New Orleans: What We Ate (And Drank)

Where does the time go? Our trip to New Orleans for New Years was over six months ago! I have been working nonstop during the day and wrangling a wild little toddler the rest of the time, and blogging (along with pretty much everything else) fell off of my radar. I’d really like to get back to posting at least once a week. We’ve had some great travel and dining adventures; it turns out our kiddo loves dining out, live music, and visiting new places as much as we do!

For now, a quick recap on New Orleans eats . . . you can read other posts on our New Orleans travels here:

New Orleans with a Baby: Where We Stayed

Scenes from New Orleans

The Royal Life in NOLA: Stay at Royal Sonesta New Orleans

Restaurant R’evolution New Orleans

Lunch in New Orleans: Cochon Restaurant

On our most recent visit to New Orleans, we traveled with a bunch of friends, which made a getaway with a baby easier and more fun. Lots of eyes and hands meant we could relax a little. We are thankful to everyone willing to have our noisy little guy along on their vacation! On our first night, they all went to Commander’s Palace, and since a late, fancy dinner wasn’t kid-friendly, we ate a few small bites as we wandered the city. A stop for Abita Amber and some taco dip in the lobby of The Royal Frenchmen Hotel was perfect for getting out of the rain. The hotel was at a noisy intersection, so we felt right at home bringing a baby there! I am always pretty anxious that he is going to bother someone, so we try our best to find appropriate places to be out with him. After, we returned to our suite at Rathbone Mansions and ordered some incredible Mediterranean takeaway and had a date night on our balcony after his bedtime.

We kicked off New Year’s Eve in New Orleans with mimosas at the absolutely beautiful Auction House Market Foodhall, which I would love to return to 100 times to try everything this space has to offer, including poke and sushi, empanadas, oysters, macarons, coffee, and of course, cocktails!

For New Year’s Eve lunch, we were lucky so get out of the rain (again!) to snag corner bar seats at Peche, which was at the top of my New Orleans list. It lived up to expectations, with incredible service, great gin drinks, and seriously delicious seafood gumbo and shrimp. A sleeping baby and rain falling outside made this one of my favorite meals on the trip.

While we weren’t staying Sonesta on this trip, I had to make a stop to take in the beauty of the Royal Sonesta courtyard and for a French 75 at Desire Oyster Bar.

This courtyard is a true oasis in the middle of New Orleans, and somehow it wasn’t crowded, despite the holiday and bowl game happening. It was the perfect stop for quiet before heading back out onto bustling Bourbon Street.

For our New Year’s Eve dinner, we ate leftover takeaway in our suite and went to bed early with the hope of getting some sleep. Fireworks all.night.long made that impossible! Luckily brunch at one of the best spots, Brennan’s, was in our plans, and strong coffee, Champagne, and lobster helped to perk us up for another day of exploring the city.

The décor at Brennan’s is one of the best parts of the dining experience. Be sure to wander all of the rooms and the patio if you can!

On our first visit to New Orleans, Café Amelie became a go-to, thanks to their beautiful courtyard and welcoming hospitality. We stopped to indulge in their great cocktails while surrounded by lush greenery. I love this spot!

We missed the French Market on our first visit to New Orleans, so we made a point to visit this time, and I had my first ever muffuletta. I am a huge fan of olives, and I absolutely loved this. The market has such a fun atmosphere and so many options for food and drinks. If you are planning a visit to New Orleans, I definitely recommend it!

Last, but not least, was our dinner at Atchafalaya, which was amazing. My photos didn’t come out due to the dimmed lighting the private dining room our group had, but this was definitely one of the best meals I have had. Shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, boudin-stuffed beignets. . . it was Southern fare elevated to  whole new level, with service that we’re still talking about. While not in the French Quarter, Atchafalaya is definitely worth taking an Uber to. There were a bunch of bars and shops around it as well, and I would definitely like to go back to explore the area.

In other news, the new owner of my old blog URL, traveleatlove.com, has copied a ton of my content and is using it as their own. I am in the process of dealing with it legally, but in the meantime I will be keeping an eye out to see if they steal this post!