Tag Archives: French Quarter Fest

French Quarter Fest 2012: Food Primer

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French Quarter Fest is now all but set up and we’re bursting at the seams for it to get here already. One of our favorite parts of FQF (and almost all festivals) is the overwhelming amount of food for the tasting. Part of FQF’s charm is that it takes over the French Quarter, stretching from the foot of Canal Street all the way to Esplanade, but this can make tracking down your favorite foods a bit trickier. Step 1 is to print and bring with you the food listing found here. Next is to plan your food strategy appropriately, where are you going to eat, how much, and how often. Ultimately at the festival, cash is king so bring plenty with you. Although FQF is sponsored heavily by Capital One, I’ve had little success counting on their ATMs on site for cash.* Cash flow problems aside, we’re here to talk about the food, so here are our favorites from each section:

Woldenberg Park

Boucherie-12 Hour Roast Beef Po-Boy. We have a hard time passing this sandwich up, no matter what the occasion. Only problem is, it seems everyone else feels the same so lines can be long.

Crescent Pie and Sausage-Bad Bart’s Jambalaya has been a growing regular at festivals large and small. The addition of black beans eyed peas [thanks to Jacob and Ashton for catching the error] provides a nice twist on traditional Jambalaya. It appears CP&S is bringing in a new dish this year, the creole shrimp and tomato chow chow which definitely looks worth a taste.

Love at First Bite-They have a great Cochon de lait Po-Boy that’s been a must have since they came on to the scene in 2009.

Lasyone’s Meat Pie Restaurant-Woldenberg Park’s most intriguing new vendor for one simple reason, meat pies can be amazing and we’ve been underwhelmed by the usual meat pie offerings at French Quarter Fest.

Jackson Square

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse (which is actually the Bourbon House Booth)-Prime Beef Debris Po-Boy probably runs neck and neck with a Vaucresson Sausage po-boy as our must haves from Jackson Square.

Vaucresson Sausage-With a great collection of hot sausage, crawfish sausage and BBQ chicken sausage (new offering this year) you really can’t go wrong. Fortunately they’re usually located next to the Bourbon House booth so Cupcake and I each line up for one and then split the spoils.

The Bombay Club-Our list of FQF favorites is clearly heavy on the beefy po-boys, the Gulf Shrimp Escabeche from Bombay house provides a nice change of pace.

Blue Dot Donuts-Without a doubt one of the new vendors that has me most excited. I had the Thai Pulled Pork “Dough Boy” at Po-Boy Fest this past year and can without a doubt say that it was the best po-boy there by miles. If they can come close to replicating what they produced at Po-Boy Fest, they will undoubtedly be the Must Have from Jackson Square.

Ristorante Carmelo-The crabmeat ravioli is a great dish and could be highly recommended, but the portion size is so small that you’re left feeling unfulfilled and cheated. Since they raised the price by a $1 and not increased the size at all, matters have gotten worse. Since your cash supply is most likely to be smaller than your stomach, I’d pass.

The Old US Mint

The Joint-Always a great pulled pork sandwich (get it topped with slaw), you can’t go wrong here.

Amy’s Vietnamese-Much like the Bombay Club, at some point you may get tired of having meaty po-boys. All of the offerings at Amy’s are good enough to pinch hit and not leave you feeling disappointed.

Dunbar’s-Not sure any explanation for why you should get Dunbar’s catfish and potato salad is really necessary. Just check it out.

Three Muses-Clearly another of FQF’s newcomers that appear poised to put some of the more long-standing favorites to the test. The Lamb Sliders would be our call here. At any rate, if you haven’t been to Three Muses yet, you really owe it to yourself to go check it out.

For a different take on the foods to have, we highly recommend you check out He Said, She Said’s 2012 Food Guide here.

**Cash hints: Below Bourbon Street between Canal and Jackson Square you’ll find a branch of many different banks, head to those before surrendering to the outrageous fees extracted by the nameless ATMs in bars, t-shirt shops or otherwise found in the French Quarter.

French Quarter Fest Primer: 2012

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Well it is finally here, glorious French Quarter Fest. While this “Locals Only” festival has lost the right to much of that claim, it is still an enjoyable festival that won’t require selling your Kidney to attend. Plus, following a few simple tips can help you avoid the crowds and tourists and re-capture much of that “Locals Only” feel. This week we’ll be giving you the low-down on where to go, what to eat and how to do it.

The first step to achieving an excellent experience at FQF is getting there in the most hassle free way. To help you do that, we’ve updated our own logistics guide for getting you down there. It is accessible here.

Now that you’re all planned on how you’re getting here, you need to know how to move about and where to find shade. We’ve found there is no reason to re-create the wheel, so we’re going to rely on the encyclopedic French Quarter Fest Logistics Guide by our friends at He Said, She Said NOLA. Their guide covers almost every logistical aspect of the Fest once you’re there and does so very well. Get to reading that here.

Stay tuned throughout the week as we update the rest of our FQF guides, most importantly directing you to the best food stations.

FQF Jackson Square Food Sneak Peak

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I know, I know you’ve had enough with the French Quarter Fest posts. I get that you might want to do something else, like the 40th annual Strawberry Festival. Perhaps you want to be a little more philanthropic and rock out to help our Japanese friends with Jammin’ for Japan at the Rock and Bowl this Saturday. That’s all cool. We don’t begrudge you that in the least. But this is our little slice of the internet and we love us some FQF.

Only Jackson Square was up and running at lunch time on Thursday, so that is where all the following vendors are. Here is what we ate and how we felt about it.

Broussard’s Restaurant & Courtyard
Slow Roasted Pork in Onion Stew Poboy $6.00: Little flavor, small portion. Too many other Po-boys to bother with this one.

Bombay Club
Gulf Shrimp Escabeche $6.00: Lightly fried drum and shrimp with onions and white wine, large portion, good flavor

Jacques-Imo’s
Slow Roasted Duck Po Boy $6.00: Still an excellent choice. Tender duck, great slaw, not a sloppy slaw

Trey Yuen Cuisine of China
Egg Rolls (2) $4.00: Tasted freshly made, vegetables seemed crisp and fresh. Much better than most egg rolls at a restaurant

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse
Prime Beef Debris Po’Boy $6.00: Might just be the king of the yard. Pocket of french bread filled to the brim with delicious prime beef debris.

Ristorante Carmelo
Crabmeat Ravioli $6.00: Ravioli is still great, but now $1 higher for what was already a disappointingly small serving of 2 ravioli.

Oh and don’t forget. If you’re hot and need a great way to cool down, zip over to Meltdown Popsicles for a tasty treat!

French Quarter Fest Logistics

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UPDATED FOR 2012 FQF

French Quarter Fest has exploded in popularity in recent years. The crowds are getting out of control, which in turns means that getting to FQF has become a chore. Without a plan your fun fest day could start off with a series of logistical problems that can set you way behind on the fun meter.

GETTING TO FRENCH QUARTER FEST
1. Driving and Parking
If at all possible, avoid driving to FQF. Ride your bike, walk, get a ride, whatever. Just try to avoid driving. Unless you’re showing up first thing, all the nearby parking garages/lots will be full. Even if you do show up first thing, getting out will be a huge headache.

If you must drive, takee advantage of the Free Shuttle. You park for a mere $10 and ride in on a shuttle. This year’s shuttle has moved closer to the Fest (from near the end of the Convention Center to O’Keefe, between Poydras and Canal). More information is available here.

If you don’t want to be tied to the shuttle and still need to drive, I suggest parking somewhere on Poydras Street and walking in. You’re most likely going to find easier access to parking on Poydras and have an easier time getting home. Canal Street is king of the no left turn in New Orleans and in times of significant traffic, the NOPD loves to close the Canal Street u-turns. Poydras, on the other hand, allows lots of left turns and is less trafficed than Canal 99% of the time. One warning, Poydras has a number of speed/red light cameras so obey the speed limit and the traffic lights.

2. Taking the Red Street Car
Last year hundreds of people decided that driving to Mid-City, parking on Canal and taking the street car in was a fabulous idea. Well it was for those that parked at the start of the line by the cemetaries (here). By the time the streetcars were arriving at Canal and Carrolton (maybe 4-5 stops from the end of the line), they were full and not stopping. The good news is the city has run buses along Canal to help move more people down the past few years.

Getting home has proven more difficult. The streetcars all filled up at the first stop by Harrahs and blew by every other stop until about Jeff Davis, when people started to get off. We didn’t see the buses running out to the cemetaries to pick up the slack and ended up having to walk home. Not the greatest of experiences, but also not the worst.

3. Riding the Green Streetcar
I’ve not tried this tactic, but have spoken to many folks who have. These people have had success with parking on St. Charles or one of the side streets in the Lower Garden District (in this area) and riding in from there. They claim to not have had difficulties with capacity like we experienced on the red line.

4. Taking the Ferry
The Algiers Ferry is a pretty awesome way to get to and from FQF with minimal congestion. The details for parking and directions can be found here. It’ll likely cost you somewhere between $10-$15, but you’ll be dropped off right at the foot of Canal Street near the start of Woldenberg Park, where the big FQF stages are. Because the ferries are sometimes down due to mechanical problems, you’ll want to double check the Algiers ferry is up and running before heading over to the West Bank.

5. Walking/Biking/Getting a ride/Cabbing
If at all possible, do this. However, if you do please remember to plan ahead. Figure out a route before hand and stick to it. You really don’t want to be 10 beers in, exhausted from dancing in the sun all day and find yourself lost as the sun goes down. Plan your route to go through the big streets that are well lit and frequently traveled. Ending your day lost or, worse yet, a vicitim of crime, sucks more than starting your day with a logisitical problem.

MOVING AROUND FRENCH QUARTER FEST
You’ve gotten to French Quarter Fest, so how do you avoid being caught up in the herd of cattle wave of humanity and swept past the stage you want to see or food booth you want to try? Click over to He Said/She Said NOLA for a kick ass tutorial complete with maps.