Eating out in NOLA, a conventioneer's blow by blow

So I used the boards here at chowhound extensively to choose my eats during my recent trip to NOLA, and it worked out well, so I thought I'd give a little report. NOLA is such an amazing food town, but of course, near the convention center is not so amazing. So you have to be flexible to get the most out of a trip if you have to do a convention.

Day 1:
Breakfast was Starbucks, I was running really late. Catered box lunch at the convention center was incredibly bad, vowed not to do that to myself again. Dinner at Yuki Izakaya on Frenchmen street was very enjoyable. I had a very tasty tuna sashimi salad and the curry fries with beer.

Day 2:
Breakfast was grits and eggs at the convention center concession, not actually half bad and you don't get grits that much in SF so I took advantage. Lunch at Dooky Chase was fried chicken take out with sides of yams and green beans. I highly recommend the chicken and the sides were also good. The only problems are that Dooky Chase is only open for lunch three days a week and it's in Treme, which is the first place in the whole country where black people could buy property well before the Civil War. Treme, while not all that far from the CBD, is dangerous. Locals really try to impress on you how bad it can be. I only had an hour and a half for lunch and it was the last day that Dooky Chase would be open before I left, so I called my order in, then got a taxi to take me out there and wait for me while I picked it up. Not something I would normally do considering the $20 cab ride, but I'm glad I made it because the chicken was excellent. Dinner was Leonardo's Trattoria on St. Charles ave. I meant to go to Herbsaint next door, but it was packed with a long wait, so I settled for the old school Italian joint, and I wasn't disappointed. Spaghetti with meatballs was very good and I got a side of sauteed spinach with garlic, which was cooked perfectly and to me contrasted perfectly with the spag. Everything on the menu was very familiar Italian dishes, and the portions were huge, but this place has quality food and a reasonable wine list by the glass.

Day 3:
Breakfast was convention center grits again, I kind of developed a taste for them. Lunch was a chili dog from a Lucky Hot Dog stand. I only had an hour for lunch, and I figured I'd go nuts for dinner. Dinner was a few small portions of traditional New Orleans food from the caterer at the ending party for my convention. It was ok, the red beans and rice were the standout. Next was my mini-oyster crawl...half dozen of char at Drago's and half dozen of deep fried at Mr. B's. The grilled were delicious. They had some kind of cheesy sauce all over them that was good, but you still got a good taste of a real oyster. The deep fried were fine, to be honest I wouldn't do it again...they just didn't taste enough like oysters. Late night snack after the bar at Cafe du Monde for Cafe au lait and beignets. I love the Cafe du Monde experience, it's full of tourists, but beignets are absolutely ideal with the cafe au lait, and the ambience is hard to top for an out of towner.

Day 4:
No conference today, so I took the streetcar uptown to Patois for brunch. Delicious duck debris hash with fried eggs and a lovely cocktail with fresh satsuma tangerine. Fresh out of the oven blueberry muffins were probably the best blueberry muffins in my life, and they were free. Then a long walk through Audobon Park to develop some kind of appetite for the Po Boy Preservation Festival where I had a shrimp Po Boy from Emeril's which I loved. I was really trying to get to Parkway Bakery, but they only had roast beef po boys which are supposed to be the best, but I didn't want beef. Then Mahony's only had chicken liver po boys and I'm not a fan. As far as I could tell from chowhound, Emeril's is not known for their po boys, but this one was delicious with bacon, lettuce and tomato.

Can't wait to come back!

-eb

bettybriner in New Orleans