Travel Guide: New Orleans Food Scene
Like my blog name states, I like to live on a "beer" budget. I consider myself a bargain hunter and when it comes to traveling I am no different. But please don't mistake my joy of finding a good deal for being cheap. I have been many places as a young adult on my own dime and New Orleans is a spot I continue to visit because it can be done cheaply and you can get some of the best food, drink and experiences for a few hundred bucks for a long weekend.
Now let me preface this with the fact I typically travel with a group of people making airbnbs fairly cheap, keeping my overall costs low. I have no problem sharing bathrooms with 4+ other people and sleeping on a pullout couch, if that is not your style , I totally understand, but for myself it makes me feel like I can still "ruff it".
When it comes to New Orleans I think of three things: Food, drink and music. Food being the most important when traveling. New Orleans is home to some of the BEST and I mean BEST happy hour spots I have ever experienced. This is always key to keeping costs low, finding amazing food at a good price. I want the best a city has to offer without spending $20 a meal. My sister-in-law lived in NOLA for many years and got me hooked on the John Besh restaurants. Now at face value these are quality and at times pricey places, BUT at happy hour or special lunch menus you can find some of the best food! Also, meals tend to be so large in most cities I am always up for splitting meals with others.
Let's dive right into one of our favorite spots Luke. Happy hour starts at 3:00 and the oysters are some of the best I've ever had! I think most appetizers are half off, and all cocktails are half price I KNOW THAT! At this point I don't even know the extent of the deals you can get here all I do know is this is the spot to start your night. Also, If you can order 2-3 drinks and 2-3 dozen oysters for under $20 your livin the good life!
Food suggestions; oysters, oysters and more oysters. Really everything is good, but this is our fried or raw oyster spot.
Now on to Borgne. My husband and I went to New Orleans for our bachelor/bachelorette party, I'm a guys girl and we are just weirdly close I guess and wanted to just party with all of our friends! Trust me we had plenty of girls only nights, but I digress. So we went here for yet again another Happy Hour dinner as a group of 15 and it was amazing! Half price small bites, cheap cocktails... all amazing! Both of these restaurants are located in the business district a 10-15 minute walk from the French Quarter!
This is one of my favorite dinner spots! If you read my Paris blog post I like to have one fancy meal when I travel. Cochon is that meal. Now for some this may not fall under fancy, but when I was 22 and broke it was fancy! This restaurant has a cajun style menu and some amazing cocktails! Their menu has some adventurous items that I can't find in my city so when I was there the first time we went all out! Fried alligator with chili garlic mayonnaise, fried livers with pepper jelly & toast, pork cheek with sweet potato gratin and shrimp & deviled egg gumbo, and yes it was as amazing as it sounds! I love all food and in my opinion you only live once so try something new, whats the worst that could happen... you don't like it. They also have Cochon The Butcher and my god the Le Pork Mac is last meal worthy. Just get it, even if your a vegetarian, vegan or anything in between, this pig wants you to eat it. The chef has paid respect to its life by turning it into this amazing sandwich!
Now my next dining experience is one best saved for after 11:00 pm and your a few drinks deep. This glorious restaurant will soak up all the mint juleps and beers you drink along the way. I bring you Dat Dog. This is a hotdog palace, they offer a ton of different types of sausages and toppings. You can make your own or order an already magnificent creation. Let me warn you, it is located off of Frenchman Street near lots of music venues so it gets crowded at night, but that is half the fun. Meeting interesting people and listening to all the music around you! If your adventurous try the Crawfish Etouffee Dog!
Last Besh resturant on my list, I promise. I end on Dominica. This is Italian and in my mind a pizza place, I'm sure they have other options, but their happy hour half priced pizza is where it is at! This is also not your ordinary pizza, this is gourmet fancy pizza. I am not a pizza lover, don't get me wrong I like pizza, but this place I have to have when I'm in town! A great brinner (brunch/dinner) spot. The Tutto carne and Clam pizza's are two great options. Their menu changes and they used to have a Beet pizza, that was crazy good as well!
A classic that most people know, even if they have never been to NOLA is Cafe du Monde. Morning, noon and night you can come and have a sweet treat. I probably eat beignets 3-4 times during a 4 day weekend. Depending on where I'm staying I like to start my day off with a jog so I go early before it's too busy and get a large coffee. Each order comes with 3 sugary pillows, I always share. Pro tip, use the extra powdered sugar in your coffee, I'm just saying! This is also an amazing spot to go to late night, again it's all about your caffeine fix to stay up or soaking up the alcohol. My husband proposed in New Orleans and this was the first spot we went after just to have a romantic night desert.
Take a bike ride to the Bywater and check out Elizabeth's for breakfast or brunch. The Praline Bacon is a desert and is the way bacon should always be served for breakfast. I always put syrup on my bacon when I go out for breakfast and its similar to that, but on a whole other level. Other than that my suggestions like usual is to order a few dishes and split them! Oh yeah and the duck waffle is good too, but it is rich just like one would think a duck waffle would be!
My final suggestion when your walking around the French Quarter it is always fun to check out the French Quarter Market to pick up a snack. I always go for boiled peanuts, because I can't get them at home, but there are a ton of small stalls and options especially for a light snack.
There is so much more food I could go on for days, but these are my top places I go to every time I'm in town! If you ever find yourself in New Orleans check them out and step outside the French Quarter, the Business and Garden district are close as well as the Bywater.
Now let me preface this with the fact I typically travel with a group of people making airbnbs fairly cheap, keeping my overall costs low. I have no problem sharing bathrooms with 4+ other people and sleeping on a pullout couch, if that is not your style , I totally understand, but for myself it makes me feel like I can still "ruff it".
When it comes to New Orleans I think of three things: Food, drink and music. Food being the most important when traveling. New Orleans is home to some of the BEST and I mean BEST happy hour spots I have ever experienced. This is always key to keeping costs low, finding amazing food at a good price. I want the best a city has to offer without spending $20 a meal. My sister-in-law lived in NOLA for many years and got me hooked on the John Besh restaurants. Now at face value these are quality and at times pricey places, BUT at happy hour or special lunch menus you can find some of the best food! Also, meals tend to be so large in most cities I am always up for splitting meals with others.
Let's dive right into one of our favorite spots Luke. Happy hour starts at 3:00 and the oysters are some of the best I've ever had! I think most appetizers are half off, and all cocktails are half price I KNOW THAT! At this point I don't even know the extent of the deals you can get here all I do know is this is the spot to start your night. Also, If you can order 2-3 drinks and 2-3 dozen oysters for under $20 your livin the good life!
Food suggestions; oysters, oysters and more oysters. Really everything is good, but this is our fried or raw oyster spot.
Now on to Borgne. My husband and I went to New Orleans for our bachelor/bachelorette party, I'm a guys girl and we are just weirdly close I guess and wanted to just party with all of our friends! Trust me we had plenty of girls only nights, but I digress. So we went here for yet again another Happy Hour dinner as a group of 15 and it was amazing! Half price small bites, cheap cocktails... all amazing! Both of these restaurants are located in the business district a 10-15 minute walk from the French Quarter!
 |
| Didn't get to many good pictures, but you get the idea :) |
This is one of my favorite dinner spots! If you read my Paris blog post I like to have one fancy meal when I travel. Cochon is that meal. Now for some this may not fall under fancy, but when I was 22 and broke it was fancy! This restaurant has a cajun style menu and some amazing cocktails! Their menu has some adventurous items that I can't find in my city so when I was there the first time we went all out! Fried alligator with chili garlic mayonnaise, fried livers with pepper jelly & toast, pork cheek with sweet potato gratin and shrimp & deviled egg gumbo, and yes it was as amazing as it sounds! I love all food and in my opinion you only live once so try something new, whats the worst that could happen... you don't like it. They also have Cochon The Butcher and my god the Le Pork Mac is last meal worthy. Just get it, even if your a vegetarian, vegan or anything in between, this pig wants you to eat it. The chef has paid respect to its life by turning it into this amazing sandwich!
 |
| Did not have photos from our Cochon dinner, but here is the one the only Le Pork Mac! |
Now my next dining experience is one best saved for after 11:00 pm and your a few drinks deep. This glorious restaurant will soak up all the mint juleps and beers you drink along the way. I bring you Dat Dog. This is a hotdog palace, they offer a ton of different types of sausages and toppings. You can make your own or order an already magnificent creation. Let me warn you, it is located off of Frenchman Street near lots of music venues so it gets crowded at night, but that is half the fun. Meeting interesting people and listening to all the music around you! If your adventurous try the Crawfish Etouffee Dog!
Last Besh resturant on my list, I promise. I end on Dominica. This is Italian and in my mind a pizza place, I'm sure they have other options, but their happy hour half priced pizza is where it is at! This is also not your ordinary pizza, this is gourmet fancy pizza. I am not a pizza lover, don't get me wrong I like pizza, but this place I have to have when I'm in town! A great brinner (brunch/dinner) spot. The Tutto carne and Clam pizza's are two great options. Their menu changes and they used to have a Beet pizza, that was crazy good as well!
 |
| I think in this picture we had ordered 5 or so pizza's for a group of 10. Possibly more.... |
Take a bike ride to the Bywater and check out Elizabeth's for breakfast or brunch. The Praline Bacon is a desert and is the way bacon should always be served for breakfast. I always put syrup on my bacon when I go out for breakfast and its similar to that, but on a whole other level. Other than that my suggestions like usual is to order a few dishes and split them! Oh yeah and the duck waffle is good too, but it is rich just like one would think a duck waffle would be!
 |
| This was from our first trip to New Orleans... Man we were babies! |
There is so much more food I could go on for days, but these are my top places I go to every time I'm in town! If you ever find yourself in New Orleans check them out and step outside the French Quarter, the Business and Garden district are close as well as the Bywater.
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