I'm heading to NOLA at the end of this month and a friend of mine was told that she must try the alligator cheesecake. I googled pics of this and it doesn't look all that great.

Now because my friend was told that it's AMAZING she has now made it a mission to find this and will probably drive me crazy as she disturbs the mellow go-with-flow trip I had envisioned.

I would like to get some feedback from anyone out there that has eaten this? How good is it? Is it worth going on a mission?

Also, is there someplace in the French Quarter that has this so I'm not forced to cab it to Uptown, which is where we were told to get it (Dick & Jenny's or Jacques-Imo's Cafe).

Thanks for all feedback!!! Totally appreciate it!

I had never heard of alligator cheesecake - been to New Orleans many times, love the food in NOLA and always eat and drink more than any sane person should while I am there. Soooo...I looked it up. So basically looks like a savory sort of cheese torte with alligator in it. Looks reasonably promising - I've had other cheese tortes with various things in them that were quite good.

I didn't see any other restaurants come up on my quick web search, but a cab ride uptown isn't a big deal. If your friend wants to try it, then why not? A cab ride shouldn't distrub the go-with-the-flow vibe of the trip. Besides, Jacques-Imo's is only a couple blocks off the St. Charles streetcar line - ride the streetcar out there and make an event out of it.

Tastes like chicken....

Was that article dated Aril 1 by chance? ? ?

Hm-m-m have had allig. stew, allig. soup and now cheese cake.. will have to return to The Big Easy tp try but believe me that wouldn't be the only reason. NOLA is awesome. Son did MBA there and having a kid to visit in NOLA is beyond wonderful!!!

My humble opinion? If they put chicken in the cheesecake no one would rave or make a big deal about it. And if they didn't tell people it was alligator, they'd never guess. As PT Barnum said, there's one born every minute.

I was told by my cousin the other day, who is from NOLA, that it is like heaven in your mouth and it must be tried!!

BTW - it's a savory dish not a dessert.

I'm going for it!

BTW - not an April fool's joke! Ha, ha. that was a good one!

I think the problem is calling it a cheese cake - so it sounds like a dessert - which would be disgusting.

It seems to be more like a quiche - which can, of oucrse have meat in it. Don;t know abuot the alligator part.

LKL, Alligator has almost no special flavor and despite all jokes it does taste most like chicken. So while the finished dish may heaven in the mouth, I still maintain that if they made it with chicken instead of alligator, no one could tell. Alligator is used simply to gain attention.

I agree that calling it a cheesecake sets people up for unrealized expectations - people expect cheesecake to be sweet. If they called it a cheese torte, people would be more likely to expect a savory dish rather than a sweet one.

I agree! When she first told me about it I thought it was a sweet dish. I wanted to vomit! But I googled pics and found a description as well. It makes sense now. Cheese torte would be a much better name.

I'm sure it's all the cheese and other fillings that make it so delicious. The alligator part just makes it NOLA-esque.

NEOPATRICK - funny you mention chicken because my cousin sent me the recipe Jacque Imo's supposedly follows and being that I live in California and alligator would be difficult to find I had planned on using chicken! Ha, ha.

Alligator, the only reason is being exotic food. In my opinion and based on my experience of 3 days last september in NOLA, the food here is bad. But this is only my opinion because I had bad experiences even in good restaurants such as Brennan´s.

belica, did you just say the food in New Orleans is bad? Really? Where have you found good food?

But you want to a very famous and touristy restaurant and had a bad experience therefore the food in that city is bad? Really?

belica - I am curious about where and what you ate. New Orleans has such terrific food that it would be a shame to have even ONE bad meal, let alone 3 days' worth. I always have a list going of places to try on our next trip and I want to make sure that list is filled with GOOD food

The answer, to all you doubters out there, is Jacques Imo's, which serves it as an appetizer for $9; it includes shrimp andn alligator sausage.


http://jacques-imos.com/jacques-imos-menu/

LKL,did you have it, how was it?!

We've been to NO many, many times and I don't remember ever having had a bad meal. Overpriced at times--yes, but food is one of the top reasons to go.

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Well, if you don't like cajun food, you won't like NOLA. But a resto and meals ordered list from belica would clarify things - three days = 6 lunches and dinners combined. There's only so much to hate in that time period.

But in at least 7 trips to New Orleans, I've had a hard time finding a bad meal.

I know I'm a year late on this one, but when I went to NOLA in 2006 I wandered into the Palace Cafe right on Canal Street and had their Crabmeat Cheesecake and I STILL think about it. It was delicious. I've looked up recipes for Alligator Cheesecake (in fact that's why I landed here) and they usually are made with sausage that is made with alligator. I'm sure it's delicious and if anyone else out there doesn't want to wander around finding it just go to Palace Cafe and get the Crabmeat Cheesecake and you too will be raving about it 8 years later!