Full disclosure: we landed in New Orleans with the Lonely Planet New Orleans Guidebook in hand, so a lot of these are what we considered the best of what LP suggested, with a few personal favorites.
Let's start with the obvious food culprit. Cafe Du Monde, long been a staple of New Orleans food for tourists with there beignets. It is like a fried donut with a Scarface-like portion of powdered sugar. The best part? They are open 24 hours.
In New Orleans I learned that people seem to enjoy waiting in lines for food.
Example 1
Taking the street car uptown, we went to Domilises Po-Boy & Bar. This yellow windowless building doesn't look like one of the best places around, but it is. The place was packed and the food was delicious.
Example 2
The Port of Call Restaurant provides gut busting burgers which took all of 30 minutes just to sit down. And that was at 3pm on a Sunday. No french fry sides here though, only baked potatoes.
Example 3
Another place that specializes in Po-Boys and other New Orleanian food, Mother's is just great. While this line is about 20 deep from the door, there is another line after you get inside.
On the corner of Poydra's and Tchoupitoulas St.
Ah, the Eco-Cafe, a place on the corner of Canal and South Scott. An easy street car ride gets you to this formerly abandoned house turned eco-friendly cage-free egg serving cafe.
Abita Brewery is about an hours drive from the city, but boy it is delicious. Find it at almost every bar, but check out the brewery for a tour and some free tastings.
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