Above: Bourbon St. from Conti (or somewhere very near there) looking toward town on Christmas Day morning about 11am - the bars were open, but nary a soul in sight…We believe that the street sweepers also had the day off. We were headed to Cafe DuMonde - again! - because hotel staff thought that they were open. They weren’t. Sadness.

I have to mention the hotels where we stayed on this trip because one was horrific and the other two were outstanding. You might want to note the worst one so that you can avoid it in your travels throughout the south as well. Plus I’ve added notes about our Haunted History Tour, so read on…

NO NO NO to Best Western

Eliminate this name from your brain: Best Western. This used to be a semi-classy hotel chain at a reasonable price. But, I’ve stayed at a few Best Westerns over the past year and I’ve been constantly disappointed. This last experience just put me over the edge, and I’ll never, ever stay at a Best Western again.

The name and location of the last culprit is the Best Western Riverchase Inn, 1800 Riverchase Drive, Birmingham, AL, situated in Hoover directly across from the Riverchase Galleria (”largest mall in the southeast”). I walked into the lobby with a cheery, “Happy Holidays,” and the woman who manned the desk moved slowly from in front of the TV in the lobby to behind the counter with a grunt and a scowl. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by beanybabe at 4:38 PM PST

No Comments »

On the morning after Christmas we packed the car and left it with the valet as we hoofed it down to Brennan’s Restaurant on Royal Street. My daughter and I were dressed in dress pants with jackets, and Hugh looked dapper in his high casual attire as usual. We knew that Brennan’s expected ties for dinner, so we were dressed down just a tad from dinner for breakfast. We felt elegant enough for Bananas Foster, if you know what I mean.

So, our only disappointment with Brennan’s was that they allowed clientele who were dressed in shorts, t-shirts, and jeans to dine for breakfast. Granted, these individuals were escorted to the farthest room in the restaurant, far from sight; and, granted, Brennan’s appeared to need clientele, as our front room held only four filled tables out of approximately twelve. But, that sight was just sad. To Hugh, in his sometimes old-school ways, it seemed a matter of disprespect for the restaurant And, this time my daughter and I agreed.

Beyond this dismay, Brennan’s was everything I had dreamed about, it was everything that I told my daughter it would be, and it was everything that Hugh remembered. Here’s the lowdown on our menus for breakfast, where we all ordered the “Three Course Prix Fixe”: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by beanybabe at 3:47 PM PST

No Comments »

Photos in this review: Tujague’s Restaurant on a sunny Saturday, 23 December 2006.

Did Hugh ever hear about Tujague’s Restaurant, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans? No. Did I know about this restaurant? Yes. Well, I’d seen it before (located in the heart of the French Quarter, facing the historic French Market), but I didn’t know anything about it until I began to place reservations for our eating holiday. Two rules I had to follow: no suit or tie (so Brennan’s for dinner was out), and the restaurant, of course, had to be open on Christmas day. Tujague’s seemed to fit that bill, and its history and its 150-year-old traditional menu intrigued me, so I booked our reservations. Unfortunately, Tujague’s was the only real disappointment in our holiday binge.

As my daughter and I walked and shopped the French Quarter, we tossed out a few restaurant names to hear local reactions. Every time we uttered the word, “Tujague’s,” the locals would shake their heads in disapproval. The main reason behind this negativity was that the critics felt that the food wasn’t up to par. We had hoped to prove them wrong, because we were under the assumption that we were about to be treated to a six course, table d’hote menu built around such staples as savory Shrimp Remoulade and Tujague’s own traditional beef brisket with Creole sauce. We did savor the Shrimp Remoulade, and the beef brisket with horseradish-heavy Creole sauce was heavenly. But, past these two courses and some interesting side table antics, the meal went downhill rapidly. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by beanybabe at 2:45 PM PST

No Comments »

We really didn’t understand New Orleans’ growing pains until my daughter and I showed up for our Christmas Eve Ghost Tour on Sunday night. Since we were the only two people on the tour, our tour guide fell into a conversational mode and gave us a run down on some of the problems that locals have experienced post-Katrina.

The main point here is that we felt that the service we experienced at NOLA was a little off the previous evening. Not that noticeable, but it was somewhat disjointed. Since we were content with the food at Commander’s Palace the next day, we forgave the missing butter for the bread and the fact that our checks were switched with another table at meal’s end. But you could tell that the wait staff seemed very confused and/or inexperienced at the latter restaurant.

Hugh knew that the service was way off kilter at both restaurants from his previous experiences at these two places. The reason behind this, our tour guide explained, is that these restaurants really didn’t reopen until just a few weeks or months ago (this fact slipped our minds). The previous wait staff at Commander’s Palace - according to our tour guide - earned about $70,000 per year. They weren’t making that kind of money after Katrina - especially since Commander’s Palace reopened just a few weeks ago. So the seasoned wait staff moved on to other cities and these restaurants now are training new staff. Hence the little glitches here and there.

But, other than our disappointment with the veal at NOLA, everything to this point is running on 10’s. Remember our deal about ordering an appetizer, entree, and dessert? At Commander’s Palace we didn’t have a choice, as each dinner came with an appetizer and dessert - for a very reasonable price as well. Here’s the rundown for Commander’s Palace Jazz Brunch: Read the rest of this entry »

Posted by beanybabe at 12:34 AM PST

No Comments »

The weather on Saturday morning in New Orleans was in high contrast to the previous day when I took the photo of Cafe DuMonde shown here. It was warm, bright, sunny and just plain beautiful on Saturday. Sunday started out drizzly, damp and cool and the weather went downhill from there.

But, the cool weather was perfect for coffee and beignets at Cafe DuMonde. After our treat, my daughter and I wiped the confectioner’s sugar off our faces and headed out to do more shopping.

We scored points with the locals when we told them that we saved our Christmas shopping for the Big Easy. “I wish there were more people like you,” one shop owner said. “We’re not dead! Let everyone know that the Crescent City is hoppin’,” another resident stated. More and more people opened up to us to tell us about shops that were failing, restaurants that might not make it (Antoine’s for one), and disasters that befell others (Brennan’s lost their entire wine cellar during Katrina - a huge loss).

Ok folks - we’re doing our bit to let you know that New Orleans isn’t dead - but it sure looks it at times. We actually viewed Bourbon Street without a soul on it at one point (Granted, that was Christmas morning, but wow - the bars were open). New Orleans needs your dollars and your soles! Get down here and spend a few bucks at the hotels, the restaurants, and at the shops. We didn’t spend much, but we helped a few wait staff pay their telephone bills this month, and we gave the retailers and restaurant owners every last spending dollar that we had. And, we had a great time!

Posted by beanybabe at 11:23 PM PST

No Comments »