Hole in the walls, New Orleans style

I go to Jazz Fest every year as much for the food as the music.

Tonight I had a good meal at the Blind Pelican on St. Charles -- it's near my hotel and after more than 7 hours on the road I settled for convenience. The duck sandwich was outstanding.

 

Reading this thread, I haven't seen many hole-in-the-walls mentioned. All the places are reputable to downright touristy. While neither are bad things, New Orleans has far too many actual "holes in the wall" to settle for reputable or touristy, right?

The closest thing I noticed that fits the "Hole in the Wall" description is Port of Call, which has the best burgers in New Orleans (of course, this is always arguable). But you'll find lots of tourists there and maybe even a Zagat sticker on the door. Ray Davis got shot in the ass once right outside the place when he was stupid enough to try to run down the purse snatcher who just swiped his date's purse. That says a lot. It's Hole-in-the-Wall enough that it's entirely possible to get your purse snatched by a gun-toting bandit outside it (actually, it's in a fairly safe part of the border between the French Quarter and the Marigny). But it's also touristy and "hip" enough for the singer from the Kinks to go there on a visit.

Anyway, if Port of Call is too touristy, go a couple more blocks down Esplanade towards the river, cross the street, and duck into Checkpoint Charlie's. The music is loud. The red beans and rice are good (and free late at night sometimes) and you can even do your laundry. Now THAT's a hole in the wall. It's part of a local chain of 24-hour laundry/bars called Igor's. You can do your laundry, get drunk, grab a bit, watch local live bands and interact with the strange people who choose to live in the quarter and the stranger people who dwell in the Marigny. I once sat at a table and listened to a self-proclaimed witch argue with a self-proclaimed vampire while a stripper acted as the voice of reason. All this while the vampire washed vomit off his denim coat in the laundry while drinking Maker's. Tells you all you need to know about Checkpoint Charlie's.

Another Hole in the Wall relevant to Jazz Fest is a little mediterranean place called Lola's, also on Esplanade, but close to City Park, a couple of blocks from the Fair Grounds (site of Jazz Fest). Very few tables, but good stuff. Small, community restaurant.

A bit touristy, but Molly's at the Market in the FQ has a good jukebox. I once was served drinks there by Harry Connick, Sr. on a celebrity bartender night. He was DA at the time.

There's little reason to cross the bridge to the West Bank or venture into New Orleans East, but if you do, you might try some Vietnamese food. While New Orleans isn't known for Asian fare, it has a large Viet community and lots of GREAT places, most of which very much fall under the 'dive" category.

The cliche one is Pho Tau Bay, just off the West Bank Expressway in Gretna. The story is that it was a popular place in Saigon during the war and after the migration to the US of many Vietnamese, somebody associated with the restaurant opened a booth - years and years later - at some international food fair in New Orleans. It was so popular, they opened the restaurant and it became a thriving chain around New Orleans until Katrina. After Katrina, only the original West Bank location re-opened. Good stuff. Solid Pho. Good Banh Mi. Borders on touristy though, because it's the most popular Viet place in New Orleans with the largest mass appeal.

Just on the other side of the West Bank expressway from Pho Tau Bay is a more down-and-dirty place called 9 Roses. It has a more extensive, and perhaps better, Viet menu. Scary location that makes you want to rush out of your car into the restaurant and back out of the restaurant to the car. But good, good stuff.

I'm not as up to speed with it, but there is a larger Viet population in New Orleans East and a lot of good Viet food on Chef Mentaur Highway. Complete hole in the wall places. I hear the bst banh mi will be found out there, but I don't speak from first hand knowledge.

I'll toss out a few more:

Angelo Brocato's on Carrollton near Canal has the best gelato I can remember getting
Tipitina's. The original one on Napoleon. Find a good local act, like Dirty Dozen or Rebirth and catch a show there.
Ms. Mae's in the quarter

For me, there is something fun about "wandering in" to places in New Orleans too. Of course, in New Orleans that takes a certain amount of knowledge of where it's OK to wander in to places and where that can be a little dangerous.

 

It's not really a hole in the wall, but I had a very nice lunch at Dat Dog yesterday. I tremendous place that does hot dogs as close to gourmet as you can. It's on Freret St., semi-close to Carrollton.

I wasn't bold enough, not with six hours at Jazz Fest ahead of me, to try the alligator or crawfish sausage.