South - 4 night stay in Nola

Depart Penn Station NYC on the Crescent Sat 03Oct2009 for a pleasant 30 hr. journey. Arr. NOL station Sun 04Oct2009 around 7:40P. Will be staying at Marriott Convention CTR, Warehouse District($80++a night, priceline), 4 nights 04-08Oct2009. Rtn is on the Cresent 08Oct2009.

I would mainly like to relax with no great amount amount of walking. Most of the tours on offer do not appeal to me as I have been to Nola before. I would like to find local eats and drinks where I could while away a few hrs. and be accepted even though I am an "out of towner". I believe my best bet to do this is to streetcar it to the Tulane University area and sample the bars during the day and afternoon that the students might visit at night.

Any recommendations for bars/restaurants in the Warehouse District?

I would mainly like to relax with no great amount amount of walking. Most of the tours on offer do not appeal to me as I have been to Nola before. I would like to find local eats and drinks where I could while away a few hrs. and be accepted even though I am an "out of towner". I believe my best bet to do this is to streetcar it to the Tulane University area and sample the bars during the day and afternoon that the students might visit at night.

Any recommendations for bars/restaurants in the Warehouse District?

JOOC, are you college age? It would help to know in making some suggestions. Two bars to try Uptown (university area) are Cooter Brown's & Bruno's. Also, try the 7500-7900 blocks of Maple St. where Bruno's is located - several restaurants, bars, coffee shops. Great little bookstore - Maple St. Books. Cooter Brown's is a block walk from the streetcar stop which will let you off by the Camellia Grill. Bruno's is a 2 block walk, a couple of stops earlier.

http://www.cooterbrowns.com/

http://www.brunostavern.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camellia_Grill

What price range for the restaurants in the Warehouse District? The range is from Emeril's to Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar & Restaurant.

For starters, try 2 of Donald Link's restaurants, right around the corner from each other:

http://www.cochonbutcher.com/

http://www.cochonrestaurant.com/

In either area, you'll have quite a few bars and restaurants from which to choose.

It may be a longer walk than you're looking for since it's on the opposite side of the French Quarter from where you are staying, but Coop's Place, a dive bar on Decatur St in the Quarter is a great place to hang out for long stretches of time. If you're hungry, the food is great too. For the best local color, make sure to sit at the bar, not one of the tables.

Cooter Brown's (which I also like) attracts more of a "frat boy" type (which makes sense, since it's kinda a sports bar with a phenomenal beer selection and good, greasy bar food), while Coop's attracts more of an "alternative" type (the bartenders at Coop's are self proclaimed hillbillies).

If you're a little older, Rio Mar is a charming Peruvian restaurant in the Warehouse District, which attracts a mostly locals crowd and has a small bar where you occasionally can find interesting people hanging out.

If you get off at St. Charles and 7th or 8th, you can walk 5 blocks, to the river side, to Magazine, and eat at Joey K's. It blows away Cooter Brown's et al and you can eat lunch or dinner there. Closed on Sundays.

Walk 4 blocks from there along Magazine (away from the CBD) and you can hang at The Bulldog, an old style tavern with a huge beer collection, decent bar food, and well-poured drinks. Rocky's Pizza (between it and Joey K's) is decent enough, too, if that's what you want.

If you want a really nice meal at reasonable prices, there's a new bistro called Coquette at Magazine and Washington (about 3 blocks towards CBD from Joey K's). Huge, awesome wooden bar inside that looks to be at least 100 years old!

We have been staying in that area for years when visiting family and you can't beat it for walking and "local flavor." You'll also get to enjoy the varied architecture on your walk to-from the St. Charles line.

Thank you all for the great info., it will be put to good use.
I am about 3x's normal college grad age.
Finally found the answer to a burning question after a lot of searching: do the 3 streetcar lines intersect? Walking the short distance from the hotel to the river there is a streetcar line which connects to the Canal St. line which in turn connects to the St. Charles street line. I will purchase the 3 day pass for $12.00 and use it many times.
As the date draws closer for my sojourn I will post in Community my schedule and see if anyone, visitor or local, wants to come out and play!

The St. Charles line runs from Canal Street to the Carrollton and Claiborne Ave intersection. Carondelet, at the intersection of Canal Street, is the main boarding point of the St. Charles line.

The Canal line runs from Esplanade, along the river, and turns at the conv. center to head up Canal to City Park Ave.

So, they "pass each other" at Canal and Carondelet.

Norta.com has maps.

The Canal line runs from Esplanade, along the river, and turns at the conv. center to head up Canal to City Park Ave.

One small correction:

The Canal line doesn't turn at the Convention Center, it turns at Canal St to head up Canal to City Park Ave. The Convention Center is located Upriver past Canal St. and the actual building begins near Julia St. And Convention Center Blvd. Otherwise, good info, especially the norta.com link.

Also, in trying to keep close to the info you requested in your original post regarding the Tulane Univ. area, you could try this:

Take the St. Charles streetcar all the way up to where it turns onto Carrollton Ave., go past the Camellia Grill stop, go a few more blocks and get off at the Oak St. stop. Oak St. has restaurants, coffee shops, a gelateria, the world renowned music club, the Maple Leaf Bar, etc. All of this is waiting for you just across the street with a minimum of walking.

The reason I'm suggesting Oak St. is that the City has started a major renovation of the sidewalks and street and they just opened up one of the sections. For those of you who have been to Oak St. previously, the change is dramatic and impressive. The sidewalks have been expanded so that the restaurants can put tables out on them and they are doing cut-out parking spaces. It's more pedestrian friendly now.

Also, in trying to keep close to the info you requested in your original post regarding the Tulane Univ. area, you could try this:

Take the St. Charles streetcar all the way up to where it turns onto Carrollton Ave., go past the Camellia Grill stop, go a few more blocks and get off at the Oak St. stop. Oak St. has restaurants, coffee shops, a gelateria, the world renowned music club, the Maple Leaf Bar, etc. All of this is waiting for you just across the street with a minimum of walking.

The reason I'm suggesting Oak St. is that the City has started a major renovation of the sidewalks and street and they just opened up one of the sections. For those of you who have been to Oak St. previously, the change is dramatic and impressive. The sidewalks have been expanded so that the restaurants can put tables out on them and they are doing cut-out parking spaces. It's more pedestrian friendly now.Other than Jacques-Imo's (which, despite the hype, I'm not a huge fan of), what restaurants do you recommend on Oak Street?

Other than Jacques-Imo's (which, despite the hype, I'm not a huge fan of), what restaurants do you recommend on Oak Street?

Blumie, sorry for not responding sooner, but I've been doing some MRing.

I'm of a like mind re: Jacques-Imo's - it's too claustrophobic for me and I'm sure not going to stand outside during the summer to wait for a table.

Oak St. Café is good for breakfast. A relatively new place has opened in the old "Zachary's" or "Asian Cajun" space (1/2 block from "The Leaf"), a BBQ restaurant called "Squeal". I wouldn't compare it to the great BBQ places around the country, but for NOLA, it's fairly decent. I've only been once and really enjoyed some of the appetizers and sides, as I said, the meat is pretty decent for not being in the heart of BBQ country. I plan on going again because I think it deserves another visit. Same can't be said for a Bywater area restaurant that I visited for the first time last week that has been getting a lot of PR. Won't go back there anytime soon.

Blumie, sorry for not responding sooner, but I've been doing some MRing.

I'm of a like mind re: Jacques-Imo's - it's too claustrophobic for me and I'm sure not going to stand outside during the summer to wait for a table.

Oak St. Café is good for breakfast. A relatively new place has opened in the old "Zachary's" or "Asian Cajun" space (1/2 block from "The Leaf"), a BBQ restaurant called "Squeal". I wouldn't compare it to the great BBQ places around the country, but for NOLA, it's fairly decent. I've only been once and really enjoyed some of the appetizers and sides, as I said, the meat is pretty decent for not being in the heart of BBQ country. I plan on going again because I think it deserves another visit. Same can't be said for a Bywater area restaurant that I visited for the first time last week that has been getting a lot of PR. Won't go back there anytime soon.No worries on the delay.

I don't think I've had BBQ in NOLA since the days of Mr. Delicious, which operated a small storefront with an outdoor pit on Gentilly opposite the Fairgrounds. The aroma would sweep you in as you exited the JazzFest. Even after eating and drinking all day at the Fest, we'd grab a bunch of food from Mr. Delicious to take back and eat around the pool at our $35/night motel (the New Court Inn) in New Orleans East before napping and heading back out to Tips, the Leaf and Muddy Waters!