New Orleans- Mardi Gras Travel Review
One of the things Brian and I instantly connected over when we first started dating was our interest in traveling. We were both at a point in our lives where our finances would allow for more travel but we didn’t have a travel “buddy”. Neither of us was super interested in solo travel- it works great for some people, but wasn’t really for either of us. We joked on our first date that maybe we would be each other’s travel buddies and we would get to start checking travel destinations off our lists. Here we are 2 and a half years later, making all the travel plans our time and budget will allow for! So far we’ve had some big trips to Hawaii, California, Lake Tahoe, St. Lucia, and Alaska along with some other smaller trips. Our most recent adventure was 3 days spent in New Orleans! And we were actually there for Mardi Gras!
Experiencing Mardi Gras in New Orleans has been on my bucket list for years!! I’m not really sure why though because I’m really not a huge partier. And Mardi Gras is a HUGE party. Mardi Gras is actually the last day of the Carnival season and is French for Fat Tuesday. It is always the Tuesday preceding Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Long before New Orleans Mardi Gras was a party destination, it was actually a religious holiday.
Mardi Gras usually falls somewhere around my birthday (February 26th, , hello 30s), and this year it was the day right before my birthday! Somehow, Brian randomly had a week of vacation the last week of February. So we decided this was the perfect year to go to Mardi Gras and visit New Orleans!
By no means were we able to experience everything New Orleans has to offer on our short trip. It truly is a beautiful city with a very rich history and fabulous food. While we were there we were able to sample some of the great food, take in some of the revelry of the Carnival season, and see some historical landmarks.
First, lets talk about beignets. You definitely can’t talk about New Orleans without discussing beignets. And I wanted to find the best beignets in the city. I ended up with a smaller sample size than I was hoping for because several restaurants that are known to serve yummy beignets were closed on Mardi Gras (many non party related businesses and nicer restaurants in the French Quarter were). You always hear about Café du Monde and their amazing beignets, but I wanted to know, are they really the best in the city? Are they worth the crazy long lines that can back up out of the café? In my opinion, Café du Monde beignets actually were the best! My taste testing also included beignets from Café Beignet and The Vintage in the Garden District.
- Café du Monde
Café du Monde is basically synonymous with New Orleans and beignets. However, I do not like standing in lines for long periods of time and they are quite notorious for the (sometimes) LONG wait for their warm, sweet pastry. Naturally I wanted to know what all the hype is about though! So we walked ourselves over first thing Tuesday morning, immediately snagged a table on the outside patio, and were sipping Café au lait and nibbling on beignets in no time! This was my first experience with beignets so they did become the benchmark for my comparisons. First- a warning about their coffee. Café du Monde uses chicory coffee, which is more bitter than regular coffee, and I’m one of those people who like a little coffee with their creamer (I like it sweet and creamy), so the Café au lait wasn’t my fav. Now the beignets- they were so yummy! They kind of reminded me of a square/rectangular cross between a donut and a funnel cake. It was a delicious block of fried pastry covered in powdered sugar. The outside was crisp but soft, closer to funnel cake than donut. The inside was dense but light with the perfect level of chewiness to airiness. I had Brian take me back Thursday morning for more of the best beignets before we left town! If you decide to brave the potentially block long line (I did see this several times later in the day both Tuesday and Wednesday but there was no wait when we went earlier in the morning), make sure you have cash! Café du Monde is cash only with a very small menu offering coffee served a couple of ways, hot chocolate, and beignets.
- Café Beignet
Café Beignet and Café du Monde are probably the two most commonly mentioned when debating the best beignets in New Orleans. They both have many locations spread throughout the city and both have delicious beignets. But if you’re looking for a menu with more options for both food and beverages, Café Beignet is probably where you want to head. In addition to an order of beignets we also got more coffee (which was much better), mimosas, and jambalaya. For a café seemingly dedicated to beignets, the jambalaya was surprisingly good! And for the mimosa they give you a little bottle of champagne and a cup of OJ so you can combine to the ratio you like. As for the beignets, they were pretty darn yummy. The outside was lightly crisped and the inside had a more donut-y consistency. The inside was a bit thicker, a little lighter, and airier than at Café du Monde. Café Beignet has several locations throughout the French Quarter and scattered around New Orleans. The couple locations we passed by on our walks were SUPER cute. If you are looking for a cute café in the French Quarter with great ambiance and yummy treats, this is your place!
- The Vintage
On Wednesday, we took a hop-on-hop-off historic tour through New Orleans. As we made our way through the Garden District (which is beautiful), our guide happened to mention her favorite beignets in the city were at this coffee shop. So naturally, at the next stop I ushered our little group off the bus and down the street for more beignets. The Vintage is a super cute coffee shop in New Orleans’s Garden District and it has such a neat, somewhat edgy vibe. The beignets did not disappoint. In addition to the traditional, classic sweet beignet, The Vintage offered several specialty flavors. We tried the classic and raspberry filled. In my opinion, the beignet consistency, inside and outside, was closer to that of a rectangular donut. The outside was fairly thin and ever so lightly fried. The inside was very light and airy, but thicker than the first two.
If you are just looking for the “New Orleans Experience” and my personal favorite beignet, Café du Monde is a must. But if you like your coffee on the sweeter side, skip the chicory coffee. Also- make sure you have cash! If you are looking for a cute café (aka better photo op backdrop), good coffee, other tasty snacks, AND delicious beignets, Café Beignet is for you! While the actual beignets were not my favorite of the three I tried, they were still scrumptious and the whole coffee shop vibe at The Vintage was top notch; and the specialty beignet flavors were so fun. While in New Orleans, I would highly recommend getting out of the French Quarter and exploring the cute shops, restaurants, and café’s in the Garden District. And make sure to stop by The Vintage to try the specialty flavor beignets! Even though I have ranked these three beignets, they were ALL so yummy and you really couldn’t go wrong with any of them. Really, you should try them all! It was pretty fun.
Since we’re talking about food, you should know there are several iconic foods that are special/unique to New Orleans and Louisiana that should definitely be sampled on your next trip. While we strolled around the French Quarter on Mardi Gras, taking in all the revelry, we made frequent snack stops. Some of the foods that should not be missed while in New Orleans include beignets (obviously ha), gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee, Po-Boy, the muffuletta sandwich, bananas foster, and pralines. We tried them all and you should too. We didn’t try anything we didn’t like! The history of the state of Louisiana, and New Orleans in particular, is complex with influences from the Spanish, French, African, and Caribbean settlers, which is very evident in it’s unique, and delicious culinary scene.
During our short stay we had two nice, sit-down dinners and a brunch.
- Mr. B’s Bistro
Mr. B’s is a casual, upscale restaurant that has been serving Louisiana specialties in the French Quarter for the past 40 years. Two of the restaurant’s signature dishes are the Gumbo Ya Ya and Louisiana styled Barbequed Shrimp. We had them both, and they are truly phenomenal. The ambiance was very nice. I will say, I did feel slightly under dressed in my jeans and nice t-shirt. The dress code seemed a little more relaxed because of Mardi Gras, but any other time you would probably want dress a bit nicer than if you were going to your neighborhood Applebee’s. If you are looking for delicious Cajun and Creole fare and are feeling like dressing up, I would highly recommend!
- K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen
K-Paul’s in another casual, upscale dining location that has been part of the French Quarter’s culinary scene for the past 40 years. I would say the dress code is definitely nicer than what you’d wear to Buffalo Wild Wings, but a little more casual than Mr. B’s. It’s a slightly larger space that also offers climate controlled outdoor dining (it was rainy when we went so we sat inside). K-Paul’s menu is a little larger and slightly more diverse than Mr. B’s, so if you are interested in more options, this would probably be the place for you. We had more gumbo, jambalaya, and fresh fish here and everything was amazing! My mouth is watering just thinking about it. This was where we went for my birthday dinner so we obviously also ordered desert. We had the crème bruele with praline crust, which was delicious.
(** It should be noted that neither Mr. B’s nor K-Paul’s is a casual, down home Louisiana type restaurant; so if that’s what you’re looking for, go elsewhere. If you want a lovely dining experience with phenomenal Cajun and Creole inspired Louisiana dishes, these are both great options. Also, reservations are recommended for both.)
- Brennan’s
Brennan’s is another dressy, casual restaurant located within the French Quarter. In addition to dinner, they also serve breakfast and lunch. We started my birthday with brunch here on Wednesday. The breakfast/lunch menu was a little more avant garde than I was expecting but the food was delicious (I especially loved the crab & avocado toast appetizer). Brennan’s is also well known for its Bananas Foster, and the dessert reportedly originated in the restaurant. We had Banana’s Foster for our brunch dessert and it was quite yummy, the best past though is that they make it right at the tableside so you can watch the bananas and sauce while they are flambéed.
We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton, which is located right on Bourbon Street. It was such a perfect location! It was very convenient to just walk in and out and roam around the French Quarter. We didn’t have to drive at all. Part of me thinks it would have been super fun to have a room with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street (best. people. watching. ever.), but my parents chatted with a couple who did have a Bourbon Street room and they said they literally didn’t sleep because as soon as the partying died out, the street sweepers and cleaners started up. So keep that in mind when booking hotel rooms.
After walking around all day eating, drinking, watching parades, and enjoying the revelry of Mardi Gras, we needed to keep things a little more low key on Wednesday. So we slept in, had a late brunch then started wandering the French Quarter again. The French Quarter is home to some really neat boutiques, antique shops, art galleries, cafes, restaurants, and the open-air French market. You really could spend a whole trip just exploring the French Quarter. But we wanted to see as much of New Orleans as we could.
We stumbled upon a hop-on-hop-off tour bus company and decided to give that a try. It turned out to be a great decision! We were lucky enough to get e very knowledgeable, well spoken tour guide and we learned a lot about the history of New Orleans from her (she also prompted us to hop-off at The Vintage for the beignets, so we had a different tour guide after that). I’m a big history buff and find museums etc. fascinating, so I loved getting to learn more about the history of New Orleans and Louisiana while riding around on the top of a double-decked bus. On my next trip to New Orleans I would love to spend time at the World War II museum complex, explore the Garden District more and tour some of the historic homes and cemeteries.
We chose to go to New Orleans when we did specifically because Mardi Gras and my birthday happened to collide with Brian’s vacation week. I’m really not a huge “partier” so I didn’t partake in all the Mardi Gras festivities but I did truly enjoy the atmosphere and the people watching. Also, just for the record, people throw out beads for everything; I did not have to “earn” any of my beads. Brian did demonstrate his awesome flossing skills for beads though.
Another iconic element of Mardi Gras is the parades. The parades actually happen all throughout the Carnival season but definitely amp up the closer it gets to Mardi Gras. Some of the biggest most notable parades take place on Mardi Gras and the couple of days prior. We were able to get pretty close to watch a parade Monday night and another Tuesday afternoon. The floats for the parades are elaborate and beautiful.
All in all, I had a great time in New Orleans, but I do wish I had had more time. There was so much I didn’t get to see and experience. I was already planning our next visit on the drive home!
XOXO Jaye