Frenchman Street is the best for music. Not every place charges a cover either. My D likes Maison.
Commander’s is 1 1/2 blocks from St. Charles, on Washington street in the Garden District. They have 25 cent martinis with lunch (not brunch). You can’t miss the striped awnings! People like to walk around in Lafayette Cemetery across the street. It closes at 3 PM usually. So far, you don’t need to go in with a guide so do it while you can! For St. Louis Cemetery #1, you do need a guide (there was too much vandalism - and the kind that people thought was cute, like using lipstick to mark an X on Nicholas Cage’s eventual tomb).
There is a “hop on hop off” bus that runs along Magazine street and up through the Garden district. There is also the #11 bus, which runs along the whole length of Magazine street to Canal Street. Most public transportation changes at Canal street - the old dividing line between the older part of the city and the part that was American. There is a riverfront streetcar that passes through both of them, from Julia street in the warehouse district across to Esplanade at the far end of the FQ. You could take that and then walk through the Marigny and Bywater. There is a park along the river there called Crescent park.
There is also a new bike path along the Lafitte Greenway that leads from Orleans street in the FQ all the way up to Bayou St. John. You can rent bikes from kiosks in various spaces. Another idea is to take the ferry to Algiers. It’s free and it’s a fun and easy way to get out on the river. The ferry docks at the foot of Canal street.
For walking around, it always feels a little sketchy to walk under the highway bridges where we sadly have many people living. You can still do it safely, especially by Lee Circle or at the Convention Center, but it’s sad.
On a happier note, be prepared to eat lots of food and love all of it! There are happy hour food and drink specials that are great (you said you get out at 3?). We love so many restaurants but I’ll have to mention Maypop, Compere Lapin, Meril’s (owned by Emeril but newer), Paladar 511, and the old favorites too. If you like oysters, try them raw and try them chargrilled, which is local favorite way to prepare them. Sometimes people set up a grill and sell oysters outside of busy lunch areas. If you take the whole streetcar, you can hop off somewhere on Carrollton and get a bite at Boucherie. Yum. Enjoy!
I went to New Orleans in December 2 years ago and was by myself most of the time as H was working. We also stayed at the Hilton Riverside. They have a great help desk which helped me book tours.
Had a great time, took a food tour. The food is amazing in NO! There is a Cafe du Monde in the shopping mall attached to the hotel but if you have time, the original is worth a visit. I ate at Commander Palace, have the bread pudding. Everywhere I went I was fine by myself and everyone was very nice.
Eating by yourself, I went the original Emeril’s and they have a kitchen bar. I ate at the bar and watched them make food. It was actually really fun and the kitchen staff was really nice. The food was great also. I did not have a bad meal.
I personally like Commander’s Place, but more for the historical significance than the food (which is still good). If you go, visit the cemetery across the street. I think they do tours but just walking around is interesting.
Love the zoo and the WWII museum.
Emeril’s anywhere is good. Camilla Grill is good. Café Du Monde is legendary - I second the recommendation to go late at night.
Definitely walk through the antique shops - and the voodoo shops.
The Quarter does haunted tours.
I don’t have a problem walking around the Quarter at night, BUT I would try to find at least one other person to go with you and Bourbon Street isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I can live without it. While you probably don’t want to make it the first thing you see, I would go before too many people get drunk. Last time we were there (in the summer) there was literally a cop car at every block.
We did a group cooking class which was fun–basically they teach you how to make (through demonstrations) a few great dishes and then you eat and drink for two hours leaving stuffed and happy with great recipes. We went as family but you sit with others and it was great fun to meet everybody. Can’t remember the exact place but it was part of a cooking shop in heart of the French Quarter.
After looking it up I think it was New Orleans School of Cooking. Very fun and entertaining. And of course the food was great–go very hungry. Skip it if you have food allergies, gluten-free etc–this isn’t a restaurant, it’s cooking school.
Just returned from a chilly but enjoyable four-night trip New Year’s trip to New Orleans. We did a demo class at the New Orleans School of Cooking (hands on classes were booked) and it was wonderful. The instructor started with a very thorough and informative history lesson on New Orleans explaining how all of the various cultures contributed to the development of their unique cuisine. She then showed how to make crab and corn bisque, chicken etoufee, and pralines. We sampled generous portions of the dishes and left stuffed! I will be sure to schedule a hands on class next time.
Also visited WWII museum, Cafe DuMonde, Central Grocery for muffaletta, dinner at Antoine’s, breakfast at Camellia Grill, and did a walking tour of St. Louis Cemetery. Spent NY eve at Howlin’ Wolf watching the Rebirth and Hot 8 Brass Bands. Good times!
DH attended a January conference in NO a few years back - and his first night was by himself, I joined him a night later. He enjoyed a walk from Riverside to any of a couple dozen restaurants with live jazz, which he enjoys much more than I do. One thing I noticed was that the conference gave them a long break at lunch time - 2 hours - which I was told is fairly common down there.
Coming from New England, we were delighted to just walk outside in January, and enjoy a Po Boy in sunny 70 degree weather. One of his colleagues joined us for a lunch walk, and she remarked was glad she was told to bring comfortable walking shoes.
@JazzyTXMom Rebirth and Hot 8 are my #1 and #2 favorites! What a treat to see them on the same night! I’ll bet there were some competitive juices flowing there . . .
Thanks to all for the recommendations! I ended up talking a coworker into coming and when my boss found out we were both going, he and his wife decided to go. Since the boss’ wife went, she made most of the decisions about what we did during down time. We did visit Central Grocery for a muffuletta, Cafe du Monde for coffee and beignets, and The Palace Cafe for dinner the first night. The next day for lunch we went to Dragos and had chargrilled oysters, gumbo and salad, and Emerils Delmonico for dinner, where I had barbecued shrimp, a petite filet mignon and a bananas foster tiramisu. Then we went to Frenchman Street and heard some great music. The third day, we went to Redfish for lunch, walked around the French Quarter, stopped by the New Orleans School of Cooking and got some pralines Camellas Beans, and spices to take home. And for dinner went to an Italian place called Marcello’s, where I had the most delicious fettuccine and oysters dish. New Orleans was a fun town and the food was fantastic. I was sorry we didn’t get to the World War II museum and would love to visit another time to see that, explore more of the town and try some additional restaurants. Thanks again!
Thanks for the update @gclsports . Glad you had such a good time! I’m jealous because it looks like we won’t be able to do our yearly spring trip because of final college visits and decisions. Palace Café is great–did you have white chocolate bread pudding? It’s wonderful