New Orleans is quite the place I would add. I personally never had the urge to visit this place until I saw it on Vampire Diaries. They featured maybe in one or two episodes than in the spin-off series The Originals where they shot the entire show. Ever since then I wanted to visit at one point. I just didn’t think I would visit during a pandemic, but here are some of my thoughts if you plan on visiting New Orleans. Let me just say this, people visit New Orleans mainly for only two reasons either for food or for partying. There is almost no in-between because you will be bored otherwise.
New Orleans has a lot to offer in terms of food and nightlife. it’s quite fun, but if you are considering it for like a vacation I would say somewhere in the south like Savannah or Florida might be a better choice. We didn’t really check out the nightlife as we didn’t feel super comfortable during this time but we did check out so many food options that I’m going to list here. Let me just say food in New Orleans is something else especially seafood. I don’t know why their seafood taste like 10x better than anywhere. Not to mention they are pretty affordable comparing to NYC prices.
Cafe Beignet
This is probably one of the cutest coffee shops in the French Quarter area. If you go on Pinterest, this is what you will see everywhere cuz all the insta baddies are there. In terms of food, I would say it is decent, but most people come here just for beignets. I’m being completely honest I have never beignets in my life so for my first time it tasted good. Coffee was okay so I would give this place 6/10. It’s mostly about the aesthetics.
Curio Restaurant
This restaurant is pretty cute too and it has seats on the balcony so you get a really nice view of the French Quarter. Let me start with drinks first cuz they are the bomb. They have very cool drinks like Voodoo Doctor. I did record it for my vlog so you can watch it below if you like. When you mix the drink it changes its color. It tastes pretty good too. The food was amazing. I loved the spinach and artichoke dip as appetizers and Crawfish Etouffee.
Cafe du Monde
This place is probably the oldest among of all. It’s quite historic and all. I wouldn’t say cute or anything, but definitely has a charm. They don’t offer food necessarily mostly bakeries like beignets and some coffee. They offer the most basic and I mean not even kidding like really BASIC. If you’re lactose intolerant here or pretty much anywhere in New Orleans you’re screwed. Every place we went to had no almond, soy, or oat milk. So just expect iced or regular hot coffee as your only choice lol.
Acme Oyster House
This place is so popular and always has a huge line. We went here quite early so we don’t wait too much. We had early dinner like 5:30 ish and that time wait was about 20-30 min so not too bad but generally it’s like hours if you get here around 7. Food was amazing. Very delicious and oysters are just massive. You will be shocked haha. Service is pretty fast and the vibe is very much like night club but no one is dancing. You can see from the image above very dark and neon but cool overall.
Justine Nola
This is probably the most expensive and classy restaurant we ever visited here in New Orleans. It reminded me so much like a traditional french restaurant but with a southern charm. It’s very cute and pink. Food was decent but portions are like small ish I would say and again pricey for what it is worth but you’re essentially paying for the vibe. Very good service and good desert too. We got french toast and cake. They both pretty tasty. I would recommend it for lunch for sure. It has a cute patio seating as well.