I just returned from New Orleans and will strongly suggest 4 must do's while you are there with a long complete review below with many bang for buck tips. The one place I regret not going to is Frenchmen Street, if you like music this is the place to go.
[SIZE=14.004px]Bacchanal Wine[/SIZE][SIZE=14.004px]- the coolest unique place I have ever visited in all my travels. Basically it is a outdoor restaurant wine bar with great live music. The atmosphere is rustic with a great vibe like being in someones backyard [/SIZE]
Coops Place- GREAT fairly cheap food in a dive bar type of lively atmosphere, best food I had on the trip
Commanders Palace- renowned classic high end restaurant for that special occasion
Chart Room- classic dive bar in the French Quarter, usually a fun crowd and ridiculously cheap drinks
My full review:
We just returned from our first trip to New Orleans and had an awesome time. I did a ridiculous amount of research in preparation for this trip. My goal is always bang for the buck while trying to find what is unique to the area. We were only there for 3 nights / 2 full days so we did not do any tours.
Hotels:
Place D Armes- pretty much as expected, GREAT location, cool courtyard atmosphere, small older inside room. I would definitely return if I come back to NO. Booked through Orbitz and with rewards and promo codes cost less than $100 per night.
La Quinta Downtown on Camp Street- for being outside the French Quarter the location was good and only a few blocks to the Quarter. Hotel made a very good first appearance upon arrival. Our room was nothing special, had a dorm look to it and a terrible view of rooftop equipment. With that said it was very clean and served it's purpose for 1 night. We used our rewards and the room was free, this was a Friday night that would have cost $250+ at most hotels in the CBD & French Quarter areas.
Wednesday:
Arrive at 5pm and check into Place D Armes for 2 nights. We immediately wanted drinks in an outdoor atmosphere and were able to hit 2 happy hours on
Bourbon Street.
Bourbon Heat- their outdoor rustic courtyard was a great first experience in NOLA. I was able to use a $25 restaurant.com coupon during the happy hour.
Razoo- we made it for the end of 3 for 1 HH in their courtyard. This was fine for early evening on a Wednesday, this would not be our scene on a weekend night.
Coops Place- exactly as advertised, great cheap food in a dive bar type of atmosphere. I had my best dish of the trip here- the cajun seafood pasta was awesome! Knowing there can be long lines here I purposely chose Wednesday to eat here, Short line here around 8:30.
Thursday:
Verti Mart- decided to take advantage of the hotel courtyard and pick up breakfast. Knowing I may not get another chance to order a po boy I decided to get the "All that Jazz" for breakfast- hey I'm on vacation! It would have been a real cheap breakfast had I also got a breakfast sandwich like my wife did but the all that jazz was worth it.
Carousal Bar- I took a tip I read here that stated the best time to assure you get a seat at the revolving bar is to show up when they open. The price was not bad for a one of a kind experience, $15 for a beer and a bloody mary.
Chart Room- when we first walked in the smell was little rough and my wife gave me one of those looks. Thankfully I urged her to get one drink and we ended up meeting some characters and having a good time. Dirt cheap and it opens to the street, it became a favorite.
Muriels- another helpful tip I heard is to take a drink up to the balcony overlooking
Jackson Square. I will add another tip, do this during their lunch hours 11:30-2:00 for $4 wine.
Napoleon House- I chose this for a nice outdoor courtyard and fairly cheap prices for the FQ, it did not disappoint. I got my first muffuletta and a side of jambalaya, very good.
Desires- I bought a groupon for $15, 2 drinks and a dozen char grilled oysters that were very good. I was not a fan of the modern interior but they had seats with open windows on Bourbon St. so it was nice. We also timed this so our 2nd drinks were during happy hour from 3-6.
Patricks Bar Vin- GREAT atmosphere both inside and 2 courtyards outside. Another HH find, the only negative was the attitude of the bartenders. I asked the bartender about their HH specials and she gave me this kind of put off look and gave me the options. Then my wife asked for a water and a different bartender kind of rudely pointed to a pitcher and stated you need to pour your own. Neither was a big deal but when we each shared our encounters it was a low point in an otherwise great experience but I would still return for the atmosphere and HH prices.
Eat- sticking with the theme of trying to find bang for buck at nice places we decided that this BYOB restaurant would be ideal for our plan of experiencing good food on a budget. I'm glad we made a reservation as we saw numerous people show up to a long wait or leave for another option. My wife got the salmon and I got a seafood pasta. Both were very good meals but the pasta was not as good as Coops was but I loved the BYOB option.
Friday:
Breakfast-
Cafe Du Monde was the plan but needing to change hotels and dress up for lunch at Commanders Palace we decided to save time and have the free breakfast at Place D Armes, I must say they had great muffins.
Commanders Palace- this is the one high end place I wanted to experience. We reserved outdoor courtyard seating and went for the $20 lunch special & .25 martinis. I loved the atmosphere and experience but the food did not blow me away but had a great time and certainly glad we did it. This was also a great way to ride the St. Charles streetcar, see the garden district and visit Lafayette Cemetery No 1.
Chart Room- since this was on the route from our hotel walking into the FQ we decided to stop in again. This was my birthday and we ran into 2 other groups celebrating birthdays, that was a lot of fun and only $20 after numerous drinks.
Pat O'briens- I received the free birthday drink coupon and knew we had to experience the classic Pat O'briens courtyard. We love being outside and the courtyard was a great experience and all things considered not all that expensive for the great atmosphere in the FQ.
Bacchanal- this may have been the coolest/hip place I have ever been to, awesome! I was going to use our day jazzy pass and take the bus there but was not sure my wife would have been comfortable and decided to take a taxi. Good thing as we first arrived she started questioning where I brought her to. After many trust me's we went in and had an awesome experience. It was around dusk and there were no tables open, thankfully a nice couple said no problem when I asked if we could share part of their table. While the wine was not necessarily cheap, $27 for the bottle I think it was well worth it for the entire experience. We arrived for the end of one band and the start of a 2nd band, all good music. In hind sight I would have just ordered a couple of meals rather than the cheese tray as it did seem to cost a lot compared to what you got but still an unbelievable experience.
Biggest regret- I'm a big music fan and wanted to experience
Frenchmen Street but we don't usually stay out late and all the day long drinking and eating took it's toll by the time dinner was done. I would have also liked to see the WWII museum but they did not open until 10 and with our limited time I did not want to use up so much of one of our 2 days.
What was really cool were the random pop up street bands. A few of these bands were great and a pleasant surprise. While wandering through the quarter listen for some music, grab a drink, enjoy the music then throw a few bucks into their bucket.
All in all for being there just a few days I think we did a great job on our food and drink tour of experiencing both some high end places and some "real" New Orleans experiences while on a budget.
