Just got back from a week in New Orleans. My goodness did we eat good! The BEST part of the trip was stopping by Sucre on Magazine street on our way out of town (rest of the time was spent in the French Quarter).
That place had me speechless and breathless and jealous of the people who got to work there! Everything was sooo beautiful! We spent $55 on treats, including two giant waffle cones of yummy gelato. When the girl at the counter asked if she could help us, my DH said "I think she wants a job." LOL, all I could do was wander around and stare and drool and fawn over everything for like the first 10 minutes we were there.
So, anyway, if you ever get the chance, you HAVE to check this place out. And if any of you CCers work there, I was that crazy lady squealing with delight over everything this past Saturday just before the St. Paddy's parade. 
and 
cause I'm jelly. I puffy heart N.O. My favorite place so far is Cafe Du Monde. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM beignets...............
New Orleans is one of our favorite vacations that we've ever taken as a family.
We were fortunate enough to go there the February before katrina. We left on a cruise from there but we decided to go down a few days early to see the city.
By far they have the BEST restaurants, even better then NY, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, Dallas, Boston, etc., I've been to all of these cities and New Orleans has them beat hands down.
Besides Cafe du Monde's beignets, our favorite food was the Barbecue Shrimp at a place called Deannies (not sure of the spelling, sorry). They're not covered in barbecue sauce like you may think, they are roasted with spices (a lot of garlic), butter, lemon etc., and they're served w/ crusty french bread so you can soak up all that buttery sauce. OMG, we died and went to shrimp heaven. LOL!!
My kids were about 14 and 15 when we went, and they had a ball. We took them to Bourbon Street every night, I know you may think we're crazy but it was a great experience for them. After 3 days, we didn't want to go on the cruise, we wanted to stay right there in New Orleans because we loved it SOOOO much.
I can't wait to go back there someday!
Now I'm craving barbecue shrimp and beignets!
Besides Cafe du Monde's beignets, our favorite food was the Barbecue Shrimp at a place called Deannies (not sure of the spelling, sorry). They're not covered in barbecue sauce like you may think, they are roasted with spices (a lot of garlic), butter, lemon etc., and they're served w/ crusty french bread so you can soak up all that buttery sauce. OMG, we died and went to shrimp heaven. LOL!!
We ate there and had those delicious barbecue shrimp! They were amazing!
Hey, this post came just in time for me: I am planning on driving to New Orleans this weekend. Can you guys give me other recommendations? Things to do? Places to see?
Acme Oyster House - get oysters on the half-shell, chargrilled oysters, craw puppies, and the peace maker po'boy.
Stanley's - great burger, their version of eggs benedict is better than the original (served on French bread instead of English muffin).
Muriel's - get the cappuccino cup dessert, it's a cup made of chocolate filled with cappuccino mousse!
Tujaque's (pronouced two-jacks) - prix fix menu with choice of entree, 2nd oldest restaurant in the Vieux Carre.
Brennan's Bourbon House - get the pan roasted duck and the Plateaux De Fruits De Mer.
Deannie's - get the barbequed shrimp and then eat the remaining sauce with bread.
Cafe du Monde - you'll want an entire order of beignets per person at least - don't stand in line (that's just for to go orders), find a table and brush the powdered sugar onto the flour.
Central Grocery store - this is where the Mufuletta sandwich was invented, lots of great imported Italian foods as well.
Pat O'Briens - this is where the hurricane drink was invented.
Would like to add these to prterrell's recommendations:
Breakfast at Brennans:
(Milk punch and bananas foster prepared tableside.)
http://www.brennansneworleans.com/
Brunch at Court of Two Sisters:
http://www.courtoftwosisters.com/
Things to Do:
The Audubon zoo was very nice, didn't get to see the other sites:
http://www.auduboninstitute.org/
Friends of the Cabildo French Quarter Walking Tour:
(Also info on other types of tours in NO and surrounding area.)
http://www.frenchquarter.com/sightseeing/French-Quarter-Tours.php
St. Louis Cathedral/Jackson Square/French Market:
http://www.stlouiscathedral.org/
http://www.jackson-square.com/about.htm
http://www.frenchmarket.org/
Blue Dog art gallery:
http://www.bluedogrelief.com/about_us.html
HTH
Wow, that was thorough!! Thank you! I hope I have time to see most of your suggestions, because I sure won't have time to see all, they're so many. Now my husband can't say spending time on Cake Central is not very productive: it's a travel planning tool, too. 
Thanks again. I'll let you know how it goes.
- Lilliam
Hi, girls. I just wanted to let you all know how my trip went.
I'll start with the place that got this thread started: Sucre. The place is a like a dream come true. It is beautiful, elegant, the desserts all look incredible, the chocolates were amazing. My husband took a long look around and said: "So this is what your dream business would look like?" The only difference is that I would have cupcakes instead of gelattos.
We also had dinner at Deanie's, BBQ Shrimp, of course. And they are the best I've had. That sauce was amazing!! My husband's only complain was that he had to peel them, but I was so focused on my plate that I did not notice he was subtly asking for help until the last one. Sorry, dear. 
We also went to Cafe Du Monde for beignets, as amazing as described, and walked all over the French Quarter. We planned on having dinner there the second day, but the power was out and most places were closed early or had noisy generators. We also attempted to go for lunch (brunch?) to Emeril's Delmonico but it was closed. ?!?!?
Overall it was a great experience, made better by all of your recommendations. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!
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