New Orleans French Quarter.

[Biggsly]

Long story short.
My company wants me to attend a meeting in New Orleans week after next. They said that I can take the wife, if I wanted. My meeting is just for a few hours on Tuesday. We are going to go a head and fly out the weekend before and hang out most of the week. I have been to LA many times, but never to New Orleans. I booked us a room at the Sheraton which is right in the heart of the French Quarter. We should be in walking distance of the whole area.
Here is what we like. Food, music, people watching, and just relaxing and having a good time. The wife doesn't drink alcohol at all and I don't drink much anymore, but I am sure I will have a few drinks while I am there. I know that I want to check out the House of Blues.
Here is my question for those of you that have been down there.
What should we go see and where should we eat?
Thanks.

 

[steelfingers]

Number one, remember Bourbon Street smells like stale beer and and urine. It's full of drunks and thieves. Watch your butt.
Stay on either Bourbon or Canal. Side streets are just a chance to get robbed or worse.
Pat O'brien's is great for the dueling pianos and atmosphere. Court of Two sisters the same, but pricey and the food is good.
Do the graveyard tour. It's fun. Jackson Square is great for the street art and music as well as chicory and bennies.
WWII museum, and aquarium is cool and you can gamble as well.

 

[O4L]

It's been a long time, but I always made it a point to eat at Mike Anderson's Seafood on Bourbon St. They had a dinner called 'Crawfish Seven Ways' that I always enjoyed.

Looking online, they appear to have moved to the River Walk.

 

[lasher]

cafe dumond (if spelled correctlly) below the levee off jackson square, great coffee, very strong. stop at the sandwich shops that have shrimp po'boy sammiches along with red beans and rice. when i worked for at&t the shop there reported to me and i spent alot of time down there, got tired of all the expensive food joints and came to really enjoy the po'boys along with red beans and rice. best italian food i've ever had as well. tour the garden district, go to the old jax brewery.

 

[donner]

cochon butchers is fantastic, but you'll need reservations for dinner. If you can go for lunch, they have a small shop around the corner from the main restaurant that is walk in and also wonderful.

the roosevult hotel is great for a drink and very classy.

I've walked around a lot of that area and generally you're safe if you're in some of the touristy areas. Especially during the day.

They have some great guided tours of the city and checking out some of the cemeteries is very cool, as well, since they are so different from other places.

 

[dennishoddy]

Wife and I went down there a couple of years ago, catching a cab at the airport to the Quarter. Best advice was his last words.
Camera's are everywhere, if you don't want to appear on the next Girls gone Wild video, stay sober. lol
If you can find it, there is a voodoo shop ran by a black drag queen. That guy/girl/whatever was so funny we couldn't quit laughing the whole time we were in there. Wife bought a couple of voodoo dolls and hat pins that she took to work to remember other employees with......
We saw a TV program featuring the French Quarter last fall. The voodoo shop and its proprietor were part of the program.

 

[DRC458]

... Bourbon Street smells like stale beer and and urine. .. .

... and vomit.

If you like music, be sure to go to Preservation Hall. It's small. You may be standing outside for a while waiting for a chance to get in. We stood out on the sidewalk and watched/listened through a window for some time. Bunch of good advice from everybody.

 

[O4L]

Oh yeah, definitely Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets .

Also the Acme Oyster House, and Central Grocery and Deli for a Muffuletta sandwich.

There is a nice aquarium there by the river.

 

[steelfingers]

cafe dumond (if spelled correctlly) below the levee off jackson square, great coffee, very strong. stop at the sandwich shops that have shrimp po'boy sammiches along with red beans and rice. when i worked for at&t the shop there reported to me and i spent alot of time down there, got tired of all the expensive food joints and came to really enjoy the po'boys along with red beans and rice. best italian food i've ever had as well. tour the garden district, go to the old jax brewery.

The Cafe Du Monde is a must. If you want a taste of where the locals eat, Mothers is cool for a cheap sandwich off of Canal.

 

[Ace_on_the_Turn]

Number one, remember Bourbon Street smells like stale beer and and urine. It's full of drunks and thieves. Watch your butt.
Stay on either Bourbon or Canal. Side streets are just a chance to get robbed or worse.

My family has visited NO 2-3 a year for the last 15 years. We have walked every inch of the French Quarter (from 6am to 2am), the Garden District and most of the cemeteries. We have never felt the least bit nervous. If you are not going to walk the French Quarter, and just stick to Bourbon St., I would not even bother going.

Pat O'brien's is great for the dueling pianos and atmosphere. Court of Two sisters the same, but pricey and the food is good. Do the graveyard tour. It's fun. Jackson Square is great for the street art and music as well as chicory and bennies. WWII museum, and aquarium is cool and you can gamble as well.

O'Briens' is fun. But, it is a tourist trap. The famous Hurricane is served in glass that you pay extra for. If you don't want the glass you have to wait in line to get your money back. Kind of a hassle. Jackson Square is a must. If you want a once in a life time experience, go to Commander's Palace.

One note about Cafe Du Monde. Twenty years ago you could get up in the morning and if your hotel was close enough you could walk over and pick up some coffee and beignets in a few minutes. Now, it's an hour long line at all times. It's not worth it. There are shops all over the French Quarter that make coffee and beignets just as good as Cafe Du Monde.