Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A Restaurant Post

I know I don't talk about food really on this blog, but I wanted to talk about some of the great restaurants we visited while in New Orleans. My husband (Toph) is vegetarian and I gave up meat for lent so we had to find restaurants that had at least one vegetarian option. That can sometimes be challenging in the south, but we didn't have a tough time in NOLA. (I think this is mainly due to the large "crust punk" population.)

724 Iberville Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
Acme is famous for their oysters. They also have an Arnold Palmer drink made with iced tea flavored vodka. (Do I need to mention the amazing ESPN commercial of Arnold Palmer making an Arnold Palmer?) Hello! This is going to be my new favorite summer drink, I can tell. While enjoying our beverage, our grilled oysters on the half shell arrived. Since they were grilled, they were much less threatening than raw oysters and a good way to get our feet wet. The seasonings were amazing and it was definitely worth the trip there. Our meal was kind of pricey but delicious and good for a one time stop.

1141 Decatur Street
New Orleans, LA 70116
Toph and I have been here before on our previous trips down to NOLA and the food was just as good as I remembered. I got the cheese calzone and Toph got the spinach and artichoke sandwich. He wished he had ordered mine instead. Sam and Kate also enjoyed their sandwich choices. However, the service was pretty bad. The waiter was attentive, but not happy about it. The wait staff seemed like they preferred to have no customers as opposed to some. Not sure if this is because we were obviously not hipsters or what. Either way it was disappointing since their food is so good!

We ventured to the French Market on Decatur street one day and stopped at one of the walk-up counters. The sign enticed with fresh fruit and real blenders. I absolutely had to order one. Think Jamba Juice with booze. They make the blended drinks right in front of you so you see exactly what goes into it. I ordered a mango margarita that was made with real mangoes. Yum!

535 Gravier Street
New Orleans, LA 70130
This place was part of a local hotel and didn't have a ton of patrons. The reviews on Yelp were mixed but we decided to try it anyways. Since we had a diverse crowd in our group, their "build your own" menu was a nice way to find something for everyone. The portions were pretty big and I ate far too many sweet potato fries. They were the crispiest fries I've ever had, in a good non-burnt way.

301 N Peters St.
New Orleans, LA 70130
This place is open late night on the weekends (not during the week--we made this mistake). They had some pretty good drink specials too ($2.50 Dos Equis on Thursdays) and the food is delicious. The menu offers things ala carte, or meals as well. It is kind of like a Taco Fresco (as opposed to a Chipotle). Toph and I both ordered the grilled vegetable taco salad and it was amazing. I'm a huge taco salad fan and this place met my expectations!

727 St. Peter
New Orleans, LA 70116
Another Yelp-approved place, Yo Mama's upstairs had a lounge feel with red only light. The bartender was also the waitress and took our orders. They had tons of different burger options including a veggie burger. We tried to swap out the veggie patty with some of the regular burger menu options but apparently it doesn't work that way. We were still able to order our veggie burgers but then they didn't come with sides. I got a mushroom burger and Toph got some sort of southwestern burger with avocado, jalapeƱos, and salsa. You could tell the veggie burgers were homemade and they tasted delicious--crisp from the grill with a great amount of flavor. Sam got the famous peanut butter bacon burger and thought it was strange yet delicious. Kate got a chicken sandwich with avocado and salsa and enjoyed hers as well. For our last night, this was a very satisfying meal and I would recommend this place to others.

811 Conti
New Orleans, LA 
I also feel the need to mention the delicious frozen Irish coffees available at 3 different places. At Erin Rose they're the strongest so that's why I'm singling them out. It is basically a Wendy's frosty, plus coffee, plus booze. Not too sweet, but pretty rich. They are super delicious and I just can't get enough while we're there! If you're ever in town and your dietary restrictions allow for you to have one, I highly, highly recommend it.

On our way home, we stumbled upon a McAlisters Deli and had an enjoyable meal. They had tons of vegetarian options clearly labeled on the menu, which was awesome. Have you been to one of these restaurants before? They don't have one within 90 miles of Chicago, but I think it would do well if they did!

6 comments:

  1. There's a McAllister's at Illinois State University, in their student center. I know it's a couple hours from the city, but if you ever have that craving... :) I went there, and ate there at least three times a week!

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  2. Haha nice! I really do wish there was one closer. It is a nice change of pace from the standard Panera/Corner Bakery menu!

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  3. frozen irish coffee?? brilliant. I think if i had to choose a last meal it would involve oysters. And i have a bottle of sweet tea vodka at my house just waiting for a warm day to be mixed with lemonade....

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  4. Yesssssssss... This is why I'm glad the internet made us friends.

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  5. I like McAlisters....for the name ;) lol

    and I love frozen coffee ahhhhhh mouth watering. I wish I lived near you - then Id check these out.

    You can talk about whatever you want on your blog! it's yours!

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  6. Haha, McAlisters was awesome.

    I have dreams about that frozen Irish coffee, if only a place near me had it (maybe there is and I just don't know about it yet. I can dream, right?) All of these places are in New Orleans, where we went on vacation last week. I always end up forgetting what restaurants we went to so I wanted to document it for later!

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