Eating Your Way Through New Orleans with Kids

Are your kids budding foodies? Before heading to Paris to indulge their inner gourmand, go to New Orleans!

Sure, the cobblestone streets in the French Quarter are charming and the hanging verandas in the Garden District romantic, and yes the debauchery on Bourbon St. is enticing, and the jazz on Frenchman St. divine, but when it comes down to it, it’s all about the FOOD!

Make sure you plan your meals ahead of time, make reservations if taken, and get ready for a culinary experience unlike any other. Here’s our guide for eating your way through New Orleans with your kids.

Counter at Camilla Grill.  Notice the pitcher of butter. 

For breakfast, you’ll want to hit all the hot spots: Elizabeth’s for their praline bacon (as if bacon could possibly get any better!), Camellia Grill (the crispy waffles are to die for), and Willa Jean’s, where John Besh and team whip up a traditional southern breakfast complete with biscuits, grits, and crawfish gravy. And of course, there’s always Mother’s, a NOLA standard, if you don’t mind eating your monthly allowance of meat in one sitting. They’re known for their “debris” (bits of roast beef and gravy fallen from a freshly carved roast), and they’re not shy about putting it on everything!

Shucking oysters at Cassamentos

For lunch... po’boys. And the best in town are at Domilise’s. Get the half and half seafood (half shrimp/half oysters), dressed, with a cold bottle of Barq’s root beer, and call it a day. Well, until dinner, that is. Or head over to Cochon Butcher for Le Pig Mac (the best Big Mac you’ve ever had), as well as several house-made meats and sausages. If you’re looking for something a little more local, go to Galatoire’s, a NOLA institution. Surrounded by local businessmen and ladies who lunch, you can dine on sauteed fish, fried eggplant, and a bread pudding that puts all others to shame. And don’t forget to order a stiff drink. Everyone else does. If a simple sandwich is all you’re looking for, get a muffaletta at Central Grocery. You won’t be sorry. And don’t forget a bag of Zapp’s voodoo potato chips on the side. For oysters (when in NOLA...), there’s nothing like Cassamentos, a little hole in the wall, no- reservations-but-worth-the-wait restaurant serving pretty much just oysters. No need to get anything else here. But definitely order the raw and the char-grilled.

Muffuletta at Central Grocery

For dinner, try Peche for a lively atmosphere and some of the best seafood in town, Compere Lapin, where Top Chef alum Nina Compton serves up incredible Caribbean food, while still sticking to NOLA roots with possibly the best biscuits ever, Shaya (James Beard 2016 winner for Best New Restaurant), for a modern twist on Israeli food, Le Petite Grocery, for traditional Louisiana fare set in an 1800s-era Creole-style cottage, and Commander’s Palace. No matter how touristy it is, it’s still worth going to. For the tableside bananas foster alone!

Finally, every meal should end with a beignet from Cafe du Monde.

Taking a break from the crowds at Café du Monde