New Orleans Fall Travel Tips

By: Aleah Shell

Edited by: Bonita Sostre

It may be December 1, but it's still Fall, and I'm here to share some of the places you need to try if this is your first time in "the big easy".

First I recommend an Air BNB my family stayed in one that was only 15 minutes walking distance to Bourbon Street, which gave us the opportunity to experience the real culture of New Orleans and be close enough to all the tourism fun.

Next make your way to the famous, Café Beignet, I had grits, eggs, bacon, and of course, beignets. There was a live band playing downstairs, but since we ate upstairs, we couldn’t really hear them. The beignets were my absolute favorite. They were warm and perfectly fluffy.

My family and I spent Halloween weekend, there and have such a delicious breakfast we went to dinner at Mambo’s which is the only rooftop bar on Bourbon Street. The environment was not only festive the food was delicious. I had Cajun shrimp pasta that came out piping hot, so I knew it was freshly made. The food here was amazing, located in the heart of the French Quarter, wonderful terrace views, highly suggested for those who want something fried right and hot.

After our delicious dinner, we were thirsty for a Bourbon Street classic, we strolled over to Tropical Isle, home of the infamous Hand Grenade.

With our tasty drinks we found made our way back to Bourbon Street and stumbled upon Prohibition night club where we had the times of one lives they not only had live music, dj's and two dance floors the vibes and the people were very welcoming. We wrapped up the night around 3:00am.

The next day we decided to tour the city, wandered through a masquerade shop, and we even went back to Café Beignet for brunch because we enjoyed it so much the first time. “Cafe Beignet is one of my favorite places to eat on Bourbon Street. The fresh beignets, live music and food, is the only way I like to start my day in New Orleans” said Victoria McQueen another tourist visiting New Orleans. 

This time I had red beans and rice with sausage. It tasted so authentic and so New Orleans! The portions were smaller than I expected, and the bread was a bit hard, but overall it was delicious and very affordable. Meals start at around  $12.99. 

Later that night, we did a ghost tour called the Blackest Ghost Tour. It was $40 per person, and although our guide, Rhodesia, was very nice and a great story teller, it wasn’t quite what we expected. We learned a lot about New Orleans black history, but it didn’t give the spooky vibe we were hoping for.

After that, we headed to NOLA Poboys for dinner. I had gumbo and a shrimp po'boy it was messy with a lot of lettuce, but still really good. We then stayed on Bourbon street again, and this time we learned how to do their TikTok dance “Trip Out”. 

On Sunday, we took it easy and stayed in the Airbnb to rest. For lunch we tried Popeyes because let’s be for real, can you really go to NOLA and not get Popeyes? Exactly. There wasn’t much difference this time, but when I visited in 2022, the Popeyes outside the main tourist area tasted noticeably better.

For our last hoorah, we went to Acme for dinner, known for their oysters but unfortunately, I don’t eat oysters, so I ordered a grilled chicken Caesar salad, which was a 10/10, but here’s what Asher McQueen had to say “I strongly suggest Acme, especially the location we went to which was off of the French quarter. The food was totally worth it.”