Yesterday in the Baton Rouge paper I saw an ad for Christmas in New Orleans. It mentioned free nightly concerts in Jackson Square. Call l-800-323-8912 for a free guide book or check out their website at www.neworleansonline.com. Special "Papa Noel" hotel rates are available in December. This may help you. Good luck!

Yep, Bella Luna only in good weather.

I was fortunate to be there one evening with a table directly facing the river and a full moon which past directly in front of us the whole evening...simply magical! The food was good but not over the top. Italian is not so hot in New Orleans as is Asian.

I think I am detecting a pattern in the negative comments....and again I will emphasize that this is a fusion, avante guard style restaurnt. It is noisy,but high energy and fun if that is your style.

Again keep these items in mind, and if you are more main stream and want a quite place, this is not for you, but is rather in the tradition of Asia de Cuba in Manhatten, China Grill Miami and Masaharu Morimoto's Philidelphia restaurant. If you are familiar with these and like them, then you will love Nola.

As for the person above that had "the worst meal ever" I'm sorry you had a bad experience, but that is rather impossible or just plain very bad luck!

If you had a bad meal, you should have had it corrected, which would have done right on the spot.

The other comments of Dan "atmospheric wine prices" are correct, and I think you may not have liked it because of the noise and wine prices tainted your taste buds.

I love to defend this restaurant because it represents a new and changing New Orleans, neuveau cuisine is something the staunch N'Aulins folk are having a hard time accepting, along with the "modernization" of the city!

There are sure to be many more heart attacks ahead as the younger generation moves back home!

Bet you don't like going to 360 the W or the International house for drinks either huh? again the priciest drinks in the city....but compared to NYC, Miami, LA....very cheap!

Thanks for your responses and recommendations, everyone! It is very much appreciated. My husband and I did more research and will be following many of your suggestions. I have more questions, based upon our research.

Any other opinions on Red Fish Grill, Gumbo Shop, and Camellia Grill? We are thinking checking out those restaurants. Also, any opinions on the Pelican Club? Their reveillon menu sounded good, so we're also thinking of dining there. What is the dress code? We'd like to avoid dressing up more than "business casual" if possible. I read that there is a walking tour for the Celebration at the Oaks, so can we just get dropped off by a cab and walk around? Has anyone taken the airport shuttle to his/her hotel? Last, but not least, will it be safe for us to walk around after 5pm in the French Quarter? What areas should we be wary of? Again, thanks in advance!

Richard, please don't make it sound like everyone who isn't enamored with NOLA is a complete hick. Read the "rants and raves" on this very site. Some like it but some don't and that's okay. There are many opinions out there.

Actually, I don't think New Orleans NEEDS nouveau riche places like 360, W Hotels or the expensive bistros that are now the rage. The uniqueness of New Orleans is why I like visiting. If I want "trendy" I can stay home in Florida.

Where are you staying? What places are o.k. if you don't have a car and want to get around easily?

Not suggesting anyone is a hick if they don't like it, just trying to point out why they would or would not like it.

Thank goodness we all don't like the same thing, otherwise the line would extend around the block at our favorite restaurant. All the suggestions are good ones, still N.O. has best dining in USA.

As for you Sal, I didn't know I existed to serve your needs!

Variety is the spice of life, and I don't think I should have to go to Florida to experience something diferent now and then, and your comment is as silly as telling you to keep Mickey Mouse the only industry in Florida because we like mickey just the way he is!

Every sucessful city has a good variety of everything to keep things alive!

Pelican Club was good, but call first because I think it has a "jacket & tie" code.

Camillia Grill is a must go but be prepared for a long line on weekends. I go usually in the mid afternoon when it is busy season.

Red Fish is good especially the seafood, and the Jazz club next door has some good entertainment.

Gumbo Shop I did not like, but it seems other did. I think most would agree the service is not very good there, meaby thats what tainted my meal.

As for walking in the quarter after 5, no worries, it is very busy, just don't go above Bourbon. From Bourbon to the river no problems, any time until the wee hours. Again just be sensible, and don't go into unfamiliar areas where there is no one walking around.

Do not go into the cemetaries at night at all...and in the day time don't go without a guide!

Sheryl, I will let the locals continue to argue about where you should eat, I can honestly say I have never had a BAD meal in New Orleans! LOL. Anyway, yes you can walk around the Celebration in the Oaks display at city park. The only problem I have had with that, is we easily got a cab from our hotel to the park to see the lights, but could not get a cab back from the park when we were ready to leave. We had to walk quite aways from the park to catch a cab. We now just drive our vehicle, but since you won't have a car, if you do take a cab, I would tip the driver a bit extra, and ask him to come back for you at a certain time. The French Quarter is perfectly safe after 5pm. The police take good care of the tourist there.

We had a fun time at Mulate's. There is a nightly cajun band with locals giving dance lessons. We also enjoyed the Mid-City Rock and Bowl - old fashion bowling lanes with nightly bands and dance floor. We did the touristy stuff like Bananas Foster at Brennan's and Hurricane at Pat O'Brien's. We did a plantation tour of Laura and Oak Alley (very interesting). I think a carriage ride through the Garden District near dark would be nice to see the Christmas lights.

Hi Sheryl, I think there were two of your questions that are still unanswered. The Gumbo Shop's dress code is casual. I've eaton there once. Most of the party liked what they had. I have no strong memory of the food either way. I would try to sit in the "courtyard" rather than the crowded dining room.

The shuttle bus is a fine way to get to your hotel, just takes a little longer than by cab. Do a search and you will see a reply I gave that lists positives and negatives of cabs and shuttles from the airport.

Have fun!

Chazz

Just wanted to say to be sure to check out Laid Back Bike Tours - I met the owners when I was there last year and they are outstanding people. They had to turn some bike tours into kayak tours during the recent flooding from the hurricanes - they work with what they have got! (My father lives across the street from them). They host music jam session in their suite which apparently has great accoustics.

Sheryl, no trip to America's most haunted city would be complete without a ghost tour. There are several to choose from, and they range from excellent to trashy. The one I enjoyed most was the New Orleans Ghost Tour. I got a discount coupon for it from citysearch.com under the listing for The Morgue Bar, which is where the tour started out. I first discovered this tour on citysearch.com's Best Of poll and gave it a try with a group of friends. We're all from the Charleston (SC) area, where ghost tours abound, and we had a blast on this particular tour. Of course, knocking back a few Bloody Mary's before during and after the tour probably didn't hurt, but seriously we had alot of fun. Go for it!

Ronnie in SC

Enough with advertising this ghost tour, "Ronnie." You've been warned before.

Aauuugghhhhhh - is "Allison" back?!?!?!?!?

Thanks again for your input, everyone! My husband and I are getting more and more excited as our trip draws near. Chazz, thanks for the cab/shuttle info - I did a search and found your pros/cons message. Another question: why are the cemeteries so dangerous, even during the daytime?

With all due respect to Richard, forget Nola's and just walk across the street to the Napolean House and order up a muffaleta (better than Central Grocery). The is no need to patronize any Emeril establishment. He made his millions off of New Orleans style cooking but was just fined by The Vieux Carre Commision for letting an historically designated building in the Quarter he has owned for years become a blighted property.

For Sheryl, to answer your question, I recommend you do not going walking in the Quarter after 5:00 p.m., that's when all the murders happen and as you know December is open season on tourists. As to why you do not visit the cemetaries at night (or in the day time for that matter) is that they are right next to one of the worst housing projects in the city. Of course if you want to resupply on crack, its a great place to visit.

They border on bad neighborhoods and the criminals tend to hang out there to mug the tourist.

There are several tour companies that will take you safely, and I would recommend the tour to anyone, especially to the Voodoo queens tomb in St Louis # 1.

Don't tell me your going on about Nola again?? were you fired from there or something??

Do not believe the anti Nola bashing, just see for yourself and go by the restaurant and look at the menu.

Keep in mind that a lot of the contraversy stems from old "establishment" not open to new ways of doing things. I eat there all the time and it is a wonderful restaurant, and a nice change from the other old style restaurants, who are also VERY GOOD.

As for the comments of not walking in the quarter after 5:00pm, YOU can't possibly be from here, otherwise you would never say such a silly thing.

The quarter is teaming with people well past midnight, is heavily patroled by police, and rarely is there any serious trouble especially considering the millions of visitors to the quarter.

If you want to be reassured, go to www.nola.com and they have webcams on the site that view the quarter live. You will see that it starts to get REALLY busy around 8:00pm

Richard, I'll ignore the "NOLA bashing" if I can also ignore your "NOLA promotions"

It's just a restaurant and, according to my trusty Zagat's guide, not among the best in town.