• About
  • Blog
  • Working together
  • Testimonials
  • Contact

Girl Gone Travel

Girl Gone Travel

North America, Travel
/
July 26, 2010

Gator, Gumbo, Crawfish, and Beignets…Eating Good in New Orleans

Enjoyed this post? Give it some love and share!
Share

Ah, New Orleans. I still remember the excitement with which I visited and New Orleans didn’t disappoint. In fact, it exceeded expectations. One of the things we enjoyed the most was the food. Oh the glorious food.

I had a list of things to taste and hit the ground running once we got out of the car.

Our first stop:Oceana Seafood in the French Quarter. The mission: Eat gator. Yup. Alligator meat, a common dish in the area, nothing I had ever had in my life.

I didn’t know how to feel about it really. But I went for it. I ordered their Original Alligator Sausages. The sausages were topped with a craw fish (another dish I never had before) and mushroom cream sauce. In addition, I ordered the Louisiana crab cakes and a Hurricane to wash it all down. Luckily, I had my husband to share it with, as it is no surprise that none of those dishes are not particularly healthy.

I took a deep breath and ate a piece of sausage. It was both greasy and gamey. Can’t really say it was my favorite meat, however the seasoning was awesome which made me go back for a few bites before I moved on. The cream sauce was delicious as well, and I really liked the crawfish. The crab cakes were also very good. They had a little kick to them and were full of flavor. I topped it all off with a salad. It really was too much in one sitting to try, but I was happy I did. Check this place out for their great seafood selection, from breakfast to dinner.

My next dish to try: Gumbo. I actually had a few servings of gumbo at different places, but there is only one place where I was really impressed. Deanie’s Seafood in the French Quarter served us a delicious seafood and okra gumbo. Now, I am not at all a fan of okra, and wondered about this particular dish. But, I tell you, no other gumbo anywhere else I tried surpassed Deanie’s. Even if you have something else off the menu, make sure to start with a generous cup of their gumbo. You won’t be disappointed.

We had another very memorable eating experience, also not something we expected, at Louisiana Pizza Kitchen, a short walk away from our hotel, Le Richelieu. We wanted pizza and this was close. That was really the extent of our thinking when we choose it. But man, were we in for a treat.

I ordered their gumbo as well. A chicken and andouille sausage version that wasn’t bad, but did not really compete in terms of the amount of flavors from my previous gumbo experience (though it was pretty good after adding a few drops of the hot sauce on the table). In my opinion, and again no surprise here, Louisiana Pizza Kitchen’s strength is in their pizza. I ordered a crawfish étouffée pizza which till this day makes my mouth water. I am guessing that their jambalaya pizza would be amazing too. The place is small and comfortable, not at all over-crowded or pretentious. The brick oven really added to the flavor of the pizza and I wish I had discovered this place sooner than I did as I would have come back a few more times to try their other pizza specialties. We loved sitting outside, watching the sunset over the French Quarter as we drank some local beer and enjoyed our little night out.

Last, but certainly not least: the beignets. I mean, really. How could one say they experienced New Orleans and not have eaten a beignet or two (or three, or four)? Deep fried, powdered-sugar covered, little bits of doughy heaven is what they are. And the place we kept going to have them: Cafe Du Monde, which by the way, is where EVERY tourist goes to have their beignet experience. Personally, I hate eating where all the tourists eat when I am touristing around myself, but there really wasn’t enough time to discover where else to grab these awesome treats early in the morning. The lattes are also highly recommended, and just know that five orders of beignets are like 10 or more, add coffee and it comes to about $27.  We quickly learned that maybe that was too much…though I refused to order less than four.

The place is crowded, with very, very small round tables covered in an invisible layer of hardened and sticky sugar. The servers aren’t the friendliest people you will meet. I surmise that in the end they knew the truth. They knew they had beignets and thus you were their hostage and really even if they didn’t smile, or greet us with a cheerful “Good Morning!” we went back. Again and again. Because we didn’t care. We wanted our fix and only really needed to interact with them long enough to order a large dose goodness to let them know we were not fooling around nor counting calories. My only advice is don’t wear black. It will not be pretty.

Ah, yes. Eating good in New Orleans. Of course, we could’ve done a lot more damage to our waistlines had we been there longer, but our short visit was enough to give us a few wonderful culinary experiences. Ones we hope you will revisit should you make your way to the wonderful city of NOLA.

Related

Enjoyed this post? Give it some love and share!
Share
Pin this Post
Share this Post
Carol Cain

Brooklyn native Carol is happiest when on an adventure, whether close to home or farther away. She is a small business owner and travel writer. In addition to creating Girl Gone Travel, she is the Founder and Principal of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. She's mom to three wonderful sons and wife to a handsome Irish/Scot. She lives, works, and plays in the beautiful Finger Lakes region of NY.

You May Also Like...

Christmas Tree Hunting in Long Island, NY

December 12, 2008

Fort Tryon Park, Washington Heights, NY

December 10, 2008

Winter afternoon in the Bronx Zoo, NY

December 16, 2008
4 Comments
  • Erica
    July 26, 2010

    OH GOD I LOVE CRAWFISH. NOM NOM NOM

    Every Spring we await crawfish season… friend get together, pitch in for a couple bags of live crawfish, corn, and red potatoes and boil them with cajun seasoning. Add a keg of beer and you have a feast!

    Reply
    • Carol Cain
      Erica
      July 27, 2010

      Ooooooh!! That sounds AMAZING Erica!! Will have to stop by to you next time I'm around your way!

      Reply
  • Erin@MommyontheSpot
    July 28, 2010

    Everything looks delicious!! I wish Cafe du Monde shipped their beignets.

    Reply
    • Carol Cain
      Erin@MommyontheSpot
      July 28, 2010

      OMG. Me too!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Previous Post
Exploring Family-Friendly Side of New Orleans, LA
Next Post
Falling in love with Asheville, NC

Categories

  • Asia5 Post(s)
  • Caribbean17 Post(s)
  • Central America4 Post(s)
  • Europe54 Post(s)
  • North America318 Post(s)
  • Oceana1 Post(s)

About me

Hi! I'm Carol! I am an award-winning travel blogger, a keynote speaker, and the Principal and owner of Brave World Media, a social media marketing, communications, and branding agency. I a wife to a handsome Irish/Scot and a mom to 3 sons. Welcome to my blog where I share stories of my travels and professional public relations insights and advice. Thank you for reading and for your support!

Carol Cain

Contact

  • caincarol@gmail.com

Follow @girlgonetravel

A message about yesterday’s event: Happy Monday A message about yesterday’s event:

Happy Monday, y’all. Woke up in time to enjoy the soft glow of sunlight that shines its way around our house in the morning, and sipped on a cafecito without being rushed for anything. So already today is a win. 

Yesterday we worked our longest day yet for our little coffee cart that could (7 hours!!!) at the Heritage Fiesta in Ithaca, NY. 

Though we were ready for a crowd, the reception was also unexpected because there was a popular coffee shop just steps away. 

But we had Cómodo Fam stop by, family (who also fed us 🙏🏾), and soooo many members of the Latinx and BIPOC community who were just excited to see a small business like ours representing. 

I want to share that we were ALL worried about potential harassment and assault by 🧊and fliers were handed out to prepare us. And you would think that it would’ve intimidated the community enough to not come out…BUT WE DID. In numbers. 

And for hours that little parking lot next to Press Bay Alley was packed with all sorts of Latinx and non-Latinx community members, eating, laughing, dancing, singing, and drinking all the cafecitos and refreshers we had to offer. Literally. We went home cleaned out!

All this to say that we are all aware of the threats but we also understand the power and importance of coming together as a community and a people. By no means are we all the same, and Lord knows a lot of Latinos have a lot of self-reflecting to do based on the choices they made, but yesterday was a testament to the best of us, and I thank @yenospina and @lcatompkins for putting together such a wonderful event, for inviting @cafecomodony to be a part of it, and to all the friends, old and new, who came out to support us and la cultura. 

#fingerlakes #newyork #cafecomodo #coffeelover
Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite Finally taking a break to enjoy one of my favorite lazy day pastimes of the season: market shopping for fall goodies - which in the Finger Lakes is especially bountiful. 

📍Joseph’s Wayside Markey, Naples, NY

#fingerlakes #newyork #octobermood #fallday
Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The proce Our neighbors are harvesting the grapes. The process is busy and noisy but also exciting and fun to watch. 

This cloudy morning seems to have calmed things down a bit, but not for long I am sure. These families work hard!

Bonus: they set up roadside stands so we can purchase and taste them 🍇 I highly recommend picking some up if you see some in your drive. 

#fingerlakes #lifeinthecountry #newyork
The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️ The rain has been so good. More, please. ❤️
I want to take moment to send out love to my fello I want to take moment to send out love to my fellow Latinx and immigrant community. 

To send strength to my community of glorious misfits who are out in the world making good trouble and emboldening us to not give up hope on our dreams, our livelihoods, our future, our country, our people. 

The country our parents worked so hard to get to so that we could fly. A country they helped build and bring to prosper. A country our communities help to feed and house and care for. 

I am my immigrant parents dream come true, and my children are a continuation of that dream. 

I just want to remind all of us who represent the targeted, of our worth. Of the value of our contributions. In our languages, our culture, our insights, our work ethic and skills and knowledge. Of the things we bring to the table.

I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, or to us. But, as someone whose family lived through a dictatorship, I have an idea of how this story will end. And all I can advise is that we remain on the right side of it, our convictions unaltered, our core values untethered. Our spirits unbroken. In these stories, the monsters might scare us, and even harm some of us, but they never, ever win in the end. 

I am living proof of that. ❤️ And every time you succeed and feel joy, you are too. Pa’lante, mi gente.
Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes. Signs of autumn 🍂 in the Finger Lakes.

Copyright © 2025 Girl Gone Travel | Privacy Policy | Copyright Notice