New Orleans is a foodie’s dream come true. I was recently there for four days and each and every meal was overflowing with spice, flavor, and no other way to describe it but the soul of New Orleans. One of my favorite things to do while traveling is try as much local flavor as possible, and get the insights from the locals that live there on the where and what to eat. If you’re heading to New Orleans any time soon, you must check a few of these off your list to really experience the flavor that the city has to offer. 
First thing first, while I usually am not a fan of the typical tourist spots when traveling, I do have to say that a stop at Cafe Du Monde is a must for those coming to this city. As a budget traveler, you can’t beat getting a fresh coffee and some pastries in the morning for under $6 to start your day. It also doesn’t hurt that the amount of powdered sugar that is delivered with the beignets will keep you energized on a sugar high for your walk through old town.
So much sugar — but don’t worry you will walk it off later 😉
I love the pure chaos of this place!
Cafe Du Monde was established in 1862 in New Orleans and has been there ever since and to this day continues to be a local and tourist favorite. Before even thinking of heading to grab some tasty treats, make sure you have some cash on you as this is a CASH ONLY establishment. When you first arrive, you might be a little confused on how the seating works and see some confused patrons waiting around. My advice to you is to bypass all those tourists that have no idea what is going on and head right in and find yourself a seat. This may mean you have to sit at a dirty table and wait for the waitress to come clean it off, but take it in because this is just all part of the experience at Cafe Du Monde.
We ordered three orders, but honestly could have shared two between the three of us. Each order comes with three donuts.
The traditional coffee they serve is Cafe Au Lait which is coffee, chicory, and hot milk.
As for coffee in general, I try my hardest that if I do want to indulge in a coffee that I support a local coffee shop or breakfast place to purchase my morning energy. So, if you are looking for some local coffee spots I encourage you to head to two of the places that I tried: Backatown Cafe and Who Dat Coffee Cafe.
I found this coffee shop from another travel bloggers site and was initially attracted to it because of its marketing of being more than a coffee shop, but a creative space that helps cultivate the diverse neighborhoods through events of dialogue and conversation. Backatown is the essence of a local shop as there coffee beans come from a micro-roaster in Mississippi and is one of the few black owned roasters in the country.
I love the use of the space and art in this shop. It really is a place that can get the creative juices flowing.
Anything off of the menu is delicious, so grab a coffee and a pastry and take a break from all of the walking in the city or start your morning with some journaling/reading in this creative space.
♥♥♥Who Dat Coffee Cafe (2401 Burgundy St) is located in the Maringy district, which was conveniently where we found our amazing airbnb. I being ignorant (but always learning) had no idea what ‘who dat’ meant before going to the coffee shop and mearly thought the menu looked good and it was the perfect walking distance in the morning- ha! For those who prefer to be well informed before trying their establishments, ‘who dat’ refers to the local chants at the New Orleans Saints Football games. “Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?” – that’s just a little bit of NOLA knowledge for ya.
$5 ‘big gurl’ mimosas – plus you get to keep the cup.. score! Also- in most of the city you can take your beverages of all kinds to go..
Besides this coffee shop being the literal definition of local in just the essence of their name- the food, people, and atmosphere did not disappoint in any manner. The moment we stepped into the coffee shop we were greeted with such enthusiasm and instantly felt like we had been coming to the shop on a daily basis for years. I love neighborhood coffee/breakfast shops that are surrounded by houses and this place was the perfect place!
We prob should have taken a before picture, but we were ravenous. 😀
Our original intention was to grab a quick bite to eat with a coffee and be on our merry way…however, once we saw the coffee/drink menu we ended up spending a bit more time there sipping some $5 ‘big gurl’ mimosas and King Cake Vodka Lattes. In all seriousness, this is the perfect place to start off the day if you are looking for good food, drinks, coffee, and all at an affordable price. I ordered a mimosa (because this trip was a well deserved vacation and no one is going to tell me I can’t drink champagne at 8:00am- ha!) and because they were five dollars– yes, five dollars. Now, having lived in D.C. now for about a year and a half I was expecting the usual dainty glassware with a little bit of champagne, but when the waiter came out with the equivalent of a red solo cup filled with champagne I knew I was in for a treat. I obviously mistook the ‘big gurl’ part of the name in the drink for adult beverage when it actually referred to the monstrosity of the beverage ha! My girl Dukes traveled down the road of nostalgia and opted for the King Cake Vodka latte so that she could join me in our adult adventures, while making sure she filled those veins with caffeine. Check this place out!
King Cake Vodka Latte- all the deliciousness in one cup. Dukes took this opportunity to educate me on the traditions of king cake and finding the baby in the cake. All hail whoever gets the piece of cake with a tiny plastic baby because they must throw the next year’s mardi gras party!
I loved this place — so much character!
Now, next up on the list is a place that I kept hearing about over and over from my girls that joined me on this trip and from a few locals in the area. Mothers has been around since 1938 and is a great place to go for some traditional home cookin’ New Orleans cuisine if you are near Canal street at any moment in your trip. We went for breakfast on our last day there, but you can try it any meal of the day- just be prepared for a line.
Once you get into the restaurant, you will be handed a menu and will have a few minutes to decide what you want to order before getting to the front. There will be a line behind you and in front of you, so make sure when you get to the front you know exactly what you want- the ladies (wo)manning the registers do not have time for you deciding what you want to eat (and yes, i say this from experience..ha!).
I personally had the hardest time deciding what I wanted to eat because after seeing the words ‘homemade biscuit’ all I could think about was having that, but you can’t just have bread for breakfast (at least in my world) so I went with the egg and sausage sandwich on the homemade biscuit (win-win decision). My friend went with the mother’s original recipe of Debris w/ au jus gravy. What is that you ask? Yes, I had no idea what the heck my friend was talking about when she kept saying she was going to get the debris and it was to die for. Turns out..its so good and delicious and is made from the part of the roast beef that falls into the au jus gravy in the pan while it is roasting in the oven. To me, that absolutely sounds like a heart attack wrapped up in gravy (ha!), but a lot of people seem to love it and there were dozens of tables filled with that exact order. It’s a Mother’s and New Orleans original- so why not try it out!
Debris in au jus gravy with grits – mother’s original recipe.
This may not look like much, but the biscuit literally melted in my mouth and was the best breakfast egg/sausage/cheese sandwich I have EVER had.
If you are planning on heading out of the old town district and planning on visiting some of the local neighborhoods, I recommend two very local and beyond delicious spots that you must check out! You can choose to walk to them (we took that option and ended up walking 11 miles each day..ha!), but you can also choose to take the local street car as well. High Hat Cafe located in the Feret district and Domilise’s Po-Boy & Bar in West Riverside are about as local you can get!
This menu is proof of all of the delicious options that are offered at this local spot.
We stumbled upon this gem of a restaurant after taking the street car through the Garden District and touring Tulane University. Christina is an alumni of Tulane and it being her 45th birthday we had to celebrate by walking down memory lane and learning about all things Christina from age 18-22. If I had to pick one restaurant to recommend to someone if they only could have one meal in New Orleans, this is the spot that I would choose. The prices are reasonable, all of the patrons were local (legit business men chowing down on gumbo while working over laptops), and the food is so good! I recommend walking back part of the way towards old town in an attempt to walk off all of the grease and calories that make these meals so good.
New Orleans BBQ Shrimp with a side of mac and cheese and an ice cold locally brewed beer. Heaven.
Chicken & Andouille Gumbo Ya-Ya
NOLA Brewing Company beers to wash it all down
Last, but definitely not least is Domilise’s Po-Boy & Bar located in West Riverdale. Christina raved about this place and said it was the go-to place to go and upon further polling of other locals, it seems that 8/10 locals will recommend this place for the best Po-Boy in New Orleans. We did not have any plans apart from eating a po-boy, so we took the long route and decided to walk from our airbnb in Marigny – through old-town and bourbon street- down magazine street, and landing at our final destination. Now, the day was sweltering hot so we made sure to stop along the way and hydrate ourselves with some common ‘must haves’ when in New Orleans.
Christina assured me that this was a must have along our route. It’s a vacation- why not drink a hurricane from Pat O’Briens on your walk at 10:30am (judgement not accepted)
You can’t say we didn’t have fun along the way….
…or ventured into random spots….
…it’s really the only way to explore. P.S. – tank top bought at a local farmers market on Magazine street..support the locals!
After our two hour walk down magazine street, we finally arrived to our destination and were able to fill our bodies with some delicious po’ boys. You have to order from the ladies in the front once you first walk in and they will give you a number to take to your spot. We pulled up to the bar and grabbed a seat, along with a local New Orleans beer to share, and chatted up the bartender (turns out he was also a Midwestern transplant). The po’ boys were definitely more than I could handle and ended up being my lunch and dinner for the day. We technically could have split one, but Christina is allergic to shrimp and I am on vacation so why not??
Shrimp Po’ Boy, local NOLA beer, and a oyster Po’ Boy.
I was told no Po’ Boy can be complete without a bag of local Zappo’s chips- you must try all flavors before departing the city.
Long story short…the food in New Orleans is one of the main attractions that should be convincing you to get your butt to this city. Come for the food, but stay and learn about the history and culture that envelops this city as well. Meanwhile, I am going to be dreaming about those beignets and planning my next trip back to the city of rich food, culture, and history.
Happy traveling (and eating) my friends! ♥♥