Our Recommended Sights & Eats in New Orleans
There are two adjectives I attribute to New Orleans: spooky and sloppy. Yes, Salem is spooky and New York can certainly be sloppy, but New Orleans is in its own league when it comes to both of these defining attributes.
The history of voodoo and the shops on every corner, the legends of vampires who walked the city’s corridors, the raised cemeteries, the plethora very real serial killers who took their victims from the city’s streets … New Orleans has a lot going for it when it comes to spooky.
As for sloppy, just spend an evening - any evening - in the French Quarter and you’ll see what I mean. Drunk drag queens, vomiting bachelorette parties, belligerent men dancing to the street performer’s trombone … New Orleans’ sloppiness will both amuse and exhaust you.
Our Recommended Sights in New Orleans:
Visit the voodoo shops. Get yourself a voodoo doll, get your palms read, talk to a medium - these mystic shops are fun and charming. And if you get a chance, delve into the history of voodoo while you’re there. Whether you do this via a tour or your own research, learning about how voodoo historically protected communities of Women of Color is fascinating and empowering. You’ll walk away completely in awe of Marie LaVeau.
Visit the Vampyre Boutique. Anything vampires and I’m there - and not just because I was a Twihard. The Vampyre Boutique has a ton of fun items for sale, but my favorite part came after befriending the cashier. If you befriend them and show enough interest in the ‘vampire way of life’, they may just give you an invite to their super-secret speakeasy in the French Quarter. I’m not going to reveal the location; but I do have to say that going into a busy bar, telling the bar tender that “the vampire sent me” and then being escorted to a hidden staircase was among my favorite moments of 2021. Once inside the speakeasy, we could choose from a menu of absinthe drinks and soak in the ambiance. It was decorated with crystals, antiques and dusty manuals filled with vampire legends. An A+ experience!
Go on a Ghost Tour. I love Ghost Tours and I go on them anytime I have a chance! But New Orleans had absolutely the best ghost tour I’ve ever been on. Our tour in New Orleans is the reason why I believe vampires actually exist. We waited until the sun set and then began our walk through the French Quarter and beyond. We learned about legends that included ghosts and vampires, as well as very real stories of murderers and serial killers. Many ghost tours I’ve been on are full of vague (but fun!) stories about ill-fated lovers haunting hallways, but this ghost tour was full of real tales about real nightmares. Highly recommend if you like being spooked!
Go on a Cemetery Tour. Fun fact: the cemeteries in New Orleans are unique because of how far below sea level their city sits. Bodies cannot be submerged below the ground without a risk of becoming water-logged and eventually displacing and rising from the ground - and who wants that? So instead, they are placed in above-ground tombs. Their cemeteries are often called “cities of the dead” because, not only do their tombs resemble buildings, but they often have street signs and markers just like a real city has. These disturbing facts are just a small piece of what you’ll learn when you wander these winding ‘cities of the dead’ during a cemetery tour.
Go on a Bayou Tour. I know - so many tour recommendations, but there’s just so much to see! I absolutely loved our bayou tour; anyone who loves nature will appreciate it, especially because it’s such a unique ecosystem. You’ll glide over swamp lands via boat, underneath a canopy of ancient, mossy trees. The ‘swamp witch’ aesthetic is next level. And you’ll likely see wildlife, too! We saw alligators, egrets, giant spiders and raccoons (including an albino raccoon that our tour guide had named.) Occasionally you can catch a glimpse of wild hogs, but we weren’t that lucky.
Keep in mind our only disclaimer: Mississippi unfortunately doesn’t have protections regarding the preservations of the ecosystem the way many states do; and as such, a lot of these tours feed the alligators marshmallows. Feeding wild animals creates a harmful imbalance in the ecosystem, add to that feeding them something that isn’t a part of their natural diet and these tours can do a lot of damage. We tried our hardest (literally spent hours) to find a tour that didn’t do this. None of them advertise that they do, so we spent time scouring reviews to see if anyone mentioned gator feedings. We found a company that we thought we were safe with, but it turns out they did end up throwing gator biscuits at them instead - and the tour guide complained about how they used to throw treats but they have to throw these gator-diet-approved biscuits instead. Because of this, we can’t necessarily recommend the company we used, but I’d encourage you to do your research and book at your own risk regardless.
Before we transition into the “what we ate” part of this blog, I’m going to include 2 food experiences as sights because both of these locations are classic New Orleans hotspots:
The most famous place to get beignets is Cafe Du Monde, and we would recommend it simply because of its infamy. But our favorite beignet in New Orleans can be found at Cafe Beignet! Order a coffee to go with them and be prepared to splash yourself a thick layer of powdered sugar when you take your first bite. It’ll be worth it!
Visit Lafitte’s Blacksmith Bar, the oldest bar in New Orleans founded by famed pirate Jean Lafitte, and help yourself to another New Orleans classic: the Hurricane! Invented during World War 2, the Hurricane is a concoction of red passion fruit, lemon juice and rum. Get one, or two - but be warned, they hit quick!
Our Recommended Eats in New Orleans:
New Orleans is absolutely packed with incredible food. Our first visit nearly 8 years ago, we sampled some of their most famous creole and Cajun spots. It’s not Daniel’s favorite cuisine, so our latest visit (and the visit where I actually remember to record our recommendations) does not include any Cajun recommendations. However, you aren’t going to want to miss these:
Elizabeth’s: We love a good southern brunch and Elizabeth’s has one of the best! If you aren’t feeling brunch, get yourself a po’boy or chicken and waffles. But whatever you do, don’t skip the praline bacon!
Fritai Haitian: New Orleans has a lot of different cultures that influence its unique cuisine, one of which is Haitian! Visit Fritai for a taste of authentic Hatian street food like sos pwa, griyo and coco-lime sweet plantains.
Pizza Domenica: Everybody loves pizza, right? So we gotta include a pizza rec, especially when it was as surprising as Pizza Domenica! As New Yorkers who have also spent time in Italy, we weren’t expecting to love a pizza found in New Orleans, but Pizza Domenica was worth the visit. Split a few of their personal pies with the table and supplement with one of their delicious antipastas and you can’t go wrong!
We intend to spend more time sampling the food in New Orleans; it’s such a foodie city that leaving with only three recommendations seemed a bit silly. But we’ll consider these three to be just a start.
Fritai Haitian
Pizza Domenica
To close out the blog, I’ll leave you with this essential pro tip: do not - whatever you do, I repeat - DO NOT visit New Orleans in the summer. The level of heat and humidity is enough to basically instantly asphyxiate the best of us.