Gumbo Shop

You are a tourist, staying in a French Quarter hotel. You don’t have a car (or maybe you’d just like to stroll the Quarter and duck into a restaurant for dinner). You’re not in the mood to dress up. You don’t want to spend a lot of money. You are not asking for the ultimate examples of the local specialties, but neither are you a Roadfood rube (did we hear someone say the Court of Two Sisters?). You just want some good things to eat, in pleasant surroundings, with a bit of that French Quarter glow.

Here’s our answer to the above situation: walk to the Gumbo Shop, in the heart of the French Quarter, get in the perpetual line with the other tourists (and even the occasional local), and ask for a table outside in the courtyard when your turn comes up (that line moves fairly fast). Order bowls of gumbo: both the seafood okra and chicken andouille are excellent, with as different flavor profiles as two gumbos can have. Maybe get a couple of vegetables, like greens or red beans, or perhaps a salad, on the side. Tear off occasional hunks of the light and crusty bread for dipping in your bowls.

When you are finished, ask for a praline sundae (with a good bittersweet sauce over so-so ice cream), or good bread pudding served with a too-sweet whiskey sauce. Then take a liesurely stroll back to your hotel through the sultry night air along the historic streets of this sub-tropical city.