In mid-January my husband and I made our first visit to New Orleans, and we’re pretty sure it won’t be our last. We were fortunate in having great guides in my husband’s brother, John, and his wife, Barbara. They live in Dallas, and John has made many business trips to The Big Easy over many years. We told him to create our itinerary and we would gladly follow his lead. We had three full days and four nights in the city and managed to pack a great deal into that period.

John and Barbara picked us up at the airport (we got an across-the-tarmac view of the spanking-new, 35-gate terminal set to open on May 15 of this year) late Saturday afternoon and drove us to our two-bedroom, two-bath suite at La Belle Maison, a Club Wyndham property in the Warehouse District, just two blocks from the French Quarter. We quickly checked in and set out on foot to dive in to Crescent City culture. For this first evening, we’d focus our attention on Bourbon Street. With a detour into a few voodoo shops out of curiosity, we made our way to Felix’s Restaurant & Oysters, a NOLA institution and locally owned since the 1940s.  According to our guide, its across-the-street rival, Acme Oyster House, features the same basic items on the menu: Creole and Cajun standards like gumbo, po-boys, red beans and rice, and jambalaya, as well as, obviously, oysters served at least a half-dozen ways. We chose Felix’s simply because the line outside its door at that moment was considerably shorter than Acme’s.

Felix’s is a no-frills spot with quick, efficient service and a view from one of several dining rooms of the oyster bar and several oyster shuckers displaying their skills. It wraps around the corner of Iberville Street to Bourbon, and as we waited briefly for a table to open up, we could enjoy the sounds of a ubiquitous street band playing nearby.  The focus on seafood includes starters which range from alligator, crawfish, crab, shrimp and (of course) oysters. Each of us ended up ordering a combo which included half a po-boy (fried shrimp, oysters, crawfish and fried fish the main options) and a choice of a traditional side — a fairly inexpensive introduction to the local cuisine. 

We ambled down Bourbon Street, taking in its lively, somewhat bawdy ambience     as we made our way to another New Orlean’s fixture, Pat O’Brien’s. Our timing was excellent, as there was no wait to get in to its famous piano lounge, a tightly packed room with hundreds of beer steins hanging from the ceiling   and featuring two copper-topped baby grands with dueling pianists who play audience requests,   often accompanied by Alvin Babineaux‘s tray tapping. For 47 years he’s been tapping out the beat on a metal change tray with metal-capped fingers . . . check it out here. It’s a lively atmosphere, with the audience encouraged to sing along as they imbibe some of several iconic cocktails for which O’Brien’s is famous. We ordered Hurricanes and brought home souvenir glasses and some beads as well.

We rounded out the evening with a stop for beignets and coffee and hot chocolate at Café Du Monde, the original NOLA coffee stand operating in the French Market since 1862, housed in an 1813 building which was once The Butcher’s Hall. Open 24/7, every day of the year but Christmas, it seems late evening is the best time to order up the powdered sugar-drenched, rectangular puffs of fried dough if you want to bypass the crowds. We observed the assembly-line efficiency of the servers as we stood in a very long line for a very dirty bathroom. (Word to the wise: There are other public restrooms elsewhere in the Market; avoid Café Du Monde’s if at all possible.) At the risk of insulting a great New Orleans landmark, the beignets are rather heavy and a bit tough; go for the tradition, but for a really good beignet, order some from any of several restaurants that can do them justice.

We finally headed back to our accommodations, satisfied that we’d made a good start on exploring this fascinating city.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor