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Dining

OK, So You're Hungry. You've come to the right place. New Orleans is a culinary delight, but don't look too hard for healthy food; some would say don't look at all (although those demanding, say, vegetarian, vegan, or kosher food can with effort find it). You're on vacation, so take advantage of what they prepare best here. New Orleans has good food for people on any type of budget.

The seafood is fresh and relatively cheap compared to many places. Some think it is often best fried, but you can try seafood of a wide variety cooked many different ways here. Oysters are a popular specialty, gulped down raw, battered and fried, in a po' boy sandwich, or elegant Rockefeller style.

There may on occasion be some exotic items on the menu. Yes, you can have alligator if you'd like - it mostly tastes like chicken! (but chewier). Try nutria only if you're very adventurous; many who've tried it say there's good reason eating nutria has never caught on. The soft-shell crab, on the other hand, can be excellent. Crawfish (don't say "cray" fish) is a popular dish here, usually boiled in a huge pot of very spicy water and served in a pile with corn and potatoes. If cracking open the shells and sucking the heads isn't your thing, try them with pasta or in sushi or any other way they're prepared.

Poor boys or Po-boys are the distinctive New Orleans variation of the sandwich. Unless you request your sandwich put on something else like sliced white bread (while you're in New Orleans, don't bother), it will be served on a po-boy loaf, similar to French bread; bread pedants debate whether the New Orleans po-boy bread is the same thing as the baguette of France or qualifies as its own unique type of bread (some say it actually IS French bread but because of the extreme humidity, the bread ferments very quickly and gets its distinctive sour taste and odd texture). Either way, it's good, but only part of what makes the sandwich tasty. The rest is what is put on it, of course. Roast beef with "debris" gravy, fried shrimp, oysters, etc... You'll probably be asked if you want it "dressed". No, this has nothing to do with clothing being optional. In New Orleans, "dressed" means with lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. Every neighborhood in New Orleans has its favorite po-boy places; the better ones butcher, slow cook, and season their own meats. The po-boy is a great and filling taste of New Orleans at a reasonable price.

One distinctive local sandwich not served on po-boy bread is the muffaletta a rich creation of the local Italian-American community, with a variety of sliced meats and cheeses topped with olive salad on a big round Italian roll. Unless you have a very big appetite, half a muffaletta will probably be plenty for a filling meal.

Gumbo is a tasty Louisiana traditional stew, originating in West-Africa and comes in numerous varieties. The vegetable base is traditionally okra (in West-Africa, the Wollof language word "gumbo" means okra) with file (sassafras leaves) used as a thickener. Seafood is the most common meat; but one will just as often find chicken, duck, smoked sausage or "andouille" sausage, the ages-old "gumbo d'zherbes" (vegetarian) and other types of gumbo on many a menu. Gumbo is universally served with rice.

Red beans and rice sounds bland, but is a tasty, comforting treat prepared in the New Orleans way. The beans are slowly cooked until they reach a creamy texture, with a mix of onions, bell pepper, celery, and spices. Especially traditional on Mondays. It can be vegetarian but may not be; ask. It is often served with spicy, smoked or "andouille" sausage.

Local fresh produce: Have you heard of Louisiana strawberries, satsumas and Creole tomatoes? If not, it's probably because they're so good that locals eat most of them right here! The strawberries come in around Jazz Fest time, satsumas in December and the Creole tomatoes in early summer. You may spot "mirliton" on the menu, a vegetable not common in most of the United States. In Mexico and the Southwest, it is called "chayote" or "alligator pear," though travelers to Guatemala may recognize it as the same thing that's called "hisquil" down there. Of course, when the first crops come in, there are parties, festivals, and parades commemorating the strawberries, Creole tomatoes, or mirlitons.

Every restaurant will have hot sauce as a condiment on the table (even Chinese and fast-food restaurants). It is not true that New Orleans food will all be very spicy hot. Many locals do like to add hot sauce to many dishes, and say it helps keep them cool in the summer. If you can take it, give it a try.

In many of the fine restaurants around town, people take their clothes as seriously as their food. Despite the obnoxious heat and humidity in the summertime, don't go to these restaurants dressed in shorts/jeans; they won't let you in. This applies only to the nicest (and some say best) restaurants in town but there are plenty of places that you can wear shorts to (many of which are great too). This is what you've been saving your pennies for.

Snow balls or sno-balls are the New Orleans take on the northern "snow cone" or flavored ice done with more finesse. Ice is not crushed but shaved into microscopically fine snow in special machines, and flavored with syrups, fresh made at the better places. The flavors need not be overly sweet, and can come in a wide variety ranging from striking to subtle, including such treats as wild cherry, lemonade, chocolate cream, coffee, orchid vanilla, and dozens of others. Locals almost worship the better neighborhood sno-ball stands during the city's long hot summer; try the refreshing treat as a snack or desert and find out why. Note, many snow ball shops will close in the winter, as New Orleans is surprisingly chilly between November and February and the demand dies down.

Drink

Did we mention drinking? New Orleans has no "blue laws" or mandatory closing times; there is always somewhere to get alcohol any hour of day or night every day of the year.

You can head out the door with an open container of alcohol-- but not in a bottle or can; to try to keep broken glass and jagged metal from filling the street, local laws mandate you use a plastic cup while on city streets and sidewalks. These are known locally as "go cups", and every local bar provides them, usually has a stack of them by the door and the bouncer will take your drink from you and pour it into the cup because bars can be held liable if they don't. Use them, because New Orleans Police are not fun to deal with.

However, drinking does not have to be about quantity. Beer lovers should try local brews like "Abita" on tap, from light Wheat to dark "Turbodog" to the quirky "Purple Haze", a raspberry beer loved by some. Local cocktails include the "sazerac" and the tourist favorite "hurricane". There is also the famous "Hand Grenade" which is billed as "New Orleans' Strongest Drink" and is only available at Tropical Isle (they patented it). Beware, most think the lime green concoction tastes like a weak punch but then are well buzzed after a few sips. New Orleanians also love wine.

Those not accustomed to the Southern heat and humidity should be sure to drink more water or other drinks without alcohol than they usually do during the day to avoid dehydration.

Listings of some top choices of the city's famous bars can be found in the neighborhood articles.