In addition to all the recommendations above, Palace Cafe is right next door to your hotel. It fits your description of a place to dine.

M8

my favorite restaurant in NOLA is actually...NOLA, one of emerils restaurants. its fun and funky and always cool and inventive food. here's the link:

http://www.emerils.com/restaurants/n...ola/index.html

cheers

I'm with you on this one - dinner per person at Grill Room ran about the same as our dinner the night before - but man, this one just didn't seem to have the same bang-for-the-buck. Maybe if we had done the tasting menu (but we had a couple of picky eaters with us) - I just didn't think the experience was worth it and at least one of the men in our group was annoyed at being forced to don a jacket for dinner.

Nonetheless, I'm glad I tried it - wish it had been on someone else's nickel! ;) My opinion is that this would be a fabulous place for a romantic dinner (the married couple in our group had dined there on Valentines Day), but the size of our table for six made group/business conversation difficult to impossible and it lacked the warmth I have enjoyed at other N.O. restaurants.

Dinner at Grill Room or any of the other "fancy schmancy" places is all quite good but anyone can find an expensive white table french restaurant and to me that is just not what I think of when I think of New Orleans style cooking. I rarely entertain for business purposes in New Orleans, unless there is a convention in town, then my clients are usually much more interested in me taking them to Bourbon Street than a white table cloth dining establishment. When I am entertaining my friends personally there is usually a lot of cutting up and laughter and food is merely the secondary reason for getting together. I suppose that is why I usually recommend lots of fun local spots than the true stuffy old school places of New Orleans. The other point you hit right on the head. When most people visit New Orleans they don't want to get dressed up, especially if your later evening plans entail hitting Pat O's and the like. New Orleans screams to me a laid back casual city with foods exploding with tastes and flavors in a comfortable setting that may come wrapped in brown paper rather than placed on fine china.

Amen! Alas, I wasn't the one who got to make the reservations for this particular weekend (we rotate hosting duties and it was someone else's city). It wasn't horrible or anything - and that is why we rotate so everyone gets a turn picking places that they like to go.

Yea... meet your former client there. You won't be disappointed and it's easy to find. Their turtle soup is to die for... and tell them to make it snappy... ;)

Ok so now that you have totally described what I am looking for, where near 555 canal would you suggest. Emeril's restaurant and Palace Cafe look great for a nice fancy dinner but we are both getting in on later flights (so dinner will be 8ish) and dressing up this much is NOT in the plan. Where can we get just some good basic food in new orleans.

Didn't say it was the "best" NOLA poorboy, just the quintessential. :)

artesia's is no more
 

They are opening another restaurant there, perhaps they already have.

The food was good at Artesia's but the service was unprofessional in my view.

Dakota's gets everything right.

The Red Fish Grill is just short walk away as is The Bourbon House. We've enjoyed both of them. Of the two, I would say the Red Fish Grill has the less fancy atmosphere.

For nearly 60 of my 65 years, a "lunch" visit (Arrive 1:45PM for 2PM, languish until at least 4:30) to Galatoire's has been at least an annual event (even living 550 miles away). I still follow the routine of my grandfather, a shipping agent who did nothing with great haste...a pre-meal cocktail, for him 3 ounces of Old Forester, a teaspoon of Sweet Vermouth and a dash of bitters, followed a bottle of a decent white (and I still order a Sancerre, his favorite), and then a single dish - even appetizers - at a time, preferably shared among at least 3 people or even 4. I think I must have had the same waiter for most about a half century until his retirement a few years back. He always called my grandfather (who at best came once or twice a year) by name and didn't even ask for his drink order. They started putting a wine glass down for me when I was 8 or so, and it hasn't done me in yet.

There are several dishes which are hard to pass up, but the stuffed eggplant is a must for someone who wants to try a traditional "Creole" dish in a place where it has been prepared in the same manner sinbce hector was a pup.

Besides, even the "new look" Galatoire's remains one of the closest approximations of what New Orleans was than anywhere elso I go....
(and as it says in the lost sequel to Genesis: "...And on the 9th Day, Pat O'Brien's opened..." and hasn't been hosed out since.)

TMO

We really liked La Cote Brasserie - and its right down from Emerils on Tchoupitoulas. You can do tasting menu, order a la carte, or just do the tableside raw bar and dessert. Its fairly casual - I wouldn't go in there in jeans, but I wore a denim skirt and sandals with a cute top and felt appropriately dressed.

I'm by far not the N.O. expert however, so I would defer to the locals.

showing my ignorance
 

can someone tell me what Drum is. I keep seeing it on these menus (along with the duck, the rabbbit and the alligator), oh I am sooo not going to feel safe eating in New Orleans where these seem to be staples *gulp*

Drum refers to what we call Redfish, also variously known across the country as redfish, channel bass, puppy drum (under 18 inches), bull drum (over 10 pounds), and spottail bass. They are a very popular inshore (some offshore) sport fish here in Louisiana. Commercial fishing for them is illegal thankfully in most gulf states, excepting I think Mississippi, where the fish for the restaurants comes from I assume (also assuming that the fish is actually redfish). There is also a black drum.

See: http://www.espn.go.com/outdoors/gene...c_RedDrum.html

Assuming you do not have an aversion to eating meat you are really missing out not to try alligator, duck, rabbit, etc!!

Definition: Any of a large and diverse family of fish, so named for the odd drumming or deep croaking noise it makes, particularly during the mating season. Drum, also known as croaker, is a firm, lowfat fish found in temperate waters. Croakers, averaging 1 pound, are the small fry of the drum family and are usually sold whole. However, many drum can weigh up to 30 pounds and are generally sold in fillets and steaks. Drum can be baked, broiled or fried. Other members of the drum family include Atlantic and black croaker, black drum, California corbina, hardhead, kingfish, redfish (red drum), kingfish, spot, weakfish and white seabass. See also fish.

For restaurant reccomendations it seems you aren't too adventurous want a local restaurant within walking distance of your hotel, that serves identifiable foods and accepts casual dress. I would go with the Red Fish Grill since it carries the Brennan's name which many people associate with New Orleans style cooking, serves good quality fresh local seafood, and is on Bourbon Street so casual wear is acceptable. Is it the "best" most innovative restaurant in town? No, but I think it is a good choice especially if you are just getting off a plane. They have a nice bar if you have to wait for a table.

http://www.redfishgrill.com/

Try the banana's foster up. It is a bit of a twist on the traditional BF. it is served in a big martini glass. I also like the pecan crusted fish.