Carling & Jay
Things To Do
Places to Eat
New Orleans has an endless number of restaurants with so much good food, here's a quick list of some of our favorites!
Sylvain
French Quarter restaurant serving southern fair with locally inspired cocktails. The restaurant is set in a carriage house built in the 1700's. Get the Sazerac!
Doris Metropolitan New Orleans
Upscale steakhouse in the French Quarter
Brennan's
Iconin New Orleans staple known for their turtle soup!
Central Grocery and Deli
Italian Market in the quarter that is famous for their Mufelatta sandwiches. The sandwich was invented here and definitly shareable!
GW Fins
Upscale seafood restaruant in the French Quarter. one of Mr. Lee's favorites
Bourbon House
Great seafood restaurant off of Bourbon Street
Mr. Ed's Oyster Bar & Fish House, Bienville
In the French Quarter, great place for fried seafood and oysters. Make sure to try the charbroiled oysters too!
Manolito
Located in the French Quarter, this adorable little buban restaruant has great cocktails and delicious cubans.
Cafe Amelie
Located in the French Quarter, Cafe Amelie has wonderful courtyard to enjoy and have brunch. Shrimp and Grits, Chicken and Waffles, Bannanas Foster Waffles....
Bijou Restaurant & Bar
We love it here- have some wine and share fun dishes with friends. Our friend, Eason Barksdale is the Chef de Cuisine, wave to him in the expo window. The fried chicken is one of our favorites and don't sleep on the squash salad either!
Paladar 511
Great atmosphere, great food. The menu has a little bit of everything. Brunch is great!!
Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits
Wonderful courtyard spot for wine and live music. Small plates are delicious.
Galaxie
Located in the bywater, this place is an old automotive shop turned into a hip taco joint. Nice indoor and outdoor seating to hang out.
Rosalita's Backyard Tacos 🌮
Located in the Bywater, this place has a nice yard space to hang out, drink margartitas and eat yummy tacos.
Cochon Butcher
House smoked meats, delicious sandwiches and don't sleep on their housemade pickles!
Willa Jean
Located in the Central Business District, Willa Jean has a great baked goods to -go and a relaxing environment for a causal brunch. Make a reservation it can get busy!
Sofia
Casual Italian restaurant with good vibes and something for everyone.
Compère Lapin
Chef Nina Compton mixes her caribbean roots with New Orleans atmosphere. Beautiful space to enjoy too!
Mother's Restaurant
Located in the Central Business District, Mother's is a casual restaruant famously known for their ham. Casual local food- po boys, gumbo, jambalaya. There's usually a line, but it moves pretty quick.
Sidecar Patio & Oyster Bar
Great selection of raw oysters and light southern dishes. The courtyard space is nice and sometimes they have live music! you can get a can of Jucifer Beer and a shot of Jamison for only $6. Keep the fun going by going to the Rusty Nail bar next door!
Stein's Market and Deli
We are here almost once a week. Best Reubens and Pastrami (Rachael's) in town. Try out a pickled tomato too!
Costera
Located in the Garden District serving delicious Spanish plates. Do the family style feed me, you wont regret it!
The Bulldog, Uptown
This is up the street from Carling and Jay's house, next to Fallon's blue house too! Over 50 beers on tap and much more. Patio area is nice to hang out, watch sports or peope on Magazine. Magazine street is a great place to shop and bop.
Dat Dog
Dat Dog is a super casual place to grab a beer, watch a game and munch on a hot dog. There's a variety of different meats (even vegetarian) and even more toppings to choose from. There's one in the irish Channel on Magazine Street, one in the Quarter on Frenchman Street, and one uptown in the Freret Street Corridor.
Avo
Avo is in the uptown area by Audubon Park. Everything is delicious, but Jay specifically loves the chicken parmesean here. Their white sida pasta is also surprisingly deliciously satisfying.
Atchafalaya
In the irish Channel around the corner from Jay and Carling's house. They have a great brunch and even better Happy Hour cocktail menu. Make a reservation, this place can get packed.
Jack Rose
Located in the Garden District on St. Charles Avenue inside the Pontchartain Hotel. Jack Rose has a beautiful fun atmosphere and dished are inspired from traditional italian, spanish and french techniques. On the top floor on the Pontchartrain is also a favorite bar called Hot Tin. this bar has both indoor and outdoor space and has one of the best views of the city. They also have fancy cocktails to enjoy while everyone soaks in the views.
MOPHO
Located in Mid-City, this resaurant offers a Southeast Asian flare with traditional New Orleans pantry items. The Hangover Pho has saved our lives many times and the Ginger Chicken Wings are addicting.
Vessel NOLA
Located in Mid-City, this restaruant is known for creative cocktails, mediteranean inspired fare, and neat architecture. The church converted into a restaruant in 2016 where its a local favorite for happy hours and brunch. Make reservations in advance as this place gets packed!
Bayou Beer Garden
One of our favorites. This is in Mid-City, and is both a wine bar and beer garden. Serves great general bar food from the beer bar and then charcuterie boards from the wine bar. Large outdoor space to hang out and watch games. They may be boiling crawfish on the weekends too!
Things to Do
The weekend will be full of celebration activities, but here are a few off the beaten path things to do. They are family friendly and really fun!
Audubon Zoo
We have a pretty great zoo here with a full swamp exhibit and animals unique to Louisiana. The zoo also has beautiful oak trees to enjoy and the highest topgraphical point in New Orleans, Monkey Hill. (It's a man made hill boasting a whopping 28 feet.)
Audubon Aquarium of the Americas
The aquarium is located downtown and is one of the top 5 aquariums in the country. It has a seahorse gallery, shark petting area, and the Amazon rainforest exhibit has all sorts of vibrant frogs and birds. Oodles of entertainment watching the penguins and sea otters too!
JAMNOLA
Appropriate for all ages, experience New Orleans through the eyes of over 20 local artists in 12 tops turvey exhibits. The art is pure NOLA joy celebrating iconic art, music and food throughout the city.
The National WWII Museum
The National World War 2 Museum is located in the Warehouse District. There are many exhibits that you can easily get lost in and great canteen for lunch or happy hour too! On certain days, the Canteen has WW2 musical performances too. Consider pre-purchasing tickets due to Covid-19 regulations.
Cajun Encounters Tours
Check out the Honey Island Swamp in a flat bottom boat. The tour guides are great and will point out all sorts of vegetation and animals. Don't worry about the alligators, the guides bring marshmallows snacks for them. Cajun Encounters offers pick up services from a few hotels so making a reservation and getting to and from should be easy. Plan ahead and book this before coming if yall are interested.
Mid-City Carriages
Mule drawn carriage rides! These rides are a great way to get to learn the architecture and history of the French Quarter and developement of the city. There are plenty of options to choose from in the quarter, you can't go wrong.