Johnny White’s* (#186, 10/29/2011)
No. 170 was Johnny White’s on Bourbon Street. The link goes to the sports bar, but we ate upstairs on the balcony. It was the Saturday afternoon of Halloween weekend and we were starving. We tried Port O’ Call, but the wait was crazy so we just wandered, figuring we would stop at the first place that had food and no line – and it worked out great. I had a burger which was pretty good, the rest of the food was solid as well – the crab cakes even looked like crabs! Plus sitting on the balcony watching the show below was well worth it. Another good note is that the bar has never closed since it opened 19 years ago, not even for Katrina – there were all kinds of good stories/rumors at this time, my favorite was a drunk guy trying to leave in the middle of the night and getting mugged, and almost getting his ear ripped off; he went back to the bar, and some guy sewed his ear back together and all was good.
Elizabeth’s (#185, 10/23/2011)
Definitely a New Orleans-style breakfast place – very quirky and interesting with a potentially great brunch. Get there early as it will be a long wait, even with small groups. I have actually been twice now; first time, it was awesome (praline bacon is incredible). The second time it was pretty bad, the waiter was the worst, messed up orders, we waited forever. Waiting 45 minutes AFTER ordering for breakfast seem kind of silly. We were fine with the hour-plus wait before being seated, but seems like they could make some eggs a little faster.
Stanley (#184, 10/21/2011)
Located right on Jackson Square, it’s obviously a great location; and it has good music on its website. The food…eh, it was okay. I had the “world-famous” Stanley Burger, which brought up the debate of what it takes to be “world-famous.” One friend says that getting someone to bring your pizza box to the top of Mt. Everest and taking a picture makes your pizza world-famous. I think it must be easier, based on the average Stanley Burger. To be fair, they had some other interesting items on the menu, it was reasonably-priced and we walked right in and sat down on a Friday at 6:30 p.m. (that can be a positive, right?).
Lilette (#183, 10/20/2011)
Not sure why this took me so long, and actually, I think I may have gone pre-K, but anyway, I finally made it to Lilette. Outstanding meal – I had the hanger steak (fries were awesome). Nice waitress, service was a bit slow, but not a place you want to hurry through (just get me my booze sooner!). My only knock is due to my anti-sociality. Tables are close together; I prefer to be as far away from people as possible.
Clover Grill (#182, 10/8/2011)
We had some issues making it to Gretna Fest (trouble getting moving, ferry issues, etc.), but no problem wandering around Bourbon Street (except it was very crowded for some reason). Finally settled on Clover Grill for dinner and based on the sign (“Hamburgers, World’s Best), I had a cheeseburger. Definitely a good stop, fun staff and good food – breakfast 24 hours a day. Always a good thing.
Gautreau’s (#181, 10/1/2011)
An outstanding addition to my list. I was a little caught off guard by the formality of it. I am definitely more of a casual fine dining person, so this place was a little stuffy for my liking. However, the food was amazing. One of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. I went with the filet, which probably could have been cut with a fork. Everybody loved their food (think we had a duck, a grouper and another filet – the other filet was heartily eaten by a vegetarian, if that says anything about the quality). And we even met Chef Sue Zemanick and she was very fun and friendly.
Fellini Café* (#180, 9/30/2011)
Fellini’s is…not bad, just a casual place. I had a chicken caesar wrap and it was ok. I guess, since it is New Orleans, I would say, if you’re really hungry and don’t have a car and you’re in this neighborhood, you can get a bite here. But I really don’t see any reason you would plan to go here.
EDIT: It was located in Midcity, corner of Carrollton and Dumaine.
De La Chaise (#179, 9/24/2011)
I had been here before but always just thought of it as a wine bar and not a place for dinner, but I had the Cuban twice-cooked pork and it was outstanding. Definitely a good place to drop in at for a couple of glasses of wine and an appetizer, but now I know it’s worthwhile for a full meal as well.
Green Goddess (#178, 9/23/2011)
A favorite place of Fletcher Mackel. Great atmosphere here, but be prepared, it’s outside seating. Fun manager/servers, very casual. The food is…interesting. I had not heard of much of anything on the menu (which is one page of food, three of drinks), so we went with a tasting menu. Best thing were the stuffed figs (terrible looking); worst were the pork bellies. Seared tuna was also good. That’s food; best item I had was the “See Rock City!” Mint Julep. Outstanding drink. Would go back just for that, and would probably sample other appetizers. Full meal might be a bit much.
Courtyard Grill* (#177, 9/22/2011)
I’m still not a big Mediterranean Food guy, but this was a good place. Very low key, friendly service – though we were a bit late, so they kind of rushed us (“Thank you for coming; good night!”…”Um, we just got here”…”Oh, I will take your order now, yes”…”Um, can we see a menu?”). The hummus was good (I wonder what 15-year old me would think of now-me liking hummus?) and for the main course I had the Koobideh (beef kabob, no, I don’t know how to say that word). I did not have any babaganush, but I do really like to say that word.