This past weekend we decided to do a quick road trip over to New Orleans since Alex had never been. I actually visited New Orleans years ago (pre-Katrina), but I wanted to come back and experience the city as an adult. It was an amazing weekend full of food, culture, music and plenty of alcohol. Our main focus was to try the restaurants and explore the food/bar scene, so you will find that this travel guide will be focused on what to eat and drink in New Orleans!
Day 1
Highlights: Brennan’s Happy Hour, GW Fins for Dinner, Arnaud’s French 75 Bar
We arrived in New Orleans mid-afternoon about 2 PM, so we decided to check into our hotel first. We stayed at The Saint Hotel and were able to walk to everything in the French Quarter. It was a great location, and it was easy to locate since it’s right off Canal Street. Note: This is a Marriott property, so you could always use points for your stay at this hotel.
After dropping off our bags, we ventured out to Bourbon Street for an adult beverage. If you’ve never been to New Orleans, be prepared some craziness on Bourbon Street! It can get pretty rowdy, so if that’s not your thing, you might want to stay away….especially at night. We first stumbled into Pat O’Briens for a cocktail because everyone had recommended it to us! Apparently, the drink to get here is the Hurricane, but we opted for margaritas instead.
We went to the courtyard outside and it was a really nice place to just sit and relax. It wasn’t too crazy when we went and a lot of people were actually ordering food. There is a separate section in the back for adults only, so you can bring in children to certain areas. Good to know if you are visiting with family!
After hanging out at Pat O’Brien’s, we decided to keep walking around. Honestly, it was really nice to soak in the scenery and people watch. I could have stayed on Bourbon Street for hours just to watch the craziness unfold. Another thing to note about Bourbon Street is that it is open container, so you can take your drink with you wherever you go. Also, I believe this to be true for almost all of downtown New Orleans.
Our next stop for a cocktail was Brennan’s for their Bubbles Happy Hour. We actually did not plan on stopping here, but we were walking around and saw the sign outside advertising the happy hour.
We sat on the beautiful courtyard, and the atmosphere was perfect. This was definitely more our style versus drinking on Bourbon street. They offered a wide variety of cocktails in addition to champagne by the glass or bottle. We ordered a couple of glasses of champagne to start and surprisingly, it was only $7 per glass! They definitely aren’t trying to rip you off here.
It was such a relaxing time sitting at Brennan’s, and I would highly recommend stopping in for their happy hour. They even had live music on the courtyard, so we could have stayed all night. We ordered French 75 cocktails for our second round of drinks and those were delicious. We ended up sticking around to watch the 5:00 PM champagne sabering, so that was exciting to watch as well.
We still had a few minutes to kill before dinner, so we decided to hop into Arnaud’s French 75 Bar for a quick cocktail. As expected, we both ordered French 75’s because…..what else would you order? Our cocktails were delicious, and I loved the atmosphere of the bar. We had to get to our dinner reservation, but we both decided that we had to come back later that evening.
For dinner, we had reservations at GW Fins, which is conveniently located right across the street from Arnaud’s. This restaurant was fabulous and we loved everything we ordered. We started off with a couple of different appetizers including the sizzling oysters and a raw tuna dish. For our entrées, we each ordered fish. The “Scalibut” entrée was probably the most unique and one of our favorite menu items of the night!
After finishing up with dinner, we went back across the street to Arnaud’s French 75 Bar. Honestly, this bar was just so cute and it had the best vibe. I loved how small and cozy it was, and everyone inside seemed really classy. They had a great cocktail menu, so we ordered a few different drinks throughout the night including one of our all time favorites, The Old Fashioned.
Day 2
Highlights: Central Grocery, Carousel Bar, Felix’s Oyster Bar, Brennan’s for Dinner
We started off our day by walking to Café du Monde. This was about a mile from our hotel, so the walk wasn’t too bad. It was nice to see a little more of New Orleans on our walk over. When we arrived, we had to wait about 10 minutes to get a table. The line moves pretty fast, so don’t be overwhelmed if you see a line.
Overall, we weren’t that impressed with this place. The service was terrible and the beignets were way too doughy. I kind of feel like this place is over-hyped and isn’t worth it. If you love sweets and doughnuts, this place might be for you, but it definitely wasn’t for us. We won’t be returning on our future New Orleans visits.
After finishing up at Café du Monde, we went for a stroll around Jackson Square. This is a neat area to go for a walk and take in the New Orleans culture. There are tons of street performers, musicians and artists all around the square, so it is fun to experience all of it in one place. Most of the artists sell their paintings, so if you are looking for some artwork, this is the place to go!
After walking around for a little bit, we decided to make our way towards the Carousel Bar. They open at 11 AM, so we wanted to go as soon as they opened so we could grab a spot. Unfortunately, everyone else at the same idea and started lining up outside the bar before 11 AM. We didn’t get a spot right away, so we decided to keep walking around. We kept walking around the French Quarter and had fun taking a few photos along the way. Our favorite street for photos was Royal Street. It had the most charm out of all the streets in the French Quarter.
After walking around all morning, we worked up an appetite for lunch. We had been told to try the muffuletta at Central Grocery, so we headed that way. We ordered a half muffuletta because we figured we would be eating our way through the day. I thought a half size was plenty for two people, especially if you get a bag of chips on side. Honestly, this was one of the best things we ate all weekend, so make sure to stop here for lunch! We loved it so much that we got a couple extra muffulettas to take home.
Once we finished up with lunch, we made our way back to the Carousel Bar. We knew we were going wait a little bit, but we were determined to go and experience this bar for ourselves. When we walked in, there was only a single seat available, but within 10 minutes or so we were able to find a couple spots together. It was so fun to sit at this bar because it literally moves the entire time (like a carousel!). The design is also similar to a typical carousel ride you would see.
Since we clearly didn’t have enough food or drinks, we decided to hit up another restaurant/bar. We had previously walked by this place called the Royal House, so we decided to check it out. Two things attracted us to this place: the upstairs balcony/patio and the oysters. We both were really wanting to sit on one of the iconic New Orleans balconies, so I am glad we made it happen!
After enjoying some oysters and cocktails on the patio, we decided to head back to the hotel for a quick break. We weren’t sure what we were going to do for dinner, so we decided it would be good to go back and freshen up before we went out for the evening. We ended up heading back out pretty quickly because we didn’t want to miss out on any of the fun! Our next stop was yet another restaurant because…..when in NOLA?! This time we decided to check out Felix’s Oyster Bar. This was recommended to me by a few friends, so I knew I had to see what all the hype was about.
This place was definitely a hole-in-the-wall, but I loved it. We sat directly over the oyster bar where they were shucking the oysters. When we placed our order, they literally just threw the oysters right at as! No plate or nothing. I loved how unique that experience was because it was unlike anything I had ever seen before. I loved how it was so casual and the employees were so friendly. I would highly recommend this place!
We decided to stroll around the French Quarter for a little bit longer before settling on a dinner location. Not before long, we found ourselves back at Brennan’s. We thought we might be able to sneak in a spot at the bar to eat dinner. Luckily, we arrived early enough and there was plenty of open spots in the bar.
The atmosphere inside Brennan’s is fantastic and the whole restaurant is extremely classy. We ordered a couple drinks at the bar in addition to some starters such as the turtle soup. If you’ve never had turtle soup before, you must try it sometime! The flavors in the soup are incredible. We ordered a couple of entrées as well. I had the shrimp creole kimchi, and I thought it was delicious. I liked how it was a little bit different than a traditional shrimp creole dish. Overall, this was a great choice for dinner and I would definitely return on a future visit.
After we finished with our dinner, we decided to take an Uber over to Frenchmen Street to listen to the live music. We heard this was the place to go if you wanted to listen to good music after dinner. Honestly, it was a little bit different than what I had envisioned, but it was still fun. I was hoping it was going to be more of a cozy bar scene with comfy chairs and less people. It was way more casual than that, and a lot of the bars had standing room only. Either way, we still had a good time and it was neat to check out a different part of New Orleans!
Day 3
Highlights: Commander’s Palace and a Jazz Brunch at Palace Café
After a fun couple of days in New Orleans, we were definitely a little tired come Sunday morning! We slept in a little bit and then made our way to Palace Café for their Jazz Brunch. This was super close to our hotel, so it was nice that it was only a 5-minute walk for us!
When I was researching things to do in New Orleans, everyone was recommending a Jazz Brunch, so I knew we had to do this at some point in the weekend. It was really relaxing, and I loved having the jazz music playing in the background. The jazz band actually came around to different tables and would take song requests. They came to our table, but I had no idea what to request! I think this would be a fun experience for both families and couples.
We didn’t feel like drinking cocktails at 11 AM, so we ordered a bottle of champagne to go with our food. I ordered a cup of gumbo to start and then ordered their signature eggs benedict as my main course. It was all really good, but I think my favorite part was the gumbo!
After brunch, we needed to pack up our stuff and check out of the hotel. We weren’t quite ready to leave New Orleans, so we decided to drive over to the Garden District. We heard this was a really cute area of town with nice houses, so we figured why not take a little stroll over that way? The houses were so charming and they each had their own unique character. I could have gone window shopping for houses all day long!
The first thing you’ll notice about Commander’s Palace is the building itself. I love the bright pop of color on the outside, and it makes you want to come right in (or stay outside and take pictures!). I wasn’t sure if they would let us in without a reservation, but they were super friendly and escorted us back to the bar. Funny enough, you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the bar. Super quirky, but I liked it!
The bar itself was a little crowded, but we ordered our drinks and decided to explore the gardens outside. They had a beautiful courtyard area outside, so if you can, try to dine out there if it’s a nice day. The gardens were very lovely, and it was a nice place to take a stroll and enjoy our cocktails.
After enjoying our drinks at Commander’s Palace, we decided it was probably time to leave. We didn’t want to party too much before the 5-hour drive home! Overall, it was an amazing weekend and we definitely felt like we saw ate a lot during our time in New Orleans. We are already planning future trips here because there is just so much to do! We probably did more of the “touristy” stuff this time around, but it was fun to see all of the action and everything going on in the French Quarter.
I hope this is helpful if you are planning a trip to New Orleans in the near future! It really is an amazing place to visit regardless of who you are or what you like.
Have y’all ever been to New Orleans? If so, what were some of your favorite things about this city? I need some more ideas for our next visit 🙂
Omg the carousel bar?! So fun!!
It was amazing!!