Take it from locals: Super experience in New Orleans entails more than just the French Quarter

Independent

31-01-2025

Desiring a more local taste of Big Easy life during Super Bowl week?
There's plenty to explore both in and outside the city center.
Streetcar lines roll to Uptown, Mid-City or City Park. A ferry crosses the Mississippi River to Algiers Point. By car, it's easy to reach Esplanade Ridge; the shops and eateries on Magazine Street or Metairie Road; and seafood spots in Bucktown, along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain.
The Lakeview neighborhood is where you'll find chef Susan Spicer.
She has taken her Louisiana-inspired cuisine to Super Bowl host cities across the country during the past three decades while participating in the Taste of the NFL charity event. She is involved again this year in her hometown, but those who wish to dine in the spot where Spicer does most of her cooking should visit Rosedale Restaurant.
Spicer, whose culinary career has included decades in fine-dining kitchens in the French Quarter and downtown, would by no means advise visitors to eschew the renowned attractions in those historically significant areas.
'There's so much concentrated in the French Quarter, the CBD (central business district) and the Warehouse District, that you can just really get absorbed by everything that's going on there,' Spicer said.
'But if you just venture out a little bit," she added, "there's a lot to discover.'
Political pundit James Carville, a Louisiana native and New Orleans resident, says first-time visitors with just a few days in town shouldn't 'feel like if you're going to the French Quarter, you're not being a local." He says the Friday lunch scene at Galatoire's is 'legendary."
But if you do decide to explore, here are some options:
Popular Neighborhood Spots
— Rosedale: This spot exemplifies the neighborhood restaurant scene in New Orleans, where standards for food are high and must be met for an establishment that can't depend on tourists to make it. The ambiance is casual, the menu includes sandwiches (duck pastrami) and po'boys (cochon de lait), but a lot of work, attention to detail and creativity go into the ingredients and preparation.
— Clancy's. It is located not far from Audubon Park. New Orleans' power brokers are spotted there regularly, as are celebrity residents such as John Goodman, Harry Shearer and members of the Manning family.
Waiters wear tuxedos at this white-table-cloth spot, but the vibe is casual, lively and suitably loud, with diners regularly making the rounds to say hello to friends and acquaintances at other tables or at the compact (and busy) bar area.
— Commander's Palace. It is housed in a historic property across from Lafayette Cemetery in the Garden District and is arguably the city's most famous restaurant. Its list of former chefs that rose to culinary stardom includes Emeril Lagasse.
Other popular neighborhood dinner destinations include:
Gautreau's, La Petite Grocery, Brigtsen's, Mr. John's and Jacque-Imo's in Uptown; Cafe Degas, Mandina's and Liuzza's in Mid-City; Tana in Old Metaire; Station 6 in Bucktown; Rizutto's in Lakeview; and N7 on edge of the Bywater Historic District.
Finding that Big Easy staple: Po'boys
— Domilise's, Tracey's and Mahony's. These are well-regarded Uptown spots.
— In Mid-City, there's Parkway Bakery and Liuzza's by the Track — the latter known for its barbecue shrimp po'boy and sinus-clearing roast beef with horseradish.
— In the Bucktown/Lakeview area, a popular spot is R&O's, across the street from the Lake Pontchartrain levee.
The roast beef in a po'boy usually is slow-cooked, often is called 'debris,' for how it falls apart in the pot, and is served with gravy. Central Poboys in suburban Jefferson has developed a strong reputation for this.
Meanwhile, some no-frills takeout seafood spots around town produce highly regarded shrimp, oyster and catfish po'boys, as well as soft-shell crab when in season. Spicer likes to get her oyster po'boys at Zimmer's Seafood, in the Gentilly neighborhood.
When it's time for dessert
— Angelo Brocato. Some of the best gelato and Italian pastries in the South can be found in this beloved Mid-City landmark, which was just celebrating a 100-year anniversary renovation when it was flooded by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Its 2006 reopening was widely celebrated. It's on the Carrollton branch of the red Canal streetcar line and gets busy when school lets out.
— Creole Creamery — a popular ice cream parlor on Prytania Street in Uptown
— Sucre, also Uptown on Magazine Street, offers French style pastries and gelato.
The locals love beignets, too.
— Cafe Du Monde. While its best known location is in Jackson Square, another is next to the New Orleans Museum of Art and sculpture garden in City Park.
— Morning Call. It's the oldest Cafe du Monde rival in the beignet business. There's one at the end of the cemetery branch of the Canal streetcar line.
When it's cocktail hour
Locals take their cocktails seriously and a number of recipes — such as the Sazerac or Ramos Gin Fizz — originated in New Orleans. When the weather is pleasant, boutique hotel bars on St. Charles are among the places to be.
— The Columns Hotel. This converted historic mansion has inviting outdoor seating beneath a sprawling canopy of massive live oaks and offers views off passing streetcars. A similar option is The Chloe, just four blocks down the avenue.
— Hot Tin. This bar is on the roof of the Pontchartrain Hotel — a few doors down from Mr. John's and just blocks away from Commander's Palace — and offers a panoramic view of New Orleans' skyline from the Superdome to the Crescent City Connection bridge.
— The Paradise Lounge. Located in the Hotel St. Vincent on Magazine Street, its dark wood and marble-top bar and tropical-themed wall paper make for an inviting place to meet friends for a drink in the Lower Garden District.
— Cure. Housed in a handsomely renovated building along the popular Freret Street corridor, Cure is committed to craft cocktails.
— Jewel of the South. This relatively new spot is drawing critical acclaim for its cocktail scene. It is a small, inventive restaurant on the edge of the French Quarter.
If you're looking for live music
— Frenchman Street, which begins where the French Quarter ends at Esplanade Avenue, has several bars or clubs showcasing live traditional and modern jazz, brass, blues, funk and other genres. One is Snug Harbor, among the more sophisticated Jazz spots in the city. DBA, virtually next door, and the Spotted Cat across the street offer multiple options within steps of one another.
— Tipitinas is one of the most revered music venues in town; it is Uptown near the river. Many of New Orleans' best known bands and musicians play there between dates booked with traveling, widely known acts.
— For a more intimate music scene, try the Maple Leaf on Oak Street (next door to Jacque-Imo's); Dos Jefes on Tchoupitoulas Street; or Bacchanal, a rustic wine shop deep in the Bywater with outdoor seating and performances by a regular rotation of musicians.
Some other attractions
— Audubon Park and City Park.
These are beloved public spaces filled with large oak trees adorned with dangling Spanish moss, as well as magnolia trees and subtropical vegetation. Joggers and walkers flock to both (as do migrating birds).
There are challenging public golf courses, as well as other attractions, contained within each of the parks. Audubon has the zoo, City Park has the New Orleans Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden, as well as paddle boats and the Children's Museum.
— Other museum favorites of New Orleans residents include the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and the World War II Museum.