N’awlins, The Big Easy, the Birthplace of Jazz…we were off to New Orleans, Louisiana! We had some work things to do in the daytime, but otherwise we had big plans. Big food plans. Let’s face it— the “thing to do” in most urban cities, other than a handful of sightseeing landmarks and museums, is to simply walk around and explore the local cuisine. I have no issue with that— in fact, our more common problem is fitting enough meals into each day of the trip. It’s okay to eat 3 breakfasts, 3 lunches, and 3 dinners…right?

The Best Fried Chicken in New Orleans?

Willie Mae’s Scotch House

Our first stop after landing in New Orleans was for some good ole fried chicken. Our research of the culinary happenings of New Orleans gave us many options for fried chicken (see the complete list below!), and we finally decided on Willie Mae’s Scotch House. Our car dropped us off at a street corner on a quiet residential street, where we found around 30 other people crowded around waiting outside. Willie Mae started serving up fried chicken in 1957 and the current restaurant is small in size but big in flavor (and reputation). Be prepared to wait in line. You join a virtual line upon physical arrival to the restaurant by scanning the QR code posted outside, and you have to report back to the restaurant within 5 minutes of your name being called to avoid losing your spot. We ended up waiting 2 hours for a party of four, on a Saturday afternoon. We spent our wait time at the relatively nearby Bayou Beer Garden (not walking distance, but Ubers and Lyfts are easy to come by).

Now for my honest review of the chicken at Willie Mae’s — I was pleased but not blown away. The chicken was very tasty, but it just didn’t justify the wait time for me. The portions were not huge for the price, either. We ordered the $15 fried chicken plate which came with three pieces of bone-in white or dark chicken (choose the dark for more flavor) and a side, as well as the $11 fried chicken sandwich which does not come with a side. The chicken was cooked well, with a coating that was delicately crispy rather than crunchy. I found it a tad on the salty side, but I do tend to prefer lighter tastes. The unassuming and surprising star of the meal for me was actually the 95 cent cornbread muffin!

With so many other noteworthy fried chicken restaurants in NOLA, I’ll be trying other places before I return to Willie Mae’s (unless that wait time goes down).

Other fried chicken restaurants that made our short list:

• Coop’s Place

• Willie’s Chicken Shack – this chain is famous for both fried chicken and frozen daquiris
• Brother’s Food Mart – if you don’t mind the convenience store ambiance, this chain is supposed to be wonderful and worth the lines. Some reviews suggest it’s better (safer) to visit this one during daylight hours.
• Manchu Food Store & Chinese Kitchen – I was sad we didn’t have time to come here! Vietnamese-style fried chicken wings with a side of shrimp fried rice is the thing to get here.

Where To Get A Muffaletta In New Orleans

Muffa…what? A muffaletta (or muffuletta) is a round Sicilian bread. The muffaletta sandwich is made with this muffaletta bread, and has its origins with New Orleans’ Italian immigrant population. The muffaletta sandwich is made with Italian cold cuts (salami, cappicola, mortadella), cheeses (provolone, mozzarella), and most importantly the aromatic olive salad.

Cochon Butcher

The muffaletta sandwich was reportedly originally from the historic Central Grocery open since 1906, which unfortunately is currently closed due to damages from Hurricane Ida. Once it reopens, we look forward to tasting the OG!

With Central Grocery out of the running, we opted to go to Cochon Butcher instead.

Cochon Butcher is the more casual charcuterie shop located adjacent to Cochon restaurant specializing in Cajun cuisine. Don’t forget to try out some of their house-cured meats and sausages!

Other Muffaletta places to try:

• Verti Marte
• Dimartino’s Famous New Orleans Muffulettas
• Nor-Joe Imports: they also have Italian imported food products, cheese-wheel pasta, and sweet baked goodies

Other non-muffaletta sandwiches I wanted to try:

• Stein’s Market and Deli
• Po boy at Domilise’s or Parkway Bakery

The Best Beignet in New Orleans

Cafe Du Monde

Okay, so everyone knows about Cafe Du Monde, the iconic place tourists (and probably locals, too) come for an order of 3 fresh, piping hot beignets paired with a cup of coffee and chicory au lait. Cafe Du Monde’s Riverwalk location used to be open 24 hours daily but the opening hours have changed so be sure to review the opening times before you pay a visit! The Riverwalk location is quite large and especially nicely located between the scenic Riverfront on one side (take some time to meander and watch the paddle wheeler boats) and Jackson Square on the other (check out the local artists and palm readers).

Cafe Beignet

We also tried the beignets from Cafe Beignet, which I honestly preferred over those from Cafe Du Monde. The beignets from Cafe Beignet were airier and thinner, where as Cafe Du Monde’s were dense and heavy. Cafe Beignet also has a lower turnover rate which means much less of a line to wait in and also that they make each order of beignets to order. Cafe Beignet has a wait time of a few minutes before your fresh beignets are ready, whereas Cafe Du Monde makes small batches of beignets in advance (probably by only a few minutes as they are still fresh and hot) which are laid out on a table by the cashier so you get your food immediately after paying.

Another beignet cafe to try next time:

• Morning Call Coffee Stand: this one is located a bit further out near City Park but reviewers online rave about the lightness and fluffiness of the beignets. The beignets are also served naked (you dust your own powdered sugar on top) so they may be better for diners who don’t want so much sugar. Morning Call’s City Park location opened in 2012 but the original location was at New Orleans’ French Market 150 years ago!

Gumbo Night In NOLA

Gumbo Shop

We knew we had to eat gumbo during our time in New Orleans, and Gumbo Shop stood out as the place to be for its namesake dish. Gumbo Shop offers two different gumbos on their main menu: a seafood okra gumbo and a chicken andouille gumbo. Both were delicious, not too salty, and not too (shell)fishy. Other entrees available include the classic Cajun dishes of jambalaya, shrimp creole, red beans and rice, and crawfish etoufee so it’s easy to tackle your NOLA foodie bucket list here!

Unexpected highlight of our meal at Gumbo Shop: that bread. You know— the free basket of bread and butter… Just come here and try it out. I may or may not have (read: definitely did) taken our extra bread to-go for a midnight snack later that night.

Other restaurants notable for good gumbo per our pre-trip research:

• Mambo’s: located right on Bourbon street in the French Quarter, complete with a rooftop bar and wild drinks to match
• Dooky Chase’s Restaurant: family owned and operated since 1941. This restaurant is slightly more upscale in feel, has a dress code, and costs a few dollars more per dish than its peers.

New Orleans Seafood Boil

Big EZ Seafood

I was excited to partake in some old-school crawfish boil goodness, but the timing of our visit in mid-November didn’t line up well with crawfish season. We visited Big EZ Seafood in Gretna (on the east side of the Mississippi River) only to find that they were not serving crawfish until literally the very next day. No matter— we took it as a blessing in disguise as both crawfish size and price are suboptimal outside of peak season. Instead of crawfish, we indulged in a boil of king crab and lobster. Big EZ Seafood specializes in Vietnamese-style Cajun flavors and was a tad salty but delicious and spicy!

Other places for crawfish/crab boil and oysters:

• Clesi’s Restaurant & Catering: (located in Mid-City) known for generous portion sizes and affordable prices, as well as less saucy but still flavorful crawfish boils
• BOIL Seafood House: located right in the middle of Magazine District

Other places on my NOLA food bucket list for next time:

What To Drink In New Orleans

Whether or not you find it overhyped, touristy, or otherwise distasteful…everyone goes to Bourbon Street at least once when visiting New Orleans. Here’s your bucket list of “must-drink” alcoholic beverages you can taste at the very least just for the sake of saying you did…

Sazerac

The official cocktail of the city of New Orleans! Whiskey, bitters, Herbsaint, lemon, and a sugarcube make up this (ahem…warming…) cocktail. Available at most restaurants and cocktail bars, or at the Sazerac House (Which I highly recommend visiting, even as someone who’s not a fan of whiskey! See details below.)

Hurricane

The Hurricane is a violently red-hued beverage made with light rum, dark rum, passion fruit, orange, and grenadine classically ordered at Pat O’Brien’s Bar in the French Quarter. I personally found this one to taste a bit like cherry-flavored cough syrup, even though grenadine is traditionally made from pomegranate juice.

Voodoo Daiquiri

Get the Voodoo purple daiquiri drink at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, which was built between 1722-1732 and is supposedly the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States. Lafitte’s is located at the end of Bourbon Street so the crowds outside are a bit less rowdy. The bar is dimly lit by candlelight and a sing-along piano bar completes the homey scene. Going along with what seemed to be the theme of our drinks that evening, the voodoo frozen daiquiri was a bit cough syrup-ey in flavor. The cup was also huge!

Absinthe

We didn’t have time for this one, but another bucket list thing to do is visit Lafitte’s Old Absinthe House for some history and a buzzy beverage (reportedly overpriced at around $20 but worth the experience)

Hand Grenade

The bright green Hand Grenade from Tropical Isle is touted as New Orleans’ strongest drink. It tastes of melon and is lighter in flavor than a Hurricane.

Things To Do in New Orleans (When You’re Not Eating)

• Museums
  • Sazerac House: this is a super fun and worthwhile museum to visit during your time in New Orleans! Come here to learn about the history of this official cocktail of New Orleans. Admission is free (but advance reservation and timed ticket entry is required) and alcoholic samples are provided on every floor.

• The National World War 2 Museum
• New Orleans Pharmacy Museum (be sure to check their website for opening hours, as they fluctuate and are often booked out for private events).
• Voodoo Museum
• New Orleans Jazz Museum
• French Market Shops of the Colonnade
• When in NOLA, if you’re not eating then you might as well be drinking… check out this self-guided Streetcar Cocktail Crawl along the St. Charles Avenue streetcar line!
• Gambling
  • Fair Grounds Race Course
  • Harrah’s – French Quarter (pro tip: this place has machine craps!)
• Listen to jazz at night:
  • Jazz Playhouse – part of the Royal Sonesta Hotel. Visit here for fancier, ticketed jazz shows.
  • Various bars along Frenchman Street
    • d.b.a.
    • The Spotted Cat Music Club: we spent an evening here and had so much fun! The jazz group was so engaging and high-energy, people were breaking out into dance, and the beers were tasty.

• Maison
• Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro
• You can also just walk around Jackson Square, Royal Street, and Louis Armstrong Park and enjoy the jazz groups busking in public.
• If looking for something to do in the Mid-City area, check out City Park, the New Orleans Museum of Art (which offers a free sculpture garden separate from the paid admission for indoor exhibits), and The Singing Oak tree outfitted with pentatonic chimes