New Orleans: budget-friendly eats near downtown?

This is a thread on behalf of my husband, who is in New Orleans all week for work - he's working a convention at the Ernest Morial Convention Center, which I gather is downtown. So far he says his boss has kind of been driving the restaurant choices, but they aren't tied at the hip all week, and well, she's less budget-sensitive than he is (and they have a fixed per diem).

So who has tips for interesting, budget-friendly places near downtown? He doesn't have a rental car, either, but he'd be up for getting a group to catch a cab if the destination were worth it. Cuisine can be basically anything under the sun, but of course I think he'd especially appreciate foods that are better represented there than they are here. Dive-y is just fine! Seafood, barbeque, pretty much anything goes. I've never set foot in New Orleans, so I'm not much help.

Hi- I have a sister that lives in New Orleans, and I have been down there many times for jazzfest. One place that is cheap and is near downtown is Meals from the Heart at 1100 N. Peters. They have wonderful crab cakes, and their crab cakes are usually voted the best crab cakes by readers of Gambit magazine. They are located right down the street from Cafe Du monde, which he should also check out, and across the street from Margaritaville. They are self serve though. Central grocery has wonderful muffilatas. Acme Oyster is located in the Quarter, and is not expensive. They have really good fried oysters. Mothers is loved by the locals, but my sister and I checked it out, and decided not to eat there, because it is a greasy spoon, and neither one of us cares for greasy spoon places. Your husband would probably love it though. My sister is a doctor down there at LSU, who specializes in diabetes and lipid disorders, and she says that diabetes and heart disease is rampant in the city.

There are lots of posts here about places to eat in New Orleans. Is he staying near the convention center? I know that this is nowhere near the convention center, but there is a new donut shop/coffee place on Magazine, just a few blocks from my sisters. It is called District Donuts Slider Brews. It is located at 2209 Magazine. I did have a cup of coffee last time I was there. My sister quit drinking coffee, and I needed a caffeine fix the last time I was there. There coffee was expensive, but was okay. I like Community Coffee down the street better, and it is cheaper. This place had donuts that were to die for though. The donuts were $3 a piece. I was tempted to buy one, but I passed because I was scheduled to have a cardiac catherization when I got back home, and I decided I did not need the donuts. At least I know now that my arteries are clean as a whistle, and so I went through that for nothing. Hope this helps, Nancy

He is staying near the convention center. I did take a peek at the other New Orleans posts, but they mostly seemed geared toward higher-end places. Thanks for the tips! If anything else pops to mind, especially less touristy things, please chime in again.

Checking a map indicates your husband is mere blocks away from the French Quarter. That puts him within walking distance of some damn fine cheap eats, including the aforementioned Mother's (a personal favorite, both because of, and and in spite of its "greasy spoon" status), Central Grocery for Muffuletta Sandwiches, Johnny's Po' Boys, Napoleon House (more Muffulettas, but served warm), and Coop's Place (great Gumbo and more).

The fact is, the food culture is so strong in NOLA, you almost can't go wrong: If a place doesn't live up to local standards, it isn't around for very long. it's just a matter of picking a place that fits your budget and taste and putting yourself in their hands.

I'll edit with complete info later.

Buddy

Central Grocery is only open until 4:00PM I believe though. The convention center is right by riverwalk, where there is also another Cafe Du Monde. If he has the time in the evening, he should go to Preservation Hall too. It is a dump, but they have very good dixieland music there. The Preservation Hall Band performs there, but the musicians vary every night The group all tours all across the country, and sometimes their best musicians are not performing that night because they are on tour. Out of the times I have been there, there was only one time the music was sub par, and that was right after Christmas. They used to charge $8 to see the show, but I have not been to the show since Katrina, and I don't know how much they charge now. There are limited seats in the hall, and so it usually takes two or three sets before you are able to get a seat.

Have you seen the massive, recently updated NOLA thread? Downtown is small and adjacent to the Quarter. Cajun, Creole and Southern are ubiquitous. Even the breakfast at the nearby Casino isn't half bad.

I would suggest The American Sector @ the WW2 museum from 3 to 6 they have a happy hour with .75 pork sliders and meat pies. They also have specials on drinks. I thought Bayonna for lunch was quite reasonable and very good. There is always a Lucky Dog

JeffB wrote:Have you seen the massive, recently updated NOLA thread?

No, I did a board search and the most recent update I saw was from 2012 (and the thread was far from massive). Maybe I didn't use the right terms...but would welcome corrections.

Here you go--not sure how it wouldn't come up--was the first thing that appeared when I typed "New Orleans" into search LTH forum above. http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17981

It starts in 2008 but there are 12 pages of posts, the most recent being about 6 weeks ago...

boudreaulicious wrote:Here you go--not sure how it wouldn't come up--was the first thing that appeared when I typed "New Orleans" into search LTH forum above. http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=17981

It starts in 2008 but there are 12 pages of posts, the most recent being about 6 weeks ago...

Thanks for posting the link. It's a Mystery to me, too, why it didn't show up for me - I did the exact same search (twice even!) I was even thinking how odd it was that there were so few posts! This is very helpful. And hubby is meeting up with a local online friend too, who should also have some opinions for him.

Cochon Butcher is a few blocks from the CC. Great place for sandwiches, etc.

Lucy's Retired Surfer Bar has decent food - and sometimes a crawfish boil on the street at night, as they project sports onto the warehouse wall across the street. Thats just a few blocks from the CC too.

Avoid Muriels - overpriced and mediocre but I fall for it everytime because it looks cool and its across the street from Morial.

You can also take a trolley to the other side of the French Quarter (walking in NO sucks in July during the day - especially if you have to be back and look non-sweaty in the afternoon) and eat near the French Market.