Kelly Spills the Tea

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Recommendations

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Kelly’s Quick Picks for the QuarterA short list of places I recommend — all within the French Quarter.

🎷 Live Jazz

Preservation Hall $$
Intimate traditional jazz in one of the most historic rooms in the city.
• Evening shows

Mahogany Hall $$
Classic New Orleans jazz club atmosphere.
• Evenings

🍽 Eat & Drink

GW Fins $$$$
One of the best seafood restaurants in the city with exceptional service.

Killer PoBoys $$
Creative Vietnamese-influenced po-boys. Casual and delicious. Daily 11am–4pm

Empanola – quick bites $
Great empanadas for a quick and easy snack while exploring. Daily hours vary

Harry’s Corner $
A tiny neighborhood bar with big local character. Daily 9am–late

Carousel Bar $$$
Famous rotating bar inside the historic Hotel Monteleone. A classic New Orleans cocktail stop.
• Daily 11am–12am (hours may vary)

👨‍👩‍👧 Child-Friendly Restaurants

Napoleon House – $$
Historic courtyard restaurant known for muffulettas and relaxed atmosphere.
• Daily 11am–10pm

Crescent City Brewhouse – $$
Casual restaurant with house-brewed beer and a large menu that works well for families.
• Daily 11am–10pm

☕ Coffee & Desserts

Café du Monde $
A New Orleans classic known for café au lait and powdered sugar–covered beignets. Expect a line, but it moves quickly and is worth the stop.
• Open daily 7:30am–11pm (hours may vary)

The Royal Pharmacy $$
Old-fashioned soda fountain near the French Quarter.
• Daily 8am–6pm

🌙 Late Night Grub

Clover Grill $
Classic 24-hour diner known for burgers, breakfast plates, and the famous upside-down burger press. A longtime Bourbon Street institution.
• Open 24 hours

Verti Marte $
Legendary late-night sandwich shop famous for huge po-boys like the “All That Jazz.” Great option when most kitchens are closed.
• Open 24 hours

Killer PoBoys – Erin Rose location $$
Creative po-boys served inside the Erin Rose bar, making it a fun late-night food stop.
• Late night hours vary

Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar $$
Classic oyster bar with chargrilled oysters and Creole favorites, often open later than many nearby restaurants.
• Late evening hours vary

Cleo’s Mediterranean Cuisine $
Casual Mediterranean spot known for shawarma, falafel, and fresh pita. One of the most reliable late-night food stops in the Quarter.
• Often open until 3–4am

Brother’s Food Mart (Dauphine location) $
A local secret for late-night fried chicken, po-boys, and snacks when most kitchens are closed.
• Open 24 hours

The Best of New Orleans
If you're visiting for a few days, these are some of my favorite spots outside of the Quarter.

🥞 Brunch

Elizabeth’s $$
Neighborhood favorite known for its famous praline bacon.
Bywater • Thu–Mon 8am–2pm

Ruby Slipper – Marigny Location $$
Usually a shorter wait than the French Quarter locations.
Marigny • Daily 8am–3pm

🍽 Dinner

N7 $$$
Romantic hidden courtyard restaurant with French-Japanese influence.
Bywater • Tue–Sat 5pm–10pm

Pêche Seafood Grill $$$
Wood-fired Gulf seafood and oysters.
Warehouse District • Daily 5pm–10pm

🍨 Dessert

Angelo Brocato $$
Old-world gelato and Italian pastries.
Mid-City • Tue–Sun 12pm–10pm

Sno-La Snowballs – Hampson $$
Creative New Orleans-style snoballs with fresh fruit purées and natural syrups. Their original flagship location.
Uptown • Daily 1pm–8pm

Get Stuffed by Sno-La – Magazine Street $$
Savory quick bites, desserts, and a selection of Sno-La snowballs in a courtyard setting.
Uptown • Thu–Mon 12pm–9pm

📚 Books About New OrleansIf you want to learn more about the history, culture, and stories behind New Orleans, these books offer thoughtful perspectives on the city and its legends.

Travel & Exploration

The New Orleans Bucket List — written by a local, L. M. Adkins.
A practical guide to the city’s neighborhoods, food, music, and cultural experiences.

Find locally at:
Forever New Orleans

History & Culture

They Called Us River Rats - Macon FryThe history and exploration of an outsider settlement of New Orleanians who lived, and still live, on the batture, the area between the river and the levy.

Find on used book resellers and Amazon.

Storyville, New Orleans — Al Rose
A definitive history of the Storyville red-light district and the musical culture that helped shape early jazz.

Find on used book resellers and Amazon.

Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast — Joan DeJean
The story of the women sent to colonial Louisiana and their unexpected role in shaping early society.Text

Find locally at:
Garden District Book Shop

The World That Made New Orleans — Ned Sublette
A sweeping cultural history of how New Orleans music, food, language, and identity were shaped by global influences.

Find locally at:
Garden District Book Shop

Unfathomable City: A New Orleans Atlas — Rebecca Solnit and Rebecca Snedeker
A vivid, unconventional portrait of New Orleans through maps, essays, and local stories.

Find locally at:
Octavia Books

New Orleans Voices

1 Dead in Attic — Chris Rose
A moving and often darkly funny collection of essays about life in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.

Find locally at:
Octavia Books

The Yellow House — Sarah M. Broom
A National Book Award–winning memoir about family, place, and life in New Orleans East.

Find locally at:
Garden District Book Shop

Black and Brown Voices

The Cooking Gene — Michael W. Twitty
A powerful exploration of African American foodways, ancestry, and Southern history.

Find locally at:
Baldwin & Co.

Barracoon — Zora Neale Hurston
A major work of oral history centered on Cudjo Lewis, the last known survivor of the Atlantic slave trade to the U.S.

Find locally at:
Baldwin & Co.

We Cast a Shadow — Maurice Carlos Ruffin
A New Orleans author’s sharp, unsettling novel about race, identity, and survival in America.

Find locally at:
Baldwin & Co.

Legends & Haunted History

Madame Lalaurie: Mistress of the Haunted House — Carolyn Morrow Long
A careful historical investigation separating fact from legend about Delphine LaLaurie.

Find locally at:
Forever New Orleans

A New Orleans Voudou Priestess: The Legend and Reality of Marie Laveau — Carolyn Morrow Long
One of the most respected historical studies of Marie Laveau and New Orleans Voodoo traditions.

Find locally at:
Baldwin & Co.

Fiction Set in New Orleans

Interview with the Vampire — Anne Rice
The iconic gothic novel set in New Orleans that helped shape the city’s modern vampire mythology.

Find locally at:
Garden District Book Shop

The Benjamin January series — Barbara Hambly
A richly researched historical mystery series set in 1830s New Orleans featuring a free man of color, musician, and doctor.

Find locally at:
Garden District Book Shop
or Octavia Books