Hi Surfergirl,

We have been enjoying New Orleans for many years (we live in Alabama and can be there for brunch if we get an early start).

You have probably checked out restaurant reviews, etc., but this is a pretty good website for Quarter offerings:

http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/fq/fqrestaurants.html

For good spicy casual NO lunches we enjoy the Pontalba, right on the corner of Jackson Square. I love the barbecued shrimp--absollutely yummy, but messy to eat, since you have to peel the shrimp yourself. They do bring you damp napkins for clean-up.

We also like the Crescent City Brewhouse over on Decatur. If you can sit on the balcony, there's a good view of the river.

For breakfast, we love Oceana.

Of course, if you decide to try the higher=end places, brunch at Commander's Palace is wonderful, as in Galatoire's.

All these restaurants, with the exception of Commander's, are easily walkable from he Monteleon.

I know y'all will have a wonderfuf! time! I wish we were going to be there, too!

Byrd

I forgot to add--if you do lunch at Commander's, they have 25 cent martinis!

Both sound great -- love shrimp, the messier the better!

Any other thoughts -- especially music-wise, would be terrific.

Another quick question -- getting to the French Quarter from the airport. Shuttle service?

Taxi . . cheap and easy

seriously? If so, nice!

Maybe this will help with iinformation on music venues:
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/fq/fqrestaurants.html

Byrd

RE: taxis from the airport. Just returned from NOLA. Taxi for 2 people--$33 flat rate (plus tip, of course). We stayed at the Monteleone--very nice room, (bathroom kinda small as they usually are in historic hotels), beautiful lobby and bar, great service. Have a wonderful time!

You can always do a swamp tour. Some pick you up at your hotel. Mother's cafe is famous in NOLA - real cajun food served cafeteria style. Watch out though, the line wraps around the building sometimes. http://www.mothersrestaurant.net/
Absolutely love the oyster poboys there but everything there is delicious!

sorry, forgot the links.

http://www.mothersrestaurant.net/

swamp tour: http://www.toursbyisabelle.com/

Acme Oyster restaurant is across the street from your hotel, good food and good prices. There's usually a line but you can send your husband inside to buy drinks to stand in line with

I have to post -- we all thought Mother's was awful, especially in comparison to other choices in NOLA! If you want a good breakfast, at a "joint", go to Johnny's PoBoy, or head to Camellia Grill.

Oyster poboys -- what's a poboy? Husband loves Oysters. SF what did you like about those two choices? and where are they in location to hotel?

Thanks to all for these comments, I'm furiously writing it all down!

We also liked Red Gravy for breakfast which we walked to from Hotel Monteleone.
No help on the oyster front.
Try Cafe Beignet (very close to hotel) in addition to Cafe du Monde for beignets.
Snug Harbor is reputed to have good food, we just went for the music.
You should consider at least one Brunch - we enjoyed Brennan's, Commander's Palace and Mr. B's (which is across the street from the hotel).

The Acme, which we also enjoy, is not, as reported above, across the street from the Monteleon. It's on Iberville, just off Bourbon, but still withon easy walkng distance.

A poboy is a sandwich, on a longish bun and filled with something yummy like fried oysers and/or shrinp. Many many spots ion NO serve poboys, and each place has its own sauce and fixin's.

And I think the Acme has some of the best.

Byrd

Thanks Byrd for correcting my info, I could swear we looked at the Monteleon while standing in line at Acme. And I do agree that their oysters are some of the best. DH loves his oysters on the half shell. I prefer mine cooked with something yummmy.

I was going to point you to my trip report (3 days in NOLA for my 40th bday) but just realized I never did one

We ate at Commanders's Palace, Acme Oyster House, Antoine's, and Bayona. I LOVED Acme- got to sit right at the counter. Like the food at Antoine's better than the service; liked the service at Commander's better than the food. Went to Bayona specifically for the cream of garlic soup.

The only other thing I can think of it that we went in between Christmas and New Years- and it was much colder than I had expected. Perhaps we were just unlucky weather wise- but otherwise loved New Orleans and hope to go back!

Lol Cadgirl!

Garlic soup -- man, that sounds good!

Will check out all of these places -- great ideas, great help! Acme sounds great (I'm not into Oysters, but husband is, and it's his birthday, not mine!)

Camellia Grill, at least the one in the Garden District (they recently opened in the FQ too) is an old-fashioned, sit at the counter place, with excellent omelettes, and waiters who like to "engage" with the customers, in a very friendly way. Johnny's PoBoy has excellent breakfast food - delicious biscuits, etc - but the place is a greasy spoon (which is what we consider a "find").

We went to Camellia Grill in the FQ last year when we were in NOLA - and it is the same format as the GD location - sit at the counter, friendly waiters, good food.

Another place we liked for breakfast was Ye Olde Coffeepot. We had yummy food and the people are nice.

I liked Mothers when I first went to NOLA, but the quality seems to have dropped off, so we haven't been back in a long time.

Johnny's is where we go for po-boys in the FQ.

Cafe Beignet has 2 locations - I like the one on Royal street better than the one on Bourbon - however the one on Bourbon often has musicians playing outside. Last time we were there I met Elvis. You just never know who will turn up.

For a nice meal, we like Muriels a lot.

Irenes is on my list for next time - we stayed right around the corner on our last trip and the smell of the garlic bread was enough to make me want to take a bite out of the side of their building.

For music, definitely check out Frenchman Street - there are a bunch of low-key clubs over there with different types of music. We went to a few last trip and didn't encounter any cover charges, just come in and buy a drink, tip the band, everybody is happy. So we went into places where the music sounded good, ordered a couple beers, and hung out for awhile.

Bourbon street can be really rowdy, but it is fun. There are a lot of clubs with live music - mostly rock and roll, some funk and R&B, just a mix of things - not too much jazz on Bourbon. We always walk through and then go in when we pass a bar or a club with a band playing music we like.

Woohoo!

Arrived Wednesday been partying it up getting ready for the big day!

A local sent me to this site and suggested a new restaurant....it was AMAZING!!!

I come here now and then and it was great to break out of the old PoBoy habit and experience something fresh and new.

Had the platter....oh my god...it was so intensely flavored!

You can see a video of the restaurant Mais Arepas here:

www.lizreyes.com/

Tomorrow reservations at August and next week Commanders.
Diet starts in 10 days!

Have a great Superbowl.