njxbean

I havent been to mardi gras but the other festivals i have been to there were many food stands and to be honest those stands have some of the best food you will see in NOLA. I would look for those. Have fun!

FLYMSY

Mardi Gras and the "other festivals" are two different animals. If you're talking about food that you can get at, say the Jazz Fest, there is nothing like that along the parade routes. If you're looking for cotton candy, peanuts, Polish sausages, etc., then you'll do O.K. But, food stands like at the festivals, good luck finding that. They would be very few and far between, if any. You might be able to find one of the nicer food trucks, but even they will be hard to find since the parade route is so long and spread out.

To: Golf Guy

You might want to try to find something a few blocks away from the parade route. Look along Poydras St. from St. Charles Ave. towards the River.

brocklee9000

Somewhere in this thread is a link to the nomenu website, with descriptions, prices, and reviews of many eateries around the city. One of the options, such as at this link allow you to sort the restaurants by districts. We were there for only a few days during the Christmas holiday period (which happened to be the weekend of the sugar bowl and a home game for the Saints) and the place was crawling with people. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like during Mardi Gras. I had no idea how small and narrow those streets in the French Quarter are, until I actually spent a few days walking them.

FLYMSY

Post #2 in this thread. (Just happens to be my post.)

The number of people on Bourbon St. during Carnival is incredible, almost suffocating and not advisable if you're claustrophobic.

A little history/cultural lesson while veering off topic for this thread:

As of this moment, we in NOLA are celebrating Carnival, not Mardi Gras. Mardi Gras is only one day which is the last Tuesday of Carnival. Mardi Gras is French for Fat Tuesday. Carnival runs from Twelfth Night (Jan. 6) thru Mardi Gras.

FLYMSY

After giving this a little more thought for golf guy, I'd suggest for future posts about destinations, that you give some more specific info. Such as, the exact days you'll be in a particular location, the specific hotel, etc. It would help us to give you better suggestions. Also, when you ask for "reasonably inexpensive" places, what's inexpensive for me might not be for you.

With that said, a few suggestions. I'm assuming that y'all are 20 something's on a budget.

If you really want inexpensive, you could try Rouse's supermarket in the Warehouse District (701 Baronne). It's local, very large with everything you could possibly want, has a wide variety of local hot & cold prepared meals to eat in or take out, tables are near the cash registers and is open from 6 AM til midnight. They also have a branch in the French Quarter (701 Royal) which is much smaller, open from 6 AM til 1AM.

http://shop.rouses.com/storelocator....lyads.aspx?r=1

A couple of inexpensive restaurants in the CBD (central business district):

http://www.therubyslippercafe.net

(You want the one at 200 Magazine St. Breakfast & Lunch only.)

http://www.redgravycafe.com

(Open for breakfast, lunch & dinner)

In the FQ, you can try:

http://johnnyspoboys.com

Don't know if any are open on Mardi Gras. Check the websites for exact times or call them.

There will be lots of restaurants open in the Warehouse District, CBD, & French Quarter, but I don't know how many will fit your budget or that you'll be able to get into because of the crowds.

Good luck and have fun.

brocklee9000

We found good food just by walking around and going inside places. We passed up venues that had a formal dress code, needed a reservation far in advance, or were packed and had lines out the door for an entire block, and instead went to places that were populated, but no so busy we couldn't get a seat. During the festivities it may be too packed for this, but many restaurants had hawkers outside with menus, which made it easy to see what they had and how much. Many also have their menu posted on the front door or a window nearby. That's how we've found great food anywhere from our hometown to NYC to Paris. It's hit or miss, and statistically you'll miss sometimes, but when it's super busy and crowded (like right now), it's nice to just be able to walk somewhere nearby and sit down and eat.

canadian_golf_guy

Wow! Thank you so much for all your advice and help across the posts. We will give as many of these a try as possible, and hopefully report back with some advice / recommendations for the rest of the FT community.

I hope you have a good Carnival FLYMSY!

FLYMSY

You're welcome. Please post your findings for future visitors. You might want to post them in the other thread I just started on Carnival/Mardi Gras.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...ardi-gras.html

canadian_golf_guy

OK, so we didn't end up at any of the FLYMSY's suggestions (the lines were way too long at Ruby Slipper and Johnny's, but they both looked good). Sorry about that. We did end up at the following, and here's my thoughts on each:

The Original French Market Restaurant - We went to try and find a crawfish boil, but they were only boiling shrimp when we went. Food was pretty good, the crab cake is a must try. Service was mediocre.

Cafe Beignet - We went here based on recommendations in this thread, the beignets were delicious, and the wait was relatively short compared to the MASSIVE line for Cafe du Monde. I vote this as the best cheap snack around.

Bistreaux (in the Maison Dupuy hotel) - Walked in after randomly wandering around the Quarter. Food was whatever, service was about the same. Give this one a pass and keep walking to something better.

Marigny Brasserie - Went in because it didn't look too busy. Sat for a drink in the bar and the service from the bartender was so rude we left without even bothering to have dinner. This place is a definite miss.

Tugague's - Another random place we picked because the menu looked decent, this time we hit it out of the park. We had to wait quite a while for a table but holy $H@# this place was good. Definitely not cheap but they do it up right.

House of Blues - Great concert, horrible food, mediocre drinks. Service was pretty good though.

McDonald's - Canal Street - How are you literally sold out of everything except McGriddles? It's not like it was a secret that Carnival was coming.

Deja Vu Bar & Grill - Conti & Dauphine - Cheap food and drinks, open 24 hours. Good spot for a late night (read: 5 AM) bite to eat and one more stiff drink.

Daisy Dukes - Pretty tasty generic fried Southern food, open 24 hours. Nothing too special but wasn't bad either.

We may have gone to a few other spots, but that's all I remember off the top of my head. I'll also add that CVS is the cheapest place to buy booze in the area, hands down. Don't worry, the line moves fast.

schmoove

Went to New Orleans for Wrestlemania and had a diet of great food and Hand Grenades. I wanted to post a place that hadn't been mentioned yet Willie Mae's Scotch House. Its in the Treme and has to be the best friend chicken in the world. You will want to cab since its a couple mile walk from the FQ, we walked from the Marigny but everybody else that showed up was in Taxi.

The wait was 45 mins or so just to get in the building and worth every minute.

Mentioned plenty of times but Acme Oyster House was also excellent.

DWooderson

^ Willie Mae's is awesome, but definitely cab rather than walk from the Quarter.

CMK10

My Dad and I will be doing yet another train trip to New Orleans in October. We're going to arrive into town at 9:40 PM on a Sunday. We'd love to get some late night oysters but it seems our usual spot of Felix's and also Acme close at 10 PM. Anyone know a good place open late?

FLYMSY

Lüke - til 11:00 P.M.

http://www.lukeneworleans.com

Also, in the Riverbend area:

http://www.cooterbrowns.com/main.html

CMK10

Excellent, a plan AND a backup plan (as Amtrak can be late more than I'd like to admit). Thank you ^

CMK10

61 Late Night Eateries in New Orleans:

http://www.neworleansgoodgood.com/61...n-new-orleans/