The big malls I know are in Metairie, although there is one good-sized one at the edge of the French Quarter at the bottom end of Canal St. Good and cheap food is pretty much everywhere—you will need to be more specific with your food requirements and your location requirements for anyone to give real suggestions there. Must-eat foods, to me, are po-boys, red beans and rice if you are here on a Monday (and even if you’re not), crawfish boil (right now they are in season, so seek them out!), banh mi, and on and on. My one restaurant suggestion is the lunch buffet at Lil’ Dizzy’s in Treme, on Esplanade Ave. just below Claiborne. They close at 2 PM, but if you get there at 1 you can eat enough to get you through until the next morning The fried chicken is aces.