 900 Bourbon St., 523-0904.
Domilise's. This corner sandwich joint has been in the Domilise family for more than 70 years, setting the standard for poboy excellence Uptown. It's a favorite hideaway for Hollywood and sports celebrities, particularly John Goodman and Peyton Manning, both of whom have famous appetites that New Orleanians trust. You can, too. The off-the-menu special - fried shrimp with swiss cheese, smothered in roast beef gravy - is the most dangerous lunch in town. Make time for an afternoon nap if you go this route, and we recommend that you do. Closes at 7 p.m. 5240 Annunciation St., 899-9126.
Dunbar's. While a number of Creole soul food restaurants have come and gone over the last decade and suffered spells of inconsistent quality, Dunbar's has remained low-key, casual, tasty and shockingly inexpensive. Fried chicken, red beans and rice, mustard greens, and world-famous walnut pound cake. World famous? OK, truth is, most folks have never heard of this place, locals included. And, a special treat for early risers: The best soul food breakfast in town. 4927 Freret St., 899-0734.
Lola's. Small and increasingly popular, Lola's is the vanguard of Spanish-influenced Mediterranean cuisine in New Orleans: Paella, gazpacho and such, heavily infused with south Louisiana produce and seafood. The fresh fish fillets are as good as any in town - purchased, prepared and grilled to absolute perfection by Lola's one-man-show, Angel Miranda. It's loud and crowded - located in a former hair salon - and it smells like garlic. Lola's doesn't take reservations and doesn't have a liquor license, so the meal is cheap but you need to bring your own beverages. You won't forget your meal here; that's a guarantee. Best to go early or late - avoid the 8 p.m. line. 3312 Esplanade Ave., 488-6946.
Lucky Cheng's. Truth be told, the food is just okay, and the decor is downright campy. But unless you are from New York City or Miami, you probably don't get many chances to dine in a restaurant staffed entirely by Asian drag queens. Waiter, there's a Spanish fly in my soup. 720 St. Louis St., 529-2045.
Palm Court Cafe. Again, this is another place where the food is only part of the presentation, proving there's more to a dining experience than eating, yes? The Palm Court is one of the last true traditional jazz venues in the city and the only one that feeds you. The grand brick-and-tiled show room evokes the early days of jazz with its lacy curtains and lazily spinning ceiling fans. This is where the old pros and young lions of Dixieland gather to play. Menu is Louisiana fare, shrimp creole and such. 1204 Decatur St., 525-0200.
Uglesich Bar. This place offers world-class pan-fried trout and a myriad other local delicacies. It would be mentioned in the same breath as the great New Orleans fine dining institutions if it stayed open past 4 p.m. and were it not located in one of the city's tougher neighborhoods. Rumor has it they painted the walls and cleaned the place up a bit - disconcerting news to old fans, but we trust that, unless they completely overhauled the ventilation system, your clothes will smell like your lunch for 24 hours. Take a cab. 1238 Baronne St., 523-8571.
Drinks
While the live music scene gets all the attention in New Orleans, there are dozens - hundreds, actually - of neighborhood taverns, juke joints and wine bars that cater predominantly to conversation, people watching and just soaking up local ambiance. Listed below are 10 area nightspots that reveal just a hint of the many colors in the broad palette of New Orleans nightlife.
The Columns. Victorian and anachronistic, this rustic hotel lobby bar is where old-line New Orleanians gather to feel good about themselves and their lot in life along the streetcar line, under the oaks, on wide and wonderful St. Charles Avenue. The gathering masses here can be a little eccentric, a little monied and a little talkative, but the expansive front porch is as relaxing and romantic a spot as you'll find in town. Take the St. Charles Avenue streetcar: it matches the setting. Don't even try to be in a hurry here. 3811 St. Charles Ave., 899-9308.
Crescent City Brewhouse. If you like beer like we like beer, then you'll love the home of Red Stallion and Black Forest Ales and Crescent City Pilsner. The upper Decatur Street location makes for tourist saturation, but the customers are getting a good deal: a great view of the street, competent jazz ensembles and decent food. "A clean, well-lighted place," Hemingway would have said of the Brewhouse, but this place would have depressed the hell out of him; it's too kind and lively. The upstairs balcony offers a great view of the entrance to Planet Hollywood and the thickets of gawkers who gather at the doorway hoping to get a glimpse of the celebrities who never go there. 527 Decatur St., 522-0571.
Dos Jeffes Uptown Cigar Bar. Of all the trendy joints on the cigar bar scene, we like this one best. It is the least pretentious and is owned by two guys whose day job is selling cigars - dilettantes they are not. It's a bit out of the way Uptown but very congenial and a great place to check into after dinner at any one of the many great Uptown restaurants. There's sort of a speakeasy feel to the place, and there's often a jazz combo or piano player in the house. The Thursday night beebop ensemble is killer. It's a good place to get into some serious conversation and brandy. Nice pool room. 5535 Tchoupitoulas St., 891-8500.
The Dungeon. Picture the LSD sequences from "Easy Rider" and you begin to catch the ambiance of the French Quarter's notorious late-night headbanger's ball. Black lights, Gothic bartenders, biker bouncers and loads of Stones, Uriah Heep and Aerosmith on the sound system, which is about 30 Bose speakers mounted above a 12' x 12' dance floor. Forget about conversation; it's all kinds of loud in here. Opens at midnight, closes when everybody leaves. Suffice it to say - there is nothing like this back home. 738 Toulouse St., 523-5530.
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. Housed in a lopsided old corner blacksmith shop on Bourbon Street, Lafitte's is said to be the oldest bar in America, but you hear stories like that all the time in New Orleans. Regardless, other than a single bare bulb behind the bar and the exit signs required by law, the place is lit solely by candles and, in cool months, the fireplace. It is damp, musty and romantic - the perfect place to get-to-know-you-better, a port of calm in Bourbon Street's bedlam of insanity. 941 Bourbon St., 523-0066.
Molly's at the Market. Just what a convention full of news people needs: a media hangout. For the past decade or so, Molly's has served as an informal news bureau for media folk, both local and national, a watering hole where grizzled old-timers share war stories and Irish coffees with wide-eyed cubs. It's decidedly informal and unpretentious and a great venue for lower Decatur Street people-watching - gazing upon that endless sea of gutter punks, drag queens, old hippies and debutantes. Don't fear Molly's skinhead bartenders; they're somebody's kids, too. 1107 Decatur St., 525-5169.
Napoleon House. The term "French Quarter institution" is overused but very appropriate for this lovable little corner bar filled with cranky waiters and classical music played on records - yes, records! Nothing goes on here, and that is the charm. Pull up a seat in one of the open sidewalk doorways, order a Pimm's Cup, and watch how easily a night can slip away in one of New Orleans' classic dark and sultry barrooms. This is the best place in town to scrawl a few postcards to the folks back home. The atmosphere feeds the writer's soul. 500 Chartres St., 524-9752.
Oz. Located in the heart of "Boys Town," the French Quarter gay dance scene, Oz is a cramped and crowded, anything-goes, all-night dance club awash in spectacular sound and light effects from late, late at night to sunrise. It is generally straight-friendly for those who come to dance and not gawk. Leave your inhibitions in your hotel room or check them at the door. Beware the kindness of strangers. 800 Bourbon St., 593-9491.
Red Room. It is sumptuous, luxurious, pretentious, over-priced and the hottest watering hole in town. Although it's got food (above average but expensive) and live music (authentic swing to salsa), we present the Red Room under general hangouts because it is the "It" club of the moment, full of beautiful people sucking $9 martinis and checking each other out. A glimpse of the room - the carpet, lamp shades, candles, upholstery, lighting, flowers and general decor - leaves no question where the name came from. All this splendor inside of the reconstructed third-level restaurant of the genuine Eiffel Tower, packed up and shipped to New Orleans in the early '80s. No foolin'. On a good night, it feels like 1945 in here. On a bad night, the term "Yuppie madness" comes to mind. Look sharp. Dress code. 2040 St. Charles Ave., 528-9759.
Saturn Bar. For those looking to get away from the maddening crowd and delight in the company of genuine New Orleans characters, the Saturn is the place, where off-duty, Lucky Dog salesmen argue politics with chain-smoking, alcoholic intellectuals who complete the New York Times crossword puzzle in less than 20 minutes at the bar. Yes, it's kind of sleazy, but it's a charming kind of sleaze and a favorite slumming ground for Hollywood renegades - don't be surprised to see Sam Shepard or Nicholas Cage playing pool in here. We're not even going to try to describe the interior decor here. The Saturn is for serious Culture Vultures only. Take a cab. 3067 St. Claude Ave., 949-7537.
Music
It's everywhere. That's why you came here the first time, isn't it, to hear all that liquid jazz and throbbing zydeco and roadhouse blues and everything else that rises from the primordial stew that is New Orleans. It was Ernie K-Doe, composer of "Mother-in-Law" and a string of lesser hits, who once said: "I'm not sure, but I believe that all music came from New Orleans." He was correct.
You've heard about Tipitina'a and the House of Blues and Preservation Hall and others, no doubt, from previous visits or guidebooks or friends back home. They're all, no doubt, worth a visit. Here's a couple spots that sometimes get overlooked by weekend warriors gathering as much musical experiences as they can in 48 hours.
Carrollton Station. This cozy little corner club Uptown is the city's "unplugged" music spot, where both established and up-and-coming acts tone down their full-throttle rock and roll shows for the intimacy of the Station's small, coffee-house-like venue. The city's acoustic storytellers play weekend nights - including Sundays - and the faithful fill the few tables and sit on the floor. It's a good place to enjoy a largely undiscovered New Orleans music genre - contemporary singer/songwriters. Great beer selection. 8140 Willow St., 865-9190.
Donna's. Donna's is ground zero for the city's hottest and most vibrant musical Renaissance in two decades - brass band jamming - the frenetic, swirling, gotta-dance interplay between horns and parade percussion. These days, the young lions are mixing shades of hip-hop into traditional Dixieland, creating a whole new sound they call Brasshop. If you can't dance to this, you died a long time ago. Caution: Donna's is on the Armstrong Park side of the Quarter. Walk in a large group or take a cab. Bonus: a limited but tasty barbeque menu. 800 N. Rampart St., 596-6914.
The Dragon's Den. Located above a Thai restaurant on the edge of the Quarter, this place has the feel of an opium den lost in time - funky, dark, mysterious and a little bit sexy. The Den books solid and reliable acts in its tiny playing space, leaning toward contemporary jazz, blues, folk and neocabaret. If Royal Fingerbowl is playing here - or anywhere for that matter - don't miss this future underground sensation. Pass on the food downstairs. 435 Esplanade Ave., 949-1750.
Fritzel's. Yes, Virginia, there is still music with integrity on Bourbon Street, though not very much. While the city's showcase promenade has succumbed largely to bad cover acts and a smattering of ersatz Cajun and Dixieland bands, Fritzel's is still blowing out traditional jazz in time-honored fashion: musicians in chairs trading licks and sending wailing solos into the ceiling fans. This place is a big hit with European and Japanese visitors, students of the genre who realize that weekend band leader Jack Maheu is one of the deserving but under-appreciated masters of Dixieland clarinet. It's a lively, foot-stomping oasis in the land of karaoke. 733 Bourbon St., 561-0432.
Funky Butt at Congo Square. When proprietor Richard Rochester isn't giving guided ghost tours of the French Quarter (but that's another story), he is holding court in this beautiful, old, art deco music palace with contemporary blues and jazz upstairs and the city's best juke box downstairs. This is a smokey, sexy, late-night kind of place. One critic described it as "a cross between a '30s jazz crib and a brothel," and we couldn't put it any better. It's in a place like this at 2:30 in the morning that you find yourself sucking down a $6 Funky Buttjuice and listening to Kermit Ruffins smoking some Satchmo tune on his trumpet and you start thinking: "Wow, I could live in a place like this." See above warning for Donna's. 714 N. Rampart St., 558-0872.
Howlin' Wolf. The Wolf is the musician's music club, where the city's top guitar slingers and songwriters come to check each other out and support the many regional and national acts that eschew the House of Blues celebrity rock scene for a place where people actually listen to the songs. A case in point on musical integrity: It's the only place in town that turns off the light over the pool table when the bands start. The Wolf is the leading destination for college radio bands, contemporary folkies and a grab bag of genres from Dick Dale's surf guitar exploits to the mad beat compositions of jazz poet John Sincclair. Sometimes it's a dance hall, sometimes a listening theatre, depending on the rpm's of the band du jour. In the Warehouse District. 828 S. Peters St., 523-2551.
Joe's Cozy Corner. For the adventurous only, this corner club is in the heart of the Treme neighborhood, which is where the great brass music explosion is bubbling up but which has a bit of a p.r. problem, namely crime. There are too many losers hanging out on the streets in Treme with time and trouble on their hands. Here's the deal: This place has dead-on great local music - jazz and blues - in a real-deal local setting, usually at offbeat hours, Sunday afternoons, Monday nights, etc. No one's going to mess with you inside. In fact, someone will probably try to feed you or buy you a drink. You know the drill: Take a cab. 1532 Urfulines Ave. 561-9216.
Lion's Den. This is the home stage for New Orleans Queen of Soul, Irma Thomas, whose string of rhythm and blues heartbreakers from the early '60s - "Wish Someone Would Care," "It's Raining," - can still rip your heart right out of your throat. She and her band, the Professionals, are anything but a fading lounge act. They still light up this little night club, filling the night with horns, heartache and love lost and found. Note: Irma still tours constantly and is only in town once a month or so. Call to see if she's here or check the Times-Picayune listings. Warning: The Lion's Den is in New Orlean's bail bond district. We don't know what the bail bond district looks like in your town, but ours ain't pretty. Take a cab. 2655 Gravier St., 822-4693.
The Maple Leaf. This one's kind of famous in all the guidebooks and such, but we include it here because of its Tuesday night tradition. Any night at the Leaf is cool, with its pressed tin ceiling, elongated dance floor and sultry back patio, but Tuesday nights - whoa, baby! The Rebirth Brass band shows up every Tuesday with anywhere from six to twelve players, horns and drums, usually at or after 11 p.m., and they play three or four fearsome sets of smoking brass. The clientele is intensely loyal, coming every week, and they come to ROCK. Where do these people work? We don't know, and by 2 a.m., we don't care. This is the closest thing you'll get to understanding in June what Mardi Gras feels like in February. A worthy $5 investment. On the streetcar line. 8316 Oak St., 866-9359.
Mermaid Lounge. It's the anything-goes music club, featuring the angst-ridden ravings of Louisiana lounge lizard Glyn Styler to the corny Western Swing of southwest Louisiana octogenarian Cajun band, the Hackberry Ramblers. Or, best of all, those special nights when Quintorn, the fearless king of cheesy electric organ, locks himself in a room offstage and pumps his music in by amplifier. Anything from cabaret to grunge can be found at the Mermaid. Dress code here is anything from Mad Max rejects to Elton John's Pinball Wizard phase. House special: $1.50 Shaefer beers. Go figure. Though it's three minutes from the Quarter, the Mermaid is impossible to find on your own. Take a cab. 1100 Constance St., 524-4747.
Mid City Lanes Rock 'n' Bowl. We don't know this for sure, but we feel safe telling you that this is the only music club ever founded on an inspiration by the Virgin Mary in Yugoslavia. (Long story; ask owner Johnny Blancher to tell you about it.) Anyway, Mary must dig dance music, because Mid City Lanes is the rockingest showcase for Rockabilly, zydeco and R & B in town. The Thursday night zydeco stomps are not to be missed. If you go out only one night in New Orleans, go here. This is the best bar in America. You have not lived until you two-step in bowling shoes. Bonus: Shrimp poboys and bowling. 4133 S. Carrollton Ave., 482-3133.
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