This past weekend was a whirlwind of food, friends, food, drinks, and more food. My girlfriend is working down there temporarily and it was just too good to pass up a trip with a free stay. It was my first time visiting New Orleans ever and I instantly fell in love. Despite being a tourist, the city has so much character, history, and of course, food. I tried to cram as much as possible in my too short weekend trip.
Flew in bright and early Friday morning and immediately hit the streets. Started with brunch at Surrey’s Cafe and Juice Bar. Totally underestimated the mile walk, but it was worth it.
I had the Boudin Breakfast Biscuit.
Boudin breakfast biscuit to feed the belly.
My friend Esteban ordered the Huevos Yucatecan.
Huevos Yucatecan were so yummy.
After feeding the beast, we hopped on a bus and headed for the Aquarium. It is such a cool place.
Best photo-bombing moray eels
Woohoo! I got to touch a manta ray. They were so friendly. I loved it!!!
After much walking around the aquarium, insectarium, the French Quarter, and up and down Canal Street, it was time for dinner. We went to Juan’s Flying Burrito. I got the house Flying Burrito with chicken, beef shrimp, yellow rice, black beans, sour cream and cheese. Oh man…that burrito hit the spot. Made me question my own love for Chipotle.
Juan’s Flying Burrito totally hit the spot.
To end my first day, my friends and I headed to the French Quarter for some beignets. Insider tip – go at night. Cafe du Monde is open 24 hours a day. Don’t be a newb waiting in long lines during the day because there’s practically no wait later in the evenings or at night. We walked in at 10pm, got seated and were stuffing our faces with powdered sugar goodness and cafe au lait within 10 minutes.
Beignet me!
Powdered sugar everywhere!!
Then we ended the night with some drinks at Cane & Table, a popular bar in the French Quarter for a night cap. I ordered a Japanese whisky, Yamazaki and an Eastern Sour (whisky sour). Great bartenders here. Perfect way to end the night.
Day 2
So this morning I was on my own for a bit. My friend Esteban wanted to visit the WWII museum. I decided to opt out and head to lunch before exploring more of the French Quarter. NOLA is a pedestrian city and I loved walking around. I headed to the Ruby Slipper Cafe. It had a long ass line. There were people waiting across the street for a table. Unsure, I headed in anyway to see how long a wait would be for a single person. I had read in Yelp reviews that the bar seating is great for solo travelers. AND I WAS RIGHT!!! No wait. at. all. WIN.
To feed the belly, I ordered the corned beef bennie. It was a mix of corned beef and potatoes on a buttermilk biscuit with poached eggs, hollandaise sauce and and horseradish cream. The serving was huge. I could only finish half of it. It was good, but not mind blowing. I thought the flavor was a little bland for what I expected.
Corned beef bennie
I walked off my large breakfast in the French Quarter where I checked out Jackson Square. Lots of street art and music. Weather was great too. After a while, I was ready for a snack. Headed to Felix’s for oysters. It’s right across the street from the popular Acme Oyster Company. A NOLA native told me to forgo the oysters at Acme and go to Felix’s instead and I’m glad I did. There was a much shorter line and the place was packed. I ordered a dozen charbroiled oysters and raw oysters. They were so delicious I was said when I had finished them all and the experience was over…
After my “snack”, I suggested we visit the Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone. The previous night we weren’t able to get seats at their awesome rotating bar because it was sooo busy. It was 1 pm in the afternoon and wanted to check it off our bucket list for the trip. The Carousel Bar was a top rated bar in Esquire with exquisite cocktails and even friendlier bartenders. The few seats at the bar moved ever so slowly and reminded me of the Reunion Tower in Dallas. Very cool experience!
Beautiful bar.
I spy a weirdo in the mirror…
After some yummy cocktails it was nap time. LOL. Those are mandatory during all my trips. After a quick dinner at a not so memorable Johnny Sanchez latin restaurant, we headed to Bourbon Street. No pics available. 😉
Sunday morning was a lazy day for all of us. Exhausted from a super active weekend, we decided to take it easy. Quick brunch at Luke’s on St. Charles. The reviews raved about it, but I wasn’t super impressed with the things I got. Crab bisque and the baked oysters. I’ve had better bisque in Dallas, but the oysters were yummy. Had my fill of oysters by now.
Baked oysters
It was definitely a jam-packed weekend made even better with awesome travel buddies that were down for anything. Loved every moment of it. Can’t wait to go back!
