It is at the far end of the St. Charles Streetcar line (the green cars) whose other end is on Canal Street in the Central Business District. Carrollton is near Tulane and Loyola Universities, and many students and professors live here and patronize the local businesses. It is a mixed residential/commercial neighborhood, with urban advantages where the trees are taller than most of the buildings. Carrollton has many small business and good restaurants. The food and shopping make it an attractive place for visitors to spend half a day in between streetcar tours.

The streetcar runs through Carrollton on Saint Charles, then turns on to Carrollton Avenue at a place known as The Riverbend. You see a cluster of restaurants, shops and businesses here. There are more a walk up, beyond the one bit of late 20th century architecture visible, the mini-strip mall with the Walgreens, behind which you'll find a pleasant small park surrounded by Victorian houses made into specialty shops and restaurants. The two other parts of Carrollton the visitor should know about are Maple Street, which parallels St. Charles, intersecting with Carrollton just inland from the Riverbend, with row of businesses running a pleasant 6 blocks down to Cherokee. The other business street is Oak Street, 4 blocks further inland (away from the river and St. Charles) than Maple extending on the opposite side of Carrollton Avenue. Long less upscale than Maple, in recent years many trendy shops and restaurants have opened on Oak as well.

Dining

Carrollton has some of New Orleans' finest restaurants; for the number and variety within a short walk of each other it is rivaled only by the French Quarter.

Budget
 • Babylon Cafe 7724 Maple Street: Middle Eastern, great value and excellent home-made bread
 • Big Apple Deli 7708 Maple: A taste of New York City in the Big Easy; they make their own chopped liver and import their pastrami, corned beef, and cheesecake from New York's Carnegie Deli. 309-1465. Wireless internet access.
 • Camelia Grill at 626 S. Carrollton just off St. Charles: A favorite with locals and visitors, it's an old style diner done New Orleans style. When there's a line it moves fast, but if it's dauntingly out the door remember that Carrollton has lots of other good eats within a short walk. Some think its best caught off hours (its open 9am - 1am weekdays, until 3am weekends) and avoided during lunch rush and during Mardi Gras, when many people who don't seem to know anywhere else in town to eat line up here.
 • C'est Si Bon 7457 St. Charles Avenue (at the corner of Cherokee). bakery & deli, fresh baked breads & pastries. 6am-10pm daily
 • Favori 7507 Maple at Cherokee: New Orleans neighborhood deli, with "po boy" sandwiches and a few dishes like jambalaya. Eat there or take out; delivers in the neighborhood. Similar to the French Quarter's famous "Verdi Mart", but cleaner and doesn't sell booze. Closed Sundays when the Universities are not in session.
 • Jazmine - Vietnamese, and bubble-tea. Carrollton next to Camelia Grill. Closed Mondays.
 • La Madeline - Small chain of French style cafes, this was one of its first locations and is a local favorite for breakfast; good lunch or dinner as well. At the riverbend across from Camelia.
 • Lebanon's Cafe 1506 S. Carrollton: good Middle Eastern, half a step above Babylon in price
 • Louisiana Pizza Kitchen 615 S. Carrollton, across from Camelia Grill: New Orleans style nouveau pizzas.
 • Nino's 1510 S. Carrollton. Nino came here from Italy, bringing good inexpensive Italian food, via a stop in Philadelphia, where he picked up how to make a great Cheesesteak Sandwich.
 • Riccobono's Panola Street Cafe, 7801 Panola Street, 3 blocks down from Carrollton Avenue. Tucked away in a residential section of Carrollton distant from the neighborhood's other restaurants and businesses, Riccobono's does a thriving business of locals for breakfast and lunch. Omelet's, sandwiches, and salads are the specialties.
 • Station 8801 8801 Oak Street. At the far upper end of Oak Street half a dozen blocks up from Carrollton Avenue, Station 8801 offers simple "Good Eats & Drinks"; burgers, sandwiches, soft and hard drinks. 11am - Midnight, Tuesday - Saturday

Snacks
 • Maurice French Pastries 1114 S. Carrollton: rich French sweets and croissants. They have tables if you want to eat it there.
 • Plum Street Snow-Balls Plum at Burdette: a local delicacy during summer, finely shaved ice with your choice of many custom made syrups. A gourmet version of the northern "snow cone". On Plum Street, a pleasant 3 block walk down from Carrollton Avenue, open 2pm-dark summers.
 • Rosie Lea's Bubble Teas 7638 Maple Street: Excellent "bubble teas" (made with ice powdered in a snow-ball machine), in addition to hot or cold coffees and teas, sno-balls, and rich decadent pastries. They also offer bring-your-own-computer internet connection. Mon-Sat 7am - 8pm; Sundays 9am - 4 pm.

Coffee Shops

This neighborhood near the Universities has a representative of the Starbucks chain (at 7700 Maple), but if you're here to experience New Orleans, why not give the local places a try:
 • PJ's 7624 Maple: Carrollton's favorite for upscale coffees. Their excellent iced coffee is great on a hot day. Open 6am - 11 pm daily.
 • Rue De La Course 1140 S. Carollton, at the corner of Oak Street: Watch the people and streetcars go by from one of the outdoor tables, or sip indoors in the building which was built as a bank back in the 1910s. Look up the walls for the architectural detail of bats sipping coffee mugs.
 • Zotz Coffeehouse 8210 Oak Street. Bohemian-gothy coffeehouse with a wide variety of snacks of varied quality. Open 24 hours. Rents computer time & internet access. 861-2224.

Mid range
 • Basil Leaf 1438 S. Carrollton: Thai Cuisine
 • Cafe Volage 720 Dublin: Classic French with some local touches.
 • Ciro's Cote Sud 7918 Maple: Southern French plus pizza.
 • Dante's Kitchen 736 Dante, 2 blocks from the St. Charles/Carrollton river bend: "Contemporary Louisiana comfort food"
 •  Fresco's 7625 Maple Street: Light Mediterranean and pizza. Lunch and dinner, open until 3 am.
 • Figaro's 7900 Maple Street, 2 blocks down from Carrollton: often wins the local's choice vote for city's best Italian. Delivers in the neighborhood.
 • GB's Patio Bar and Grill 8117 Maple Street: Great freshly-ground meat burgers. 504-861-0067
 • Hana Japanese Restaurant 8116 Hampson: Sushi at the Riverbend.
 • Jacques Imo's 8320 Oak Street: Trendy New Orleans food.
 • Jamila's 7808 Maple: Good quality hearty Mediterranean & Tunisian.
 • Mango House 8115 Jeannette Street, just up from Carrollton Avenue: Caribbean.
 • Maple Street Cafe 7623 Maple: Upscale foods like filet mignon at a moderate price.
 • Margaux's Creole Cuisne 8400 Oak: authentic local Creole cuisine (some may remember this location as Zachery's, some of the same menu items of that famous restaurant are continued by the new owners). M-Sat 7am - 10pm. 865-1559
 • One Restaurant and Lounge 8132 Hampson St. Great modern Louisiana food 504.301.9061
 • Saltwater Grill 1340 S. Carrollton: Seafood, and great onion rings. 324-6640
 • Shell Shucked 3101 S. Carrollton: Raw oysters, seafood. (504) 861-1003
 • Sara's 724 Dublin: Indian food
 • Vera Cruz 7537 Maple at Hillary: Mexican and some Cuban dishes, good margaritas.
 • Vincent's 7839 Saint Charles Ave: Creole-Italian (504) 866-9313

Splurge
 •  Brigtsen's 723 Dante: one of New Orleans' finest. Reservations needed.
 •  Mat and Naddie's 937 Leonidas St: Fresh local ingredients, eclectic decoration. (504) 861-9600

Drink

 • Bruno's an old style College bar at Maple Street & Hillary, been here since the 1930s, attracts an older crowd early evenings and a young one late.
 • Cooter Brown's' 509 S. Carrollton; At the riverbend, just towards the levee from where the St. Charles Streetcar turns on to Carrollton Avenue. One of the city's best beer selections, usually at least a few dozen on tap and hundreds in bottles. Also makes burgers & cheese fries through the night.
 • Snake & Jakes Christmas Lounge: Darkly lit shanty that if you ever saw in the daylight while sober, you'd probably never go it. But if you're in the mood for a funky dive, it's just so darn fun around 4am when your other favorites are starting to peter out. An added bonus is that naked people drink for free. Located uptown in the Carrolton section on Oak St. a few blocks down from Carrollton Avenue.

Live Music

 • Carrollton Station 8140 Willow Street, at Dublin a block up from Carrollton
 • Jimmy's Club Dublin & Willow, across from Carrollton Station and the Streetcar Barn.
 • Maple Leaf Bar 8316 Oak, 866-9359: Contemporary New Orleans brass bands, R&B, Cajun & Zydeco, and more at this funky legendary local music venue-- despite the name, remember it's on Oak Street (3 blocks up from Carrollton), not Maple.

Get in

From the French Quarter, Central Business District, or Uptown, take the St. Charles streetcar, and for the most central location get off at the Riverbend or Maple Street stop. Almost everything mentioned here will be within a maximum of 6 blocks walk in this pedestrian friendly neighborhood.

By car
Take the Carrollton Avenue Exit from Interstate 10, head in the "South" or "Uptown" direction. After a couple miles, at the intersection of Claiborne Avenue, Carrollton Avenue will change abruptly from an urban thoroughfare of 3 lanes each way to one lane in each direction with streetcar tracks down the grassy median and tall oaks and Victorian houses along either side, signaling that you have arrived in the Carrollton neighborhood. Continue another mile to the Riverbend with a cluster of shops where Carrollton ends at the Mississippi and the Streetcar turns on to St. Charles.

Parking is much less difficult than in the French Quarter, but you may sometimes have to park a block or so away from your destination. Notice that some areas have 2 hour parking for non-residents, with clearly marked signs-- giving you enough time for a meal or shopping, but don't leave your car long term.

Pay attention to the fact that many of the old streets, laid out long before the automobile, are one way. Some other side streets are so narrow that they should be one way but aren't, so be prepared to pull to the side to let cars coming the other direction pass if necessary.

Attractions

Walk around enjoying the Victorian residential architecture and plentiful flowering plants, sip coffee or eat a meal at an outdoor table on Carrollton Avenue while the old streetcars rumble by. While hardly as historic as the French Quarter, Carrollton does have a couple of historic monuments:

 • Old Carrollton City Hall: The neoclassical building on Carrollton between Maple an Hampson is now a school

 • John Kennedy Toole's House: Fans of the novel "A Confederacy of Dunces" can take a walk by the Pulitzer Prize winning author's former home on Hampson at the downtown river corner of Adams. There's a historic marker out front. Look from the sidewalk; it's still a private home.

 • Art on Oak is a fairly new event, usually taking place on the last Saturday of each month from 4pm to 7pm. Various art galleries, antique stores, and other shops along Oak Street make a party out of checking out the businesses along the street; some offer free refreshments and/or live music.

Internet

 • Nix Branch, New Orleans Public Library 1401 S. Carrollton Avenue (at Willow) Use an hour time on computers with internet access; $3 for visitors. 10 am - 6 pm, Mon - Thurs; 10 - 5 Sat

 • PJ's Coffee 7624 Maple: Coffee house has bring-your-own-computer wireless access. Open 6am - 11 pm daily.

 • Zotz Coffeehouse 8210 Oak Street: Computer time rental and internet access. Open 24 hours a day. 861-2224