NOLA - Felix's Restaurant and Oyster Bar

We’re back at Felix’s for another round but this time dinner! It helps that Felix’s is right on the edge of Bourbon street and super close to our hotel that we decided to go back but this time for me to get some Oysters.

LOCATION: 739 Iberville St. New Orleans, LA 70130

My manager back at ShopOne at RIT loves New Orleans and had family from here so she made me promise during my first trip here I’d eat Oysters. She did say that she loved them raw and while I’m not adverse to raw oysters, I definitely can’t eat a whole platter of raw by myself and Christel isn’t a fan of oysters so I’ve decided to order a half dozen Oysters Rockefeller

We’ve had a full day of eating today so this is a nice light dinner for us. We ordered some french fries to share and my oysters have met my trip requirement and tasted delicious. New Orleans was a success!

It was a really good long weekend for us but since neither of us are big drinkers, we ran out of things to do a day early. While we love the food hopping, we found it hard to fill our days in-between meals. A lot of people I know LOVE New Orleans and would be happy living there but I think one visit was enough. I’d go back but maybe as a big group. Two people isn’t as wild of a party and we can only fill our stomachs so much.

NOLA - Mother's Restaurant

It’s a very chill last full day for us in New Orleans and we’ve run out of activities to do so we just walk around and plan our meals for the day and see what we have left that we want to cross off. It’s football day and our hotel is so close to the big New Orleans Saints stadium that we can just see the traffic and flood of gold and white all over the sidewalks. We’re not huge football fans, Christel being from a different country and me being a late support of The Bills, so we try to lay a little low today to avoid all the Sunday crowds. I need to get some Oysters since I haven’t yet and we decide for lunch we’re gonna tackle a place that was on our Concierge’s list and that we’ve gotten as a recommendation from some of our local Uber drivers. Tip for all of you guys out there traveling, skip the online travel recommendations and just listen to the locals, they never let you down.

LOCATION: 401 Poydras St. New Orleans, LA 70130

Mother’s Restaurant in a tiny bit out of our way meaning it’s not walking distance so we call an Uber and head out for lunch. Mother’s is a pretty cool space with exposed brick walls and a long counter full of cooks and steaming hot food on the line. It’s a little crowded with rooms full of tables occupied by fellow lunchers and very quick women busing tables and checking in on patrons. We line up while we decide what to order and make our way to the cash register, eyeing all the food along the way. Christel and I scope out a table and a two top opens up just for us by the window so a nice woman clears it for us and she saves the seat while I wait to order. Mother’s is known for their baked ham and their Ferdi Special Sandwich so Christel and I debate between the two and decided to share a regular order of the Famous Ferdi Special and a cup of Jerry’s Jambalaya because through all our eating here in New Orleans we still haven’t knocked that one off the list yet. This menu is extensive with tons of options but we’re pretty excited for our order. We keep hearing recommendations for this Ferdi Special and even the description alone sounds great - it’s their famous ham, roast beef, and their original Debris with au jus gravy along with shredded cabbage, pickles, and mayo. I guess Mother’s coined the term debris which are the bits of roast beef that have fallen into the gravy during carving. These little richly flavored gravy bits of meat are added to each sandwich for extra extra flavor. The Jerry’s Jambalaya is rice cooked with chicken, smoked sausage, vegetables, herbs and seasonings that give it a slight spicy kick.

It doesn’t take long for our order to come out and we get ready to dig in. This sandwich is messy, there’s au jus that’s soaked through the bottom piece of bread and makes it fall apart in your hands but it’s so good that it doesn’t take long before it’s all gone anyways. This sandwich is so good and filling, it has a perfect balance of softness and crunch and everything blends so well together. We’re both content with splitting this order because we’re full from our respective halves but this is a sandwich you come back for again and again. It’s easy to see why people order this and recommend it to visitors. This place is busy but it should be with this quality and the amount of food we’re eating. This was an amazing choice. The jambalaya is also good. We should’ve ordered more than a cup because you want to eat more. The flavors are so good and the meat is mixed in so well but there’s a lot of it so you don’t feel like you’re getting ripped off. I like this more than gumbo/etouffee and wish I had it sooner and at more places. I guess I’m a proponent to jambalaya. It wins my vote in this three dish battle.

I’m already dreaming of going back to Mother’s again for this atmosphere. These woman who work the dining room are so sweet and helpful. They pop in just when you need them and are so fast. The one that was in charge of our section of the dining room was super nice and easy to talk to. I’m living the atmosphere of this place and the hospitality we’ve been experiencing during our trip.

NOLA - Willie Mae's Scotch House

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before but we love fried chicken. We’re in the south and this is the place for it so Christel narrows in on it and today after our second museum day, we treat ourselves to a late fried chicken lunch.

LOCATION: 2401 St Ann St. New Orleans, LA 70119

This one is a little out of the way but we wander around after the museum and get ourselves a little bit lost so UBER comes to rescue us and take us to get the best fried chicken in New Orleans. This place is pretty crazy with a line that wraps around the side of the building and a bouncer that keeps us in line - literally. everyone waiting with us is super excited and we can’t wait to get inside and after maybe about half an hour we’re seated and geared up for some food. There are tons of young tourist types like us in and outside for us to talk to and eaves drop on and it’s a really great atmosphere. Of course we each order Fried Chicken which comes with three pieces (light or dark) and one side of our choice. We both like dark meat so we get that and I order sweet potato fries while Christel gets mashed potatoes with gravy and peas.

This fried chicken is amazing, it’s super flavorful and crisp and not overly salty. One order each is enough for us but is well worth the wait outside. I’m not impressed with my sweet potato fries but Christel is pretty content with her mashed potatoes. The atmosphere here is pretty nice, its got a great hustle and bustle and there are tons of tables to help with the line outside but the space is broken up into different rooms which makes it feel less intimidating and more like home. I’d easily come back for more though I would think about what time of day might be best to come because there’s no doubt that this place always has a line, and with good reason.

NOLA - Deanie's Seafood

Today was a museum day for us so we at lunch at the museum shop and took our time with the WWII Museum, a really cool place with so much to see and a really nice interactive aspect that makes it easy to spend a couple days there, which means we’re heading back tomorrow to finish up the other half of the museum.

Yesterday I ran into a friend of a friend from RIT that also happens to be in New Orleans for the first time on vacation and we agreed to meet up for dinner tonight on Bourbon Street.

LOCATION: 841 Iberville St. New Orleans, LA 70112

Deanie’s is one of the locations recommended to us by our concierge so we dragged Kelly along for the ride for dinner. It was a Friday night so the place was packed and we were slightly underdressed but still okay. We waited about an hour for a table of three and we were so hungry by the time we sat down that food couldn’t come out fast enough.

Christel and I wanted to try the seafood because that’s what Deanie’s is known for and we have to get our fix while we’re down here by the water. Seafood is a little price though she we opt for the ‘famous’ Half Seafood Platter, that comes with fresh shrimp, oysters, catfish, soft shell crab, and crawfish balls with a side of french fries. We decide we need a little break from fried food so we asked to have it broiled instead. This set us back $35.95 total which isn’t bad at all and it fed us well.

Christel isn’t a fan of soft shell crab due to the texture so this guy is all me. I should’ve had better foresight because I love soft shell crab so much but it’s not as good broiled as it is fried so I should’ve asked if they could do that on the side as a fried part. The crawfish balls and fries came to us on sides fried up because that’s they way the come and everything else was amazing. The shrimp was cooked super well as was the oysters. Even that catfish was good, not too fishy. The service here was alright, our waiter was super nice and personable. This place is just a little too big and busy for my taste. I like holes in the wall or places that aren’t so big and open full of people.

NOLA - Beignet Wars

I think people know that when you go to New Orleans you have to eat a beignet, but theres argument over who does it better, Cafe Beignet or Cafe Du Monde. Today is the day that we settle this disagreement for ourselves.

We’ve had our share of Alligator both ways today and what better way to top them off than with some beignets for dessert. We walk around the French Quarter a little aimlessly looking at shops and outdoor public markets to see some art and trinkets until we stumble upon Cafe Du Monde.

LOCATION: 800 Decatur St. New Orleans, LA 70116

This place is huge, with a large gift shop and an even larger covered outdoor seating area. We’ve hit tourist central with people spilling out of the area and standing around the edges of the patio. We get a little nervous that it’ll be a long wait but as we walk under the tent, a really nice waitress gestures to a table and we sit down. Theres tons of seating here and it’s table service that’s really fast and convenient. I’ve found my people. Just about every single waitress here looks Vietnamese and I’m pretty curious about this but I guess that’s a question for another time. We order one serving of Beignets (another set of 3) for $2.73 - an even better deal than Cafe Beignet might I mention. These ladies are a little older but they’re fast. The one helping us circles back around with our order super quick and we pay her for the beignet’s and she’s off again. While we’re eating we see a family of 4 ordering 5 orders of beignet’s at a table a little ways a way. That’s some beignet love. We eat our order and boy is it amazing. In our opinion, Cafe Du Monde blows Cafe Beignet out of the water hands down. We’re stuffed after one and a half each but Christel is already trying to plan coming back here for more before we leave. I like beignet’s but I guess ‘donuts’ aren’t really my thing because I’m enjoying it, but maybe not 5 orders worth.