New Orleans

My Room at the Royal
Street Courtyard.

French Quarter

What can I say? New Orleans is like nowhere else in the world. Visit. The historic areas are all restored and ready for business, and the ambience is tremendous. One of my favorite times to visit isn’t the Jazz Festival, which is way overcrowded, but the French Quarter Festival Weekend. It’s spring, it’s easy-going, and the music is tremendous all over the quarter, with stages set up on streets, in theaters, the square and the park. Try it out. But anytime is really great to visit. One other recommendation. If you want real New Orleans Jazz, the best clubs right now are on Frenchman’s Street just across Esplanade from the Quarter in the Fauberg Marigny, a wonderful, quiet community where I often stay (I have a recommendation there.)

Hotel Recommendations

FRENCH QUARTER

HOTEL MONTELEONE
214 Royal Street
www.monteleonehotel.com
(Upscale, but great old world charm and comfort…and the famous Carousel Bar)

DAUPHINE ORLEANS
415 Dauphine
www.dauphineorleans.com
(everything from a budget up. Very convenient)
905 ROYAL
905 Royal Street
www.905royal.com
(if you like funky and historic. The oldest extant small hotel in New Orleans. It’s haunted)
FAUBERG MARIGNY
(just across Esplanade from the Quarter, a funkier, more neighborhood feel. My friend likens it to a university town)
ROYAL STREET COURTYARD
2438 Royal Street
www.royalstreetcourtyard.com
(fabulous place, once you get used to the neighborhood. 4 blocks from Frenchman’s Street with all the new music clubs. Phillip is an exceptional host. The rooms are beautiful, and if you have the front rooms, you get the balcony for free. GREAT people watching)

Restaurant Recommendations

The Quarter

Yes, I recommend the usual suspects, although check to see if Brennan’s and Emeril’s is open again. GALLATOIRE’S on Bourbon is my favorite of the old time restaurants, especially the first floor.

But my top recommendation for elegant, old world experience in a haunted building with a balcony bar that overlooks Jackson Square and fabulous food, goes hands down to:

MURIEL’S
801 Chartres on Jackson Square
Wow. Just wow.
LA LOUISIANNE
on Iberville,
BACCO
310 Chartres
Italian: great food and ambience
PALACE CAFE
310 Canal at entrance to Quarter
(a perrenial Brennan favorite for casual, great food and service)
RED FISH GRILLE
115 Bourbon Street
(unfailingly great, reasonable seafood. I shook hands with Ray Nagin there, so you know the locals like it)
THE BOMBAY CLUB
831 Conti in Prince Conti Hotel (elegant, gin-and-the-raj kind of place. Great food, too)
THE PELICAN CLUB
312 Exhange Place
(again, great food and atmosphere. Especially the outside tables)
CAFE PONTALBE
546 St. Peter
(not just good food but fabulous people watching. On a corner with open doors)
PETUNIA’S
817 St. Louis Street
(breakfast, lunch. The biggest crepes in the world. Truly. Charming place)
THE GUMBO SHOP
630 St. Peter St.
(a mandatory stop for great, basic creole cuisine)

BEYOND THE QUARTER:

MULATTE’S
201 Julia St. just across from Convention Center
(Real Cajun cuisine and music. People come up from the bayou to dance here, and play their washboard ties. It’s fabulous and cheap)
THE MARIGNY BRASSERIE
640 Frenchman St. at Royal
(lovely, low key, great food near great music in the Fauberg Marigny)
DANTE’S KITCHEN
736 Dante Street
(a cab ride from the quarter near the River, a small old house with great, eclectic menu. Sit on the deck. It’s wonderful)