Welcome! Our city is humid, crumbling and vaguely supernatural. Make the right choices and you will never forget your time here. Double that if you make the wrong ones. Here are some personal favorites.
Restaurants: Lilette, Clancy’s, Paladar 511 and Jacques-Imo’s are essential. Can’t go wrong with Atchafalaya, Shaya or Commander’s Palace. In Treme, visit Dooky Chase’s, where the late Leah Chase once fed Martin Luther King Jr. and the Freedom Riders. Nearby, Willie Mae’s Scotch House also serves world-class fried chicken. In the Warehouse District, Peche is chef Donald Link’s seafood-focused flagship.
Bars: Napoleon House is an authentic, old-school experience. Order the Pimm’s Cup. Bacchanal Wine is a backyard bottle shop slash live-music sanctuary. Cure and Jewel of the South are excellent upscale options. Columns and the Elysian are also superb. Los Jefes, Pat O’Briens and Tchoup Yard are affordable alternatives where you are likely (regrettably) to encounter an LSU vascular resident.
The Posh Corner for Fancy People, (sponsored by Sam Money and Claudie Sheahan) Shopping: Magazine Street between Octavia and Nashville, also between Washington and Napoleon. And Sak’s, of course. Dining: Emeril’s and Doris Metropolitan. Drinks: Hotel St. Vincent.
Kids: National WWII Museum (all ages really), the Cool Zoo, Honey Island Swamp Tours, and the aquarium. Some of the Haunted History tours are appropriate for older kids. Are the stories true? My wife seems to think so.
Art: New Orleans Museum of Art for looking, Terrance Osborne and Studio Be for buying. MS Rau is like a museum with price tags (ask for a tour, pretend a vascular surgeon could afford that Monet). Julia Street is nearby and packed with art galleries.
Music: Preservation Hall—no frills, no booze, no amplification. It’s jazz church. Also check the schedule at Tipitina’s or visit Frenchmen Street. The music is good everywhere, except for Bourbon St., which is for drunk tourists. I’ll let you self-select.
Exercise: There are running paths in Audubon Park and along the levee… oh settle down Prefontaine. It’s hot as hell, get your butt inside and drink and eat with the rest of us.
