The Top List of Best Buy Restaurants - New Orleans, LA
Off of the tourist beaten track, are the inexpensive po-boy shops, sno-ball stands and a cornucopia of other restaurants that feed the desires and stomachs of the locals. by Jewel Bush
The beauty of eating out in New Orleans is the multiplicity. Whether you are inclined to shell out big bucks for a meal at a five-star restaurant or simply playing it frugal, restaurant-goers can still feast like royalty. There’s something available to suit everyone’s budget. These places may not be Zagat-rated or in the upscale section of the French Quarter, but they do provide inexpensive dining without skimping on quality. Here are a few of those eateries located off the beaten and not typical haunts for tourists, but they are the standard among the city’s blue collar crowd and locals:
Zimmers Seafood: 4915 St. Anthony Ave., (504) 282-7150 Hours: (Mon.-Sun.) 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Located in one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina, the 7th ward, Zimmers Seafood is up and running. And the neighborhood, dotted with FEMA trailers, needs it too. From the marinated crab salad to the fried shrimp platters to the plethora of overstuffed poboys like catfish everything has to be ordered to go from this modest spot. Onion rings and French fries can compliment any meal. Boiled seafood is also on the menu – crawfish and shrimp, whichever is in season. Don’t forget to add a side of potatoes and corn. The market also sells fresh fish.
Unique combinations of Creole and Mexican vittles are the norm at Juan’s Flying Burrito. At $8.95, the Shrimp Juaha Roll is more than a meal; it’s a culinary adventure. The dish is a fusion of sautéed gulf shrimp, avocado, leaf spinach, salsa, jack and cream cheeses rolled into a spinach tortilla sliced and served sushi-style. This Creole taqueria’s favorites include enormously stuffed burritos chockfull of meats, cheeses, salsas, seafood and veggies. For $7.95, the Flying Burrito is a blend of three meats, guacamole, black beans, yellow rice and hot sauce in a grilled tortilla of flour, spinach or whole wheat.
Estimated cost per person: $10.
Two Sisters Kitchen 223 N. Derbigny St., (504) 524-0056 Hours: Closed Sundays. (Mon.-Sat.) 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
It’s not hard to clean your plate at Two Sisters Kitchen, a quaint neighborhood eatery off the beaten path not to be confused with the ritzy Court of Two Sisters in the French Quarter. Two Sisters serves generous portions of lip-smacking soul food favorites like potato salad, greens, sweet tea, fried catfish and fried chicken. While some restaurants serve assorted crackers while you wait, Two Sisters raises the bar by offering a plate of succulent cornbread and their macaroni and cheese can’t be beat. Breakfast is equally as spectacular with sausage, eggs and grits just like Grandma used to make.
Estimated cost per person: under $10, for lunch: under $6 for breakfast.
St. Charles Tavern 1433 Saint Charles Ave., (504) 523-9823 Open 24 hours.
The tavern of unembellished wooden tables is a late night hangout among tourists, students as well as an assortment of regulars, including law-enforcement officials who usually stake out the rear. The diner, complete with a full-service bar, serves menu staples like sandwiches, waffles, steaks, burgers and an array of fried appetizers. New Orleans’ favorites standout on the bill of fare including gumbo, red beans and rice, crawfish fettuccine. The shrimp eutofee omelet is just that. Normally served over rice, the Creole concoction is instead poured into a bed of eggs. The pairing is delectable, a gem at St. Charles Tavern.
Estimated cost per person: breakfast $6-$8; $10 for dinner.
Déja Vu Restaurant & Bar 400 Dauphine St., (504) 523-1936 Open 24 hours.
Once the site of an opium den during the 1880's, Déjàvu has ditched the narcotics and is now a place to eat. You can start your day here or end your night, as the diner never closes. There’s a super deluxe omelet of sausage, mushrooms, ham, bell peppers and loads of cheese. Hamburgers here boast a ½ pound of chargrilled beef in varieties of barbecue and bacon cheese. Turkey and veggie burgers are options too. Red beans and rice and gumbo round out the menu. Video poker machines, a big screen television and a jukebox are available for your entertainment.
Estimated cost per person: breakfast $6; $8-$10 for dinner.
Philadelphia has Philly cheese steaks. Chicago brags about its pizza pie. And New Orleanians adore McKenzie’s Chicken In-a-Box, a Crescent City original since 1952. The fried chicken is a hometown favorite. Locals flock to this inconspicuous take-out place that offers the best in biscuits, fried shrimp, fried catfish, fried okra, potato salad and corn on the cob. A new addition to the simple menu is red beans and rice. It’s cheap and tasty eating with a five-piece mixed dinner costing $3.49 and a three-piece filet catfish dinner is $3.89. Feeding a group? Order boxes as big as 1,200 pieces.
Estimated cost per meal: $4.
Corky’s Ribs & BBQ 4243 Veterans Blvd., Metairie; (504) 887-5000 Open 7 days a week: www.corkysbarbq.com
It’s all about barbecue at this Metairie eatery, and rightfully so. Beef briskets, chicken and the specialty, pork come smothered in Corky’s sauce and are slow-cooked to perfection. The barbecue dinners are served with Corky’s homemade dinner rolls, cole slaw and of course, barbecue beans. Baked potatoes come stuffed with barbecued pork, beef, chicken or turkey. At Corky’s, in addition to a shrimp Caesar salad and a Southern styled salad topped with chunks of fried chicken, there’s even a barbecue salad. Don’t fret, though there’s dessert of a non-barbecue persuasion – bread pudding pie, cheesecake and apple cobbler with ice cream.
What says classic New Orleans more than an over-flowing bowl of gumbo and a poboy filled with just about anything? Short Stop PoBoys has mastered both delicacies synonymous with chowing down in the Big Easy. Try the shrimp gumbo or the chicken and sausage blend. The start of the weekend offers a real treat at Short Stop. On Fridays only, seafood gumbo is on the menu. Tucked away on Transcontinental near Airline Highway, the locally owned eatery has been dishing out fare for 40 years. The roast beef and barbecue roast beef at Short Stop are finger-licking, French bread favorites.
The Bywater jewel specializes in Southern-style comfort food – breakfast, lunch, dinner and brunch. There’s a fair share of poboys and seafood items on the menu. A much-loved lunch spot Elizabeth’s, housed in a century-old building, has daily plate lunch specials that go beyond meatloaf and fried chicken steaks. There’s curried chicken over rice and veggies and liver and onions, sure to stick to your ribs. The seafood trio salad of crab, tuna and shrimp is a guaranteed pleaser. For breakfast, definitely try the Laula May special. Scrambled eggs, hot sausage and cheese compose this delight, which beats any morning sandwich.
Estimated cost per person: $8 for breakfast; $10 for lunch and $12-$15 for dinner.
Hookah Café 500 Frenchmen St., (504) 943-1101 Hours: Closed Mondays. (Tues.-Thurs and Sun.) Open 5:30 p.m.-midnight; (Fri.-Sat.) 5:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Full dinner service until 11 p.m. The bar is open late. Tapas served until 2 a.m. (Fri.-Sat.) and until midnight (Sun.-Thurs.).
The Hookah Café, in the Faubourg Marigny, serves fusion cuisine for dinner as well as tasty tapas in an Indian-inspired lounge. After hours, it doubles as a hangout where patrons can dance, smoke and indulge in gourmet eats like classic hummus served with pita triangles for five bucks or goat cheese dumplings served on a bed of fresh spinach and topped with an orange-ginger sauce for $6. If hummus and goat cheese dumplings aren’t your thing, the menu does offer traditional New Orleans fare, served anything but customary -- crab cakes topped with mango chutney or curried cocktail shrimp salad.
The Top List of Best Buy Restaurants - New Orleans, LA