I second the motion for Casamentos. Also in the vivinity is Frankie & Johnnies( great jukebox)& Dos Efes Cigar Bar. I've had great meals at Bella Luna in the Lower Quarter; Parasols in the Irish Channel for Roast beef poboys...mmm mmmm. Clover Grill for the 4am cheeseburger that you'll love when you eat it but regret it in the mornin'! Whitey's on Downman street for &1 COLD drafts, crawfish & shrimp & they have 2 pool tables. Port O Call on Esplanade for the best burgers. Ditto Muriels. Best late afternoon lunch is a Galatoires. Best bistro. Ditto Bayona. CC Coffee shop on St. Phillip & Royal. Verte Mart on Ryal for great poboys, especially the grilled ones. You should definitely sit at the oyster bar. Pascal Manales in the Garden District where they invented BBQ shrimp. Clancy's. Brightsens. Rock & Bowl. Best Lamb chops at the Grill Room at the Royal Orleans Hotel. Just go there! Napoleon House for best bar. Rooftop bar/pool at the Royal Orleans hotel. That's all or now folks!

I would have to agree with The Gumbo shop. Also enjoyed Remoulade. The Coffee Pot was great for breakfast. I don't think anyone mentioned Galatoires but it was wonderful.

Go for Galatoire's. Emeril's is lacking a bit due to fame.

Uglesich's is an experience - only week day lunch

Domilise's for po-boys in the garden district

Folks: Many of your recommendations are excellent, however, I have to correct some of your errors. Neither Gautreax's on Soniat Street or Pascale Manales on Napolean are in the Garden District. The Garden District boundaries are Jackson, Louisiana, St. Charles and Magazine. No local would be caught dead eating a Lucky Dog, unless they wanted to spend the night in Charity Hospital. Bayona is consistenly one of the best in New Orleans. NOLA's is the best for atmosphere and value of all of the Emeril joints. Peristyle's is anything but off the beaten path. No need to take a taxi unless you are not staying the Quarter. Anyone truely from here knows that Casamento's is always closed during the summer, it reopens in September. Finally, please please don't mention Jacque Imo's, Mandina's or Clancy's anymore. We locals want to keep those tourist free zones.

I beg to differ on locals eating Lucky Dogs. I'm not a native, but I do live here, and we eat Lucky Dogs. Emeril himself has made the comment about much he used to love to hang out in the Quarter and eat Lucky Dogs and Takee Outee. I know Emeril's not a native either, but I do think he considers himself a local - even if he's not around much. As for Casamento's - yes, they close in the summer, but if you notice, the original post was dated early May - none of the restaurants that close for the summer are closed at that time.

"Native", your tone is a bit condescending. Correcting "errors"? Indeed! While I don't like Lucky Dogs I know plenty of Quarter residents who'll grab one now and then. And to many, Peristyle is on the fringe of things. And you should know that it's not NOLA's or Peristyle's. No "'s" here, please!

Agnes - I agree about Peristyle. While it's a only a little more than a block from where I live and perfectly comfortable for me to walk there, I don't think many tourists feel the same way about the Lower Quarter. On an almost daily basis, someone stops in front of my house for directions because they've passed Bourbon Street or have gotten turned around and have no idea how in the world they could have ended up "here!" Unless a visitor is staying at the St. Pierre, I doubt they are going to feel that Peristyle is near anything.

Since native is so possessive about Clancy's, I can only assume that he/she lives uptown - and certainly wouldn' t be all that familiar with life in the Quarter. It's nothing like being uptown at all and eating Lucky Dogs is quite acceptable to us "Quarter Rats."

For what it's worth, I think Clancy's is highly overrated. Many "natives" also rave about Pascal's Manale, Antoine's, Tujague's and Mandinas. All passed their prime YEARS ago. I've been here 10 years and would much rather have a meal at Bayona, Peristyle (perfectly well-located, thanks!), and Pelican Club!

Having lived in New Orleans most of my life, I am very impressed with all of the good recommendations. Here are my picks:

Local New Orleans Fare - Uglesich's -"the best, do not miss"

Creole Upscale Fare - Galatoire's
"My favorite restaurant in the world"

Traditional N.O. Italian Oyster Bar- Casamento's

Upscale N.O. Style - Peristyle/Bayona

Best Local Joint - R & O's on the Lake
Have Fun.

Two suggestions - Felix's Oyster Bar on Bourbon (they have a walk-up marble slab and shuck oysters as fast as you can eat them, then charge you based on the empty shells) and a frozen Irish Coffee at Molly's in the Market. Oh yeah, try Mother's for great, casual chow. Anywhere you go, try the fried alligator and turtle soup.

Meg, are you the same "Meg" from "Kats 'n Rats"? Miss you all over on the P* travel boards, if so!

Have really enjoyed reading this. We lived in New Orleans 30 years ago, both kids born at Touro Infirmary, and DH got his hotel start at the Royal Orleans (has the Rib Room really changed its name to the Grill Room, ala Ritz Carlton??), where Archie Casbarian, now owner of Arnaud's, was GM. It's amazing to me that places we loved back then, such as Mothers, Pascale Manale, Central Grocery, Gumbo Shop, Mandina, are still going strong today! Do you realize how rare it is for really good restaurants to hang onto their reputation for that length of time??

One question....I don't ever see Mosca's (West Bank, Marrero, I believe) mentioned anymore. Is it gone?? That was another local favorite. Hmmm their barbequed shrimp...makes my mouth water just thinking about it! Have seen all sorts of "authentic recipes" for Shrimp Mosca presented, but none could ever duplicate it.

No, Olive Oyl - I have no connection to Kats 'n Rats, whatever that may be.

Mosca's is still around. We had friends drag us out there within the first year we moved here. I would never recommend it b/c I have no idea how to get there - it's WAY OFF the beaten track, wouldn't ya say?

I think the Rib Room is still the Rib Room. Windsor Court has the Grill Room - is that what you're confusing?

I liked Bob's suggestion of Whitey's. We had some crawfish there a few months ago. What a dive! Definitely not many tourists stopping by there.

Meg, The Kats and Rats were an active group on the Prodigy travel board. Some lived there, some close, but all visited frequently as a group and had great recs on things to do and see, cautions to take, etc. They now have their own website http://www.katsandrats.com/fqrats.html with useful information. It's an interesting site. There's a Meg in that group who also lives in the Quarter and I thought you might be her.

Re the Rib Room and Grill Room...a post above by Bob ([email protected]) referred to the "lamb chops at the Grill Room at the Royal Orleans". I couldn't imagine them changing the name as it was a pretty successful restaurant. He either meant the Rib Room or he meant it was at the Windsor Court...

Yes, Moscas is out of the way but was still a local favorite. It was up the West Bank's River Road. You pulled up to a shack type place with a parking lot full of luxury cars. It was reputedly owned and operated by the Carlos Marcello family which was active in NO back when. Inside decor was checkered cloth informal and food fantastic--it had to be to get us to drive that dark twisty road out there!

Olive Oyl - the decor at Mosca's is still the same. The road is not anymore well lit now. We had the shrimp thing and an oyster casserole or something like that.

I see now in Bob's post where the reference to the Grill Room was made. I don't think it's changed.

I will check out the website. Thanks for the info.