The main point of this trip to New Orleans was really about eating and drinking our way through the city and really other than some shopping, we were mostly eating all day.  In this post I’ll be reviewing the places we went on our first day in New Orleans, a Saturday.

We started by going for brunch at Ruby Slipper Cafe on Canal Street and later stopped by two places for happy hour: Toups South and Luke.  Because we went to happy hour, we did not eat dinner until late night and we based our restaurant choice more on where we located at the time we were hungry.  This led us to Galliano since they were nearby and open until 11 pm.

Ruby Slipper Cafe

1005 Canal Street, New Orleans, LA 70112

We originally woke up fairly early on Saturday morning but was ready to set out closer to 10:30 AM.  I found Ruby Slipper Cafe while scrolling through nearby brunch places on Yelp and while it showed a long wait time, you were able to waitlist on Yelp first though you still need to check-in when you arrive at the restaurant.  I probably added myself to the Yelp waitlist about 30 minutes before leaving the hotel but after arriving at Ruby Slipper Cafe, we still waited probably another 30-45 minutes.  However this was tons better than what they were telling the walk-ins.  Walk-ins were told it would probably be about a 2 hour wait!

Obviously, it was super busy.  We were later told that this particular location tends to be more busy and that some of their other locations are not as bad.  But when I was looking at wait times on Yelp, they all seemed about the same and this was the closest to our hotel.  You can order drinks though before being seated as they have someone manning a small drink stand by the host stand.

After being seated, the waitress came by promptly to take our order.  We went a little crazy (and I don’t recommend this) and order the Trifecta which is like an egg benedict sampler with three different versions and then on top of that, we ordered the catfish benedicts.  Basically we ordered five eggs benedict which we were in no way able to finish.  If I had to rate them, I like the catish one the most, then the chicken, shrimp and lastly the cochon.  The biscuits they were sitting on were amazing though.

Ideally, we should have ordered a different type of dish too instead of variations of one so we could get a better sample of their menu.  Perhaps next time.

 

Toups South

1504 Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard, New Orleans, LA 70113

For our first happy hour of the day, we decided to head over to Toups South.  I had actually eaten here on my last trip since it happens to be connected to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum which I had visited.  I came back because of one amazing item, the crab fat butter.

But before, I get further into my love of their butter, Toups South has a happy hour every day from 3 pm – 6 pm but only in the bar area.  Included on their happy hour menu are some small bites and certain drinks.

Now back to the butter.  It comes with a couple of biscuits which are pretty good but the butter is definitely the star of the show.  It’s this beautiful orange-ish color and it’s full of flavor.  If you love crab, then this is the butter for you.  Beware it is pretty rich tasting but oh so worth it.  We were not that hungry when we arrived since brunch ended up a later affair than expected so we only ordered the biscuits and butter and a round of drinks.

Still, I recommend you coming out and the biscuits and butter is on their happy hour menu though I forget the exact price now.  The only thing to keep in mind if you visit is that while it looks like their working on revitalizing the area, I would suggest you drive or catch a rideshare here versus walking.  Perhaps that will change in the future but for now it does not seem to be the safest of neighborhoods.

 

Luke

333 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans, LA 70130

Last time I was in New Orleans, I actually stayed at the Hilton New Orleans/St. Charles Avenue which is where Luke is located.  I also went to their happy hour every single day I was in New Orleans since it was just an elevator ride down and because during happy hour they have 75 cent oysters!!!  That means a dozen raw oysters is only $9!!!

Previously when I was here, the oysters were on the smaller side but this time the oysters were gigantic!  Practically the size of my hand!  Drinks are also half off during happy hour which is every day from 3 pm – 6 pm.

We ended up getting two dozen raw oysters and a round of drinks which was incredibly filling since the oysters were so large.

 

Galliano

200 Julia Street, New Orleans, LA 70130

After a few hours of shopping (until the mall closed), we decided to grab something to eat nearby as a late night dinner before heading back to our hotel.  Looking at my Yelp bookmarks, I noticed Galliano was very close and a just a quick walk from the mall we were at so we headed on over there.

The restaurant was only about half full but there was a large party there that was probably celebrating a birthday.  Our waiter was incredibly helpful, giving us a lot of recommendations and describing the dishes as there were a lot to choose from.  In the end, we ordered the soup of the day which I believe was a crab corn chowder, the pork chop which was a double-cut smoked pork chop stuffed with boudin on top of cornbread and beans (which we substituted for jambalaya), and lastly the crawfish pasta.

Let me tell you, the portions here are pretty big!  That pork chop probably could’ve fed two-three people.  We ended up with leftovers that we never got around to eating.  The actual pork chop was a little dry but good with the sauce.  The crawfish pasta wasn’t too creamy for my tastes and it helps that there was a good bit of acid to balance it.