Hey lovely people,
Any of you live in or is familiar with the New Orleans scene? I’m there on cacation and would appreciate an insider’s tips.
Things I’d like to know about would include great places to shoot, as well as good places for good genuine local food 
Born in Louisiana, my familiarity with New Orleans is somewhat dated. However, I do know you can walk down most any street, duck into the first eatery you find, and have a good meal.
Ran across this place a few days ago in a Preservation magazine article; I looked over the menu and I don’t think you’ll be dissatisfied. The restaurant:
https://www.dookychaserestaurants.com/
The Preservation article:
You do need to have beignets and chickory coffee at Cafe du Monde, near the southeast corner of Jackson Square. Be prepared for prodigious quantities of powdered sugar… 
If I recall anything else, I’ll let you know…
@patdavid likely knows some spots.
I knew there was something I liked about you… born in Louisiana and apparently broadened your horizons later. I’m still hoping for that second part. LOL 
Need to stop in for a meal at Ralph and Kacoo’s. Yeah, I know it’s a regional chain but good nonetheless. It’s been along time but Port of Call on Esplanade (about five blocks from the river) had killer burgers and HUGE baked potatoes years ago. Not just any burgers / potatoes - Killer. Haven’t been in a while though. But it’s New Orleans, so get some chicken / sausage / seafood gumbo! Commander’s Palace would be a good place to start.
LOTS of powdered sugar, they’re the best! Although personally I prefer the coffee sans chicory.
I need to get back to NOLA and refresh my memories. I had family living there for a couple of decades off and on, but not in a long while.
Mulates. Almost forgot about that one; we took the kids and grandkids there on a visit a while ago. Granddaughter ate and ate at a big shrimp platter; she stopped, hesitated, then threw up right back in her plate. Without missing a beat, she said, “can I still have dessert?” One of my own…
It’s straight-up cajun, where I’m from, and also has live music.
Growing up, I though Louisiana was the 50th state, the least interesting place in the union. Down the street was a store with the slogan, “Home of Iowa Beef”. The meat was good, and I thought Iowa was some slice of heaven, rolling hills, flowing streams, kinda like the HIdden Valley salad dressing commercials. Much later living in Omaha, met and married an Iowa girl, and found out better… Heck, in Iowa, they’ve made a delicacy out of “loose meat sandwich”, steamed loose hamburger slopped onto a hamburger bun. Go figure… 
As someone who likes, and would like to do, landscape photography (given subject matter) – ideally dramatic landscape photography – Louisiana is pretty bland. Flat, low, same… Cypress trees in a swamp is about as spectacular as the “landscape” gets. I suspect we have no exclusive lock on dullness, but we do have it…
Then again, I talk to folks who live in other areas I like (i.e., drier, higher, rugged, wild) and they go on and on about how beautifully green Louisiana is and how they like that… other side of the fence syndrome, I guess? 
Oh yeah, most horizons in LA are tree breaks…
Growing up, I jonesed the mountains, poring over every National Geographic magazine with an article on the Smoky, Rocky, or Cascade Mountains. I loved pictures of the streams and rivers; in LA the bayous move at the same pace as the minute hand on a clock. My folks took us on vacations to the East, through the Appalachians, but that was before I started taking pictures.
When I go home now, I see interesting compositions but the priority of spending family time keeps me from chasing them. I do get stuff like this:
My brother-in-law has boiling these critters down to a science - seasoning, batch sizes, fixins…
Woohoo! The big easy!
Some of this depends on where you’ll be staying and what you want to shoot. Of course Bourbon and Royal streets down in the French Quarter are going to be positively stuffed with people and things going on. If you want to shoot life on the street in the touristy area this is your best bet. (Wander down to Lafittes blacksmith shop to check out an old shop/bar from a couple hundred years ago: Google Maps). Touristy areas == people shooting generally.
Buildings and whatnot would include St. Louis Cathedral (the previously mentioned Cafe du Monde is across the square towards the river from the front of the cathedral). Usually stuffed with people here as well (street artists and performers mostly). The LaLaurie mansion is a local legend for ghostly stuff (the history is gross - she physically tortured and abused slaves there):
Google Maps.
Just about any of the old buildings all throughout the quarter are going to be super interesting.
If you’re interested in the southern above-ground type of cemetaries, you’re probably going to want to see the St. Louis Cemetary #1.
Of course, all along the river is nice and offers a slightly scenic respite from the crowds down in the quarter. You can probably walk the most interesting bits in just over an hour without a problem (starting at the aquarium and following it past the steamboat to the warehouses). Also, due to the bend in the river where the city/quarter is - you’ll be on the east bank - looking east you’ll see the west bank. Check a map.
Food. Hmm. This is highly subjective, but some things you probably shouldn’t miss:
You can also hit up Brennans in the quarter if you prefer. (The Brennan family owns Commanders Palace and plenty of other places in town.)There’s plenty of other places like The Court of Two Sisters if you want a jazz brunch (I think they’re daily), and something like The Gumbo Shop to scratch that gumbo itch. Johnny’s Poboys might be yummy for you as well.
Of course, if you wanna drag your butt a couple of hours east, I’ll buy the oysters and we can grill some up or just shuck and eat by the water… (We just got through 150 of them this past weekend - yum!).
When were you traveling down?
Clyde Butcher and his work might tempt you to change your views on flat and boring - and he does this down in the Florida Everglades!
'ere y’go - good guidance from a proximate person. Us ex-pats are just using your thread to wax poetic over waning recollections…
We have a stack of trays like that in our kitchen cabinet. But far too often they just hold a plate, fork and whatever’s for lunch – Not crawfish! I really like boiiled crawfish, but it’s more of a social food. At home when I’m focused on the outcome it’s too much effort for too little food. 
In a group, different matter. Now gumbo, boudin, etouffee, shrimp and grits… that’s ALWAYS worth the effort.
Yeah, the closest I can find anything approaching (even small) mountains is the Ouachitas in central-western Arkansas (Mena area and NNE), where my dad was from. That’s about 5 hours, so it’s within weekend range. Beyond that it’s southwest Texas (700+ miles), then Colorado (1000+ miles) and the distance increases exponentially.
With an 8x10 view camera, no less! Wow. I’ll have to take a better look later… First I gotta haul a pet cat to the vet this morning for a checkup (same one as in the “Charge your battery” thead). Wish me luck… 
Man I wish that I had seen this earlier.
I’m a native New Orleanean, but no longer live there.
For years though, I had the ultimate luxury of travelling back 2-3 times a year on expense 
I visited most of the famous places in NOLA over the years.
Here are my recommendations for places to eat, in no particular order, both in and out of town:
Mandina’s 3800 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70119 (504)482-9179. The quintessential neighborhood New Orleans restaurant. Everyone will know each other. The specialty is trout almandine. You’ll know why after you’ve eaten it.
Superior Seafood 4338 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, Louisiana 70115. Very good seafood at fair prices.
Seithers Seafood 279 Hickory Avenue Harahan, LA 70123. Very funky hole in the wall kinda place, excellent food.
Heads & Tails 1827 Dickory Ave, Harahan, LA 70123. Excellent food.
Rum House Caribbean Taqueria 128 Magazine, New Orleans, LA. Taco Tuesday is the thing to do here.
RiverShack Tavern 3449 River Road Jefferson, LA 70121. The epitome of hole in the wall. Good food and beer.
Cooter Browns 509 South Carrollton Avenue New Orleans, LA, 70118. Just drink, don’t eat.
Carmo 527 Julia St, New Orleans, LA 70130. Kinda quirky, but very good
Vincent’s Italian Cuisine 7839 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70118. Great Italian Food. New Orleans has a large Sicilian community. There are a number of Italian restaurants and Vincent’s’ is my favorite. Vincent is the brother of a friend of ours.
Mosca’s 4137 US-90 West, Westwego, LA 70094. The holy grail. Seriously. It’s a very nondescript place out in Westwego (on the West bank dahlin’). Absolutely sublime. More New Orleans Italian.
Galatoire’s 209 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130. Bring your best jacket and checkbook. Fiendishly expensive, but worth it. Really old world New Orleans.
Mothers 401 Poydras St, New Orleans, LA 70130. Mother’s is a paradox. Most of the patrons are tourists and get the standard fare, their “world reknown” sandwiches. The sandwiches are good, but I go to Mothers to get the fried chicken. This style of fried chicken was invented by Chef Austin Leslie at “The Chez” so long ago. They cook it to order, so it takes at least 30 minutes. But it’s worth it. Absolutely amazing. I get it with two orders of red beans and rice as sides. Mother’s doesn’t do fries…
Crabby Jacks 428 Jefferson Highway New Orleans, LA. Another hole in the wall. Sublime fried chicken in the same Austin Leslie style.
Sal and Judys 27491 U.S. Hwy 190, Lacombe, LA 70445. This is over on the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Worth the trip, again more New Orleans Italian food.
Salvo’s 7742 LA-23, Belle Chasse, LA 70037. Local seafood place again on the West Bank in Belle Chasse. It’s where I go to get seafood when I’m in New Orleans. Very unpretentious local joint, but the seafood is fresh off the docks. Oysters, crawfish, shrimp, etc. They even serve dinner now.
Several (most) of the places mentioned earlier are tourist traps. They are ok, but nothing to crow about. The places listed above are where the locals eat and drink.
New Orleans isn’t the safest place in the world nowadays. Keep your wits about you and travel in groups, particularly after dark.
Bon appetite!
Ah Thanks! I’m from Lafayette, and I’ve lost track of local establishments there, much less NOLA…
Thank you so much everyone for the suggestions! I really appreciate them. I have spent some amazing 4 days in New Orleans and although I did not get to hit up all the spots mentioned here, I am added them to my google maps and will check them out the next time I’m there. Such a neat city; I found the atmosphere to be oddly european yet-not-quite european (must be the French and Spanish influence). A lot of the time the atmosphere on the streets reminded me of my home town in Romania (Timisoara: Google Maps )
I’ve just gotten back to Canada after a 3 week long US road trip and I have yet to go through my photos; but once I do I will post some on here to share with you guys!
Had I gotten to see this earlier I would have seriously tried to make it happen. Not so much because of the oysters (though I’m sure they’re delightful) but I would have loved meeting you in person (am a big fan ). Once I left NOLA I made my way to Orlando since my travel companion convinced me to hit up Disney and I do not regret it since I got to hit up Galaxy’s Edge and have a space drink where Han Solo shot first
My goodness is this guy ever good! And I did not find the area bad at all. Now fair enough, for an spiring nature shooter I don’t go out of my way to go to places much, but what I did see I liked, probably since it’s quite a different look from what I’m used to in Southern Ontario, and different is good.
Thank you for all the awesome places. They have been added to my map and will hit them up next time I’m there.
