It's a bit odd, but one of the first recommendations I received when I told folks I was traveling to New Orleans was "Try Willie Mae's fried chicken!"

New Orleans is not typically the place I would associate with fried chicken, but I trusted the recommendations and put it on my "must visit" list.

My Uber driver to get there was entertaining and called out to the police officer outside to make sure I got a seat inside right away because it was raining. Laughing, the police offer nodded and escorted me to a table - no wait!

Willie Mae’s Scotch House was established in 1957 as a bar in New Orleans’ Historic Treme neighborhood. After a year, the bar was moved to its current location, which consisted of a bar, a barbershop and beauty salon in the front. In the early 1970’s, the beauty salon closed, which brought on the demand for a restaurant from Willie Mae’s bar customers. The aromas of Mississippi and Louisiana cuisine emanating from the kitchen filled the air and brought on constant demand for delicious food. Their demand was met and the rest is history. In 2005, Ms. Willie Mae Seaton was honored with the prestigious James Beard Award for “America’s Classic Restaurant for the Southern Region.”

Willie Mae's is laidback, but it's clear they take what they do very seriously. I ordered the fried chicken (white meat) with sides of macaroni & cheese and peas.


And, wow, people weren't lying. It's fried chicken, done very well. Crispy chicken, moist meat - and tasty sides to top it all off!

This classic New Orleans restaurant was at the top of my list. The Palace Cafe is a Drennen family restaurant - a notable group in the area - and serves contemporary cuisine.

This classic New Orleans restaurant, located at the foot of the French Quarter, serves contemporary Creole food in an upbeat and lively grand café. As bearers of the torch keeping Creole cuisine alive and vital, Dickie Brennan and Palace Café’s culinary team are constantly evolving traditional Creole dishes and creating a few new favorites. 

The restaurant, housed in the historic Werlein’s music building, has won a number of local and national awards since it opened in 1991 including Best New Restaurant from Esquire Magazine and USA Today, the prestigious Ivy Award from Restaurants and Institutions Magazine, and Wine Spectator’s Award of Excellence. Palace Café is owned and operated by Dickie Brennan, Steve Pettus and Lauren Brennan Brower.

While most folks probably have a sit-down dinner here, I was mostly interested in dessert. Specifically, bread pudding.  But, I still got a little loaf of bread, as is typical in the south.

The White Chocolate Bread Pudding is basically their signature dessert, and it comes with warm white chocolate ganache. Mmmm.


Just look at that little beauty! I do love me some bread pudding, and this definitely ranked up there near the top of my list. Creamy, rich, moist - divine.

Acme Oyster House is a crowd-favorite known for their fresh oysters and seafood.

After a bit of a lengthy wait outside, I was welcome to a table - bright with red lights - to look over the menu.

They are best known for their chargrilled oysters, which are "Sizzling, chargrilled oysters saturated in an herb butter sauce, topped with a special blend of cheese."

Of course, I had to go for that!

These are great - especially if you'e not keen on the slimy texture of oysters.

These are indulgent, rich, and doused in butter. Yum.

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is the oldest structure used as a bar in the United States - built between 1722 and 1732.

The structure and fence are in the old French Provincial Louis XV or Briquette-Entre-Poteauxe style used in French Louisiana. The building escaped two great fires at the turn of the 19th Century, due to slate roofing. Such slates are presently used by artists as canvases. Between 1772 and 1791, the property is believed to have been used by the Lafitte Brothers, Jean and Pierre as a New Orleans base for their Barataria smuggling operation. The legend is based on the fact that the property was owned by the family of Simon Duroche a.k.a. Castillon and the wily privateer Captain Rene Beluche. Castillon was a rather record-shy adventurer and entrepreneur. Captain Beluche commanded his ship "Spy" in Lafitte's Baratarian fleet. Although the owners of the property, Jean Baptiste Dominica Joly LaPorte probably lived on the premises, it is within reason that the Lafittes could have used the place as city base for negotiations with potential buyers of their goods. It is unlikely that a wealthy Creole would agree to meet at home on Royal Street. Bourbon and St. Phillip was probably regarded as a safe and convenient neutral ground. Like most New Orleans legends, Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a gumbo of truth and French, Spanish, African, Cajun and American embellishments.

I ordered the "purple drink." The house specialty is the Frozen VooDoo Daiquiri—better known as the “purple drank.”

Strong, for certain. This place is historic and very cool. There are a lot of ghost stories about it, and it's a world-famous must-see.

Old-school spots that thrive in communities are my favorite.

Take Hansen's Sno-Bliz. This icy dessert spot is in a white cinder block building, hand-drawn letting outside and has fans from all over.

Hansen’s Sno-Bliz was started by Ernest and Mary Hansen in 1939. Ernest invented the first ice shaving machine and Mary created her own flavored syrups. 

Decades later, Hansen’s still makes its own flavors every day, from Mary’s secret recipes, and creates snoballs from the original machine. The combination of fluffy ice and homemade syrups demand that each Sno-Bliz be made in layers – ice, syrup, ice, syrup, and so forth –  so that the final product is fully saturated upholding the Hansen’s motto: “There are no shortcuts to quality.” 

Hansen’s is now owned and operated by Ernest and Mary’s granddaughter, Ashley. We are proud to be named a 2014 American Classic by the James Beard Foundation.

Sno-balls in Louisiana are similar to what the rest of the country calls snow cones, but they are made with more finely shaved ice and a large variety of homemade syrups.