3 Days in New Orleans
New Orleans. NOLA. Big Crescent. The Big Easy.
If you live in the US or are visiting then please, for the love of god, put NOLA on your itinerary. There is, of course, the big iconic cities like New York, DC, LA, Vegas, Chicago, and Miami, among others, that you’ve seen as the backdrop for so many big Hollywood productions, however, if you’re comparing cities based on the likelihood of telling a good story in ten+ years down the road then there is no other experience quite like The Big Easy. The food and the music alone make New Orleans the best city in the south and there is more culture than you can shake a stick at (do the kids still say that?). Let me try that again, it’s got culture out the wazoo - there, that’s better #hip #fellowkids. Not to mention the nightlife and the people are fun and weird and weird and fun.
A Quick Music Lesson on New Orleans would have you know that it’s the birthplace of jazz. Go to any bar, club or street corner and you’ll likely find a band consisting of piano, brass instruments (sax, trumpet, trombone), guitar, bass and a raspy voiced singer. It’s heavenly. One anecdote that I picked up on upon my last visit was that many of the “bands” that you’ll see playing are almost more like jam-bands of individuals who met up that night. This occurred to me after seeing an amazing group play one night at one venue, the next night at a separate venue I saw the bass and trumpet players with a different group, then the third night I saw the trumpet player and the original singer with another group of musicians. It’s just a musical city where everyone vibes out with one another. They’ll complete 70% of a song then each individual will break out into solos for a minute or two while the rest of the band taps their feet and claps along then they’ll pass the spotlight to the next member. You can tell when a band lives and breaths the music and I’ve yet to find a performer in New Orleans who doesn’t emit that passion.
A Quick Food Rant on New Orleans would have me telling you that creole food is possibly the best food on the planet. There is no debate: there is no other city in the US that compares to New Orleans food game. It’s like comparing Tony Romo to Tom Brady (in announcing) - NOLA and Romo are the GOAT #Romosexual4kyfe. But we’re talking about gumbo, crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice, beignets, po-boys, and, my personal favorite… delicious jumbalaya…. mmm… jumbalaya (Homer Simpson voice). There are so many more dishes too. That list is just scratching the surface. You’ll be eating like a friggin king and for cheap too! New Orleans is like the last city in the US where you can get good cheap food. Oh, and the oysters! Damnit I love oysters. Since when did it become commonplace for oysters to be like $3+ per oyster? What the hell happened there? Is there a global oyster shortage going on? Did the gold standard not work so we are on the oyster standard now? Anyway, not in New Orleans. Here you can get yourself enough oysters to fill your belly.
A Quick Neighborhood Overview, there are a few must-stop hoods that you’ll need to visit while in town. I’m writing this under the assumption that you’re going to be there for 3-7 days so I’m not going to try and get too clever here - there are a few neighborhoods that you’re gonna want to get off the list if it’s your first time in town.
French Quarter - Bourbon and Frenchman Streets
Garden District
Uptown
Mid-Town
Bywater
Since my favorite thing about New Orleans is the food, listed below are a handful of places where we’ve eaten. This was such a hard list of recommendations to make because you could literally throw a stone in any direction and hit a great restaurant in New Orleans. But the restaurants below are a mix of our lesser known favorites combined with some famous staples that you should stop by and try (not saying that they’re the best or the worst but if you’re a tourist then stop by them).
Felix’s is known for its chargrilled oysters and red beans & rice and its located right at the end of Bourbon Street.
Mothers is near the Harrah’s Casino and is a perfect creole lunch spot. Eat in and take a look at the photos of celebrities along the walls. When we were there the ESPN College Basketball crew was waiting in line, Wally Szczerbiak isn’t exactly Leonardo DiCaprio but it wasn’t not cool. It has great po boys and other quintessential New Orleans meals. Location: Downtown.
Gumbo Shop - I’m a gumbo buff. It’s one of my favorite foods, period. The Gumbo Shop is so good and it’s actually a great place for other New Orleans staples like red beans and rice and jambalaya. Location: French Quarter.
Jacques Imo’s is a super authentic creole restaurant located in what looks like a historic/traditional New Orleans home. If you’re looking for creole food where the locals eat then carve some time out to dine at Jacques Imo’s. The menu has unique dishes that you won’t find at many other restaurants like rabbit, alligator, chicken livers, venison, duck, and tons of different fish dishes, as well as traditional meals like crawfish etouffee. Location: Uptown.
Kingfish is a great date night meal located right near Bourbon Street. The atmosphere is set for fine dining so be prepared to enjoy a nice fish plate with some nicer wines. Location: French Quarter.
Sylvain’s probably the best brunch I’ve ever had in my life, or at least ranks in the top 10. I could eat the pork adobo benedict every day and the custom cocktails are top notch. Location: French Quarter.
Grab a beignet - in my opinion you’ve got two choices:
Cafe Du Monde is the spot everyone wants you to go and if you pass by to see the line less than 30 people then by all means grab yourself one of their paper hats and have a go. But if you’re looking to have a good beignet and don’t are about hitting the “must stop” spots, then you should try. Location: French Quarter.
Cafe Beignet - not far from Cafe Du Monde, Cafe Beignet has just as good beignets and is much easier to grab a nice cup of coffee and actually enjoy it. Having been to Du Monde before (at like 1 am and it was still packed) I’ll be going to Cafe Beignet next time. Location: French Quarter.
The Ruby Slipper Cafe is known for having a fantastic brunch but it can get super crowded and you could be dealing with some decent wait times. Honestly, we’ve only been able to get to the front door and decided to turn around due to the 30+ minute wait. But it does come highly recommended by many. If you can’t get in then walk down and try Jimmy J’s, which we’ve done more than once and enjoyed. Location: Downtown.
La Petite Grocery a Top Chef restaurant with blue crab beignets that are to die for! The turtle soup is also delicious. Location: Magazine Street.
Bywater American Bistro - we happened to go here on Valentines Day so our menu was pre-selected for us. It was a 4-course tasting menu with wine pairings - 10/10 recommend grabbing a fancy dinner here. Location: Bywater.
Turkey and the Wolf in the Garden District was “the best sandwich I’ve ever had in my entire life” - Nicole. Pepper got the Pork & Peppers (ha): pork shoulder slow cooked with habanero and oranges, crispy pig ear, shrettuce, onions, and citrus mayo served open face on roti bread with a side of habanero vinegar. Nicole got the Collard Green Melt: slow-cooked collards, swiss cheese, pickled cherry pepper dressing, cole slaw, on rye bread. Location: Garden District.
Dong Phuong is your stop for banh mi sandwiches. Why would you get banh mi in New Orleans? Fun fact: New Orleans has one of the largest Vietnamese populations in the US and the cultural influence can be found all over, which means if you’re a fan of the food - you’ll want to get some at least once while in town. Location: Between Willow Brook and Michoud.
A kitschy cute restaurant with real good breakfast. You’re not a warm blooded American if you don’t get the Grand Slam McMuffin …. sausage patties and cheese on top of a hash brown, slathered in ketchup and onions. Location: Garden District.
Solid Bars to Visit
Jewel of the South is a fancy cocktail restaurant/lounge. I’ve heard someone describe it as having hired only the most knowledgeable food/beverage staff in the entire city. It’s also located in an adorable/unassuming venue that you might walk right past if you didn’t know what you were looking for. A must stop in our opinions.
Saint Germaine is a small wine bar with French inspirations and another small dine-in section. The dine-in portion is by reservation only.
Effervescence is a trendy, clean, sparkling white, restaurant that could moonlight as an Apple Store. It’s basically small plates and bubbles….. I mean I don’t think I need to justify it’s placement on this list more than that. SMALL PLATES AND CHAMPAGNE!
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop claims to be the oldest structure used as a bar in America. Now I’m not sure what that means because if you Google “oldest bar in America” you get The White Horse Tavern in Rhode Island and if you Google “oldest bar in the south” you get McGrady’s Tavern in South Carolina. So something about the wording of “oldest structure used as a bar” seems oddly specific. That being said, the bar is old, built in the early 1700s. It’s a very cool venue with a piano in the back and a small outdoor patio area. You’re supposed to order the sazerac here, FYI.
Bacchanel Wine is a nice outdoor patio space that feels like you’re in someone’s backyard with about 100 of your best friends. Great shared plates as well.
21st Amendment is a tiny hole in the wall right off Bourbon Street. I’ve never been there when there wasn’t an awesome jazz band performing. It’s a great spot if you’re just starting off the night and want to get worked into a New Orleans state of mind. Despite being right off Bourbon it provides a bit more of an upscale atmosphere for you to enjoy.
The Spotted Cat Music Club is a must for anyone visiting town and looking for a good mix of “get effed up” and not “throwing up on the street.”
The Dragons Den is a dive on the walk from Bourbon to Frenchman Street. We had so much fun here as the upstairs had been reserved earlier in the evening for swing dancing classes and by the time we had arrived it was open to everyone. So when we walked up it was like watching professional swing dancers everywhere.
Hot Tin - BEST DRINK AND VIEW - located on the top floor of the Pontchartrain Hotel, Hot Tin has custom cocktails and the best view of the NOLA skyline. It’s a really cool bar and unique experience as you enter the old 1920s style elevator to make your way to the rooftop area. Definitely make time to stop by this one. It was on my fifth or sixth time in NOLA that I was able to visit with one of our buddies, a NOLA resident, was the one who introduced it to me.
Carousel Bar is located in the Hotel Monteleone and is a circular bar that rotates like a…. you guessed it…. carousel!
What you should do…
New Orleans is definitely a city that enjoys its nightlife so in regard to that, if you only have a few days in New Orleans the four main streets (and surrounding areas) to walk and explore are Bourbon Street, Frenchman Street, Magazine Street, and the Uptown neighborhood. Bourbon is must in terms of doing it once. Do it once, take the photos, get rowdy, be a jackass, then never go back. Once you’re done with Bourbon you can graduate to Frenchman Street, which is less spring break 24/7 and more consistent with what you’d fine in other cities but with that NOLA jazz and live music element woven in. Next we’d recommend visiting Magazine Street, which gets another level deeper into NOLA. And finally, you’ll peel back one final layer deeper to explore the Uptown neighborhood. If you have time to knock a few of those off the list then you’ve done New Orleans right.
Preservation Hall is located right off Bourbon Street and is a quality music venue to attend a show. Typically the shows last about an hour so you’ll essentially line up outside and once one show ends everyone is funneled out and the next group is filled in until they hit capacity. So definitely time up when you line up for a show because you don’t want to be the last person and end up having to wait another hour long cycle.
Jazz Fest or Mardi Gras? Is a widely debated question and the answer really depends on who you are. If you’re in college or enjoy extreme debauchery, parades, excessive drinking and everything that goes with it then Mardi Gras is your event. That being said, Jazz Fest is no slouch when it comes to partying. A common theme about New Orleans for me is about graduating up to the next class - you graduate from Bourbon to Frenchman to Magazine and you graduate from Mardi Gras to Jazz Fest. I’m not going to be one of those “trendy” people who tells you never to go to Mardi Gras because it’s cooler to recommend Jazz Fest, they both are fun it’s just a matter of who you are.
Attend a Parade if you can. I don’t know if there is a schedule somewhere or what but the parades and processions seem to happen at random. You’ll be walking down the road, minding your own business, when next thing you know there are cars full of bead-throwing, trombone-playing, fun-loving, paraders. If you see the streets getting blocked off and hear some music coming your way, make sure you stop any partake in the fun.
Visit St. Roch Cemetery; a unique and creepy cemetery filled with various crutches and prosthetics of people hoping to get healed by St. Roch. It’s a pretty creepy sight seeing all the “body-parts” hanging and laying around. And the unique architectures of the cemetery reminds us of a smaller version of the famous Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires. The cemetery is located in the St Roch neighborhood, which can be found in/by the Bywater neighborhood.
Ghost tours will introduce you to vampires, murderers, suicides, haunted houses, and all the creepy crawly stories that make the city so unique. New Orleans loves it’s voodoo and swampy history and the locals really get into character when they tell the stories. There are a wide-range of ghost tours from haunted-pub tours to tales of badass/dangerous women who have graced the cobblestone streets. There are also plenty of family friendly ghost tours to pick from while visiting. There are few cities where I would recommend a walking ghost tour so if I’m telling you it’s worth it then don’t consider this filler content.
Walking Tours are normally something I’d blow off but New Orleans is one of the few cities where I can fully recommend. There is so much crazy history and superstition here that getting the full rundown from a professional is totally worth your dollar.
Aside from the rich history of the city a walking tour will give you a glimpse of the unique creole-style architecture that did originate here in the Big Easy.
Mardi Gras World is where all the Mardi Gras floats are made and stored, which might sound like a warehouse but it’s actually an art museum dedicated to the unique art that has come out of the amazing Mardi Gras event over the years. Booking a tour is super cool and you can watch the work being done on all the amazing floats for the upcoming years Mardi Gras parades. How many floats could there possibly be to make a museum and tourist attraction out of it? Well, the 2020 Mardi Gras featured over 54 parades and in them were over 1,050 floats. So, there is plenty to keep you busy while walking through Mardi Gras World.
National World War II Museum is one that I emphatically support visiting. I’m born and raised in DC so museums tend to be a thing and being from DC I tend to be a snob about a lot of stuff, museums included. The World War II museum of New Orleans is very well done and very engaging. In fact, it’s actually the #1 attraction on TripAdvisor, which for a city like New Orleans is pretty incredible.
Plantation Tours - there are so many to choose from so picking the right one is not something we are going to be able to help you with because we haven’t seen them all. That being said, if you look in the section below we’ll send you to a “blog better than ours,” (which is really an article but who’s counting) that will list out some solid recommendations.
