Christmas in New Orleans
December 15, 2017 12:50 PM Subscribe
Help this out-of-towner and complete naif survive Christmas in New Orleans. Priorities: getting around, eating on Christmas day itself.
For various reasons, we're assembling a team of 6 people from around the country in New Orleans for Christmas. Several of us have never been; others not in 20+ years. We need help.
The main question is where and/or how to eat on Christmas day itself, given that we are arriving on Dec. 24. We have a VRBO with a kitchen, but probably can't shop for groceries, given the timing. I am super into the idea of going out for Reveillon dinner, but one member of our party has a shellfish allergy and nearly all the menus I can find have tons of oysters. Also, as I call around I discover many of them are fully booked now. So: besides going down the Yelp search results and making 30+ phone calls, how can I find Christmas day options that are still available? If it helps in making recommendations, several in our party admit they are "not foodies" and would not really benefit from $50+/plate dinners. So we don't need the best of Reveillon, honestly - just something open with some seats.
Since we do have a nice place to stay, I'd also be open to ordering a pre-made Christmas dinner, whether takeout or delivery. But I've never done that and don't really know how to search for it. For that, the more midwestern "meat and potatoes" the better, I think.
Secondly and lower priority: how is transit around NO, especially cabs, uber, and lyft? Car rental is proving to be an ordeal, and if we can just skip it we'd love to. We're staying in Algiers and won't necessarily be limited to French Quarter / downtown stuff, but will probably focus our activities there.
thanks for any advice!
For various reasons, we're assembling a team of 6 people from around the country in New Orleans for Christmas. Several of us have never been; others not in 20+ years. We need help.
The main question is where and/or how to eat on Christmas day itself, given that we are arriving on Dec. 24. We have a VRBO with a kitchen, but probably can't shop for groceries, given the timing. I am super into the idea of going out for Reveillon dinner, but one member of our party has a shellfish allergy and nearly all the menus I can find have tons of oysters. Also, as I call around I discover many of them are fully booked now. So: besides going down the Yelp search results and making 30+ phone calls, how can I find Christmas day options that are still available? If it helps in making recommendations, several in our party admit they are "not foodies" and would not really benefit from $50+/plate dinners. So we don't need the best of Reveillon, honestly - just something open with some seats.
Since we do have a nice place to stay, I'd also be open to ordering a pre-made Christmas dinner, whether takeout or delivery. But I've never done that and don't really know how to search for it. For that, the more midwestern "meat and potatoes" the better, I think.
Secondly and lower priority: how is transit around NO, especially cabs, uber, and lyft? Car rental is proving to be an ordeal, and if we can just skip it we'd love to. We're staying in Algiers and won't necessarily be limited to French Quarter / downtown stuff, but will probably focus our activities there.
thanks for any advice!
Best answer: Take a look at OpenTable to get a sense of who has tables open. Right now there are some early afternoon openings at Josephine Estelle -- I haven't been, but I hear great things about the food and the service.
posted by Siobhan at 1:11 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Siobhan at 1:11 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
If you're not picky about the time there's a 4PM slot at Compere Lapin in the link Siobhan provided. If it were me I'd grab that for sure because Nina Compton is rockin' it over there. Past that I didn't see any other "oh man you can't miss this place" restaurants in that list. I mean I'm sure many/most are serviceable and maybe that's all you need.
posted by komara at 1:14 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by komara at 1:14 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
> If you're not picky about the time there's a 4PM slot at Compere Lapin
We were in New Orleans last week and ate there twice (we were also staying in the hotel) and the food was excellent, so seconding that!
posted by rtha at 1:24 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
We were in New Orleans last week and ate there twice (we were also staying in the hotel) and the food was excellent, so seconding that!
posted by rtha at 1:24 PM on December 15, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Hey, thanks all (and thanks for the memails as well). We ended up going to Josephine Estelle, which was just what the doctor ordered. And partly on the strength of these comments, my wife and I slipped out to Compere Lapin together and it was excellent! Great cocktails in particular.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:27 PM on January 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 1:27 PM on January 2, 2018 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by komara at 1:09 PM on December 15, 2017