gambit’s
twenty one 21 Where to go • What to know
2016-2017
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gambit’s
twenty one 21 Where to go • What to know
Explore New Orleans like a local NEW ORLEANS’ NEIGHBORHOODS OUTSIDE DOWNTOWN HAVE THEIR OWN CHARACTER AND CHARM, and there’s much to see in each of them. Here are Gambit editors’ picks for places you won’t want to miss, arranged by neighborhood.
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ORETHA CASTLE HALEY An old commercial strip gets some new neighbors.
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BYWATER An eclectic neighborhood with a vibrant arts scene. BACCHANAL PHOTO BY
MURAL AND CASA BORREGA
CHERYL GERBER
PHOTOS BY CHERYL GERBER
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FRERET STREET A bustling neighborhood core by day, entertainment district by night. GASA GASA, CURE AND CRES-
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CENT CITY COMICS PHOTOS BY CHERYL GERBER
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BAYOU ROAD A cultural center for the Esplanade Ridge area.
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COLISEUM SQUARE An anchor for the Lower Garden District. COLISEUM SQUARE PHOTO
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CREATIVE COMMONS
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BAYOU ST. JOHN/ CITY PARK Culture, nature and entertainment near the water.
A revitalizing street comes of age.
LAKEFRONT/ LAKEVIEW Lake Pontchartrain wraps its arms around this neighborhood.
ALGIERS POINT A historic neighborhood just across the Mississippi River.
OTHER
BY STEPHEN/
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ST. CLAUDE
Other sights to see and places to go in New Orleans
COVER PHOTOS BY IHEARTNOLA.COM
GAM BIT ’ S 2 1 GU I D E 2016 – 2017
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Oretha Castle Haley
BLOCKS FROM ST. CHARLES AVENUE, THE COMMERCIAL STRIP HAS BEEN REVITALIZED in recent years by museums, performance spaces, nonprofits and restaurants. In the early 1990s, Ashe Cultural Arts Center led the revitalization of this Central City thoroughfare with the creation of a multipurpose cultural center that presents art expos, theater and community events, and it recently expanded with the new Ashe Power House Theater. Newer cultural institutions, restaurants and performance spaces include the Southern Food & Beverage Museum, which celebrates New Orleans and Southern cooking, Adolfo Garcia's Primitivo, which specializes in open-hearth cooking, and the People's Health New Orleans Jazz Market.
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Roux Carre
The cluster of food stalls is a business incubator for Latin American, Caribbean and New Orleans cuisine.
dr ink
CULTURE VULTURE
Casa Borrega
Ashe Cultural Arts Center is home to art shows and community events.
The cantina’s bar serves an array of tequila and mezcal cocktails.
alter-native film
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Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center screens a first-rate slate of alternative, independent and foreign flicks and documentaries.
p sho
cooking for a cause The nonprofit casual Creole restaurant Cafe Reconcile offers service industry training to at-risk youth.
Dryades Public Market
The grocery store has local foods plus a bar, coffee bar and oyster bar.
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FRERET STREET
WALK FROM ONE END OF THE EIGHT-BLOCK FRERET STREET CORRIDOR from Napoleon to Jefferson avenues near Uptown universities to take in several different scenes. There’s more than a dozen places to eat — hot dogs at Dat Dog, cheesesteaks at Liberty Cheesesteaks, upscale Italian at Ancora Pizzeria & Salumeria, Latin American at Sarita’s Grill, deep dish pizza at Midway, southern at High Hat Cafe, coffee at Mojo and The Rook Cafe, Vietnamese at Mint, cocktails and killer sandwiches at Wayfare and sushi at Origami. Then there’s burger titan Company Burger and cocktail bastion Cure firmly reigning as the final boss for Freret’s multi-leveled gauntlet. At its newer, louder, diversely populated heart is Gasa Gasa, Uptown’s home for electronic pop, hiphop, indie rock and all-ages punk shows. The Bowery South books some of the best touring artists at the intimate music venue masquerading as an art gallery. There’s a colorful courtyard and food trucks just a few steps from the front doors.
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CULTURE VULTURE
CHEAP DATE
Late night
There are nearly 100 vendors at the Freret Art Market on the first Saturday of every month.
Three words: Happy hour crawl. Pro tip: Sarita’s chips and queso are on the house.
Schlitz tall boys and SkeeBall at Other Bar.
T EA
Company Burger
It’s two patties on the griddle with American cheese, onions and pickles. It rules. Don’t ask for lettuce.
dr ink
Cure
Ground zero for New Orleans cocktail culture. A mezcal Negroni will put you on another planet.
p sho
Crescent City Comics
The shop moved its main comic book megacampus to Calhoun Street, but here there’s gaming, apparel and other odds and ends. G A MBI T’S 21 G U I D E 2 01 6 – 2 01 7
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BAYOU ROAD
BRANCHING OFF FROM ESPLANADE AVENUE AND ITS SHADED TOWNHOUSES AND MANSIONS, BAYOU ROAD IS A CASUAL CULTURAL HUB winding several blocks to the gates of the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots. The quiet strip through a residential area on the edge of Mid-City has blossomed with cafes and businesses. Stop by Pagoda Cafe early for coffee and pastries, browse the used cookbooks at Kitchen Witch Cookbooks or take in the nightlife at Club Caribbean.
T EA
Coco Hut
Caribbean food in an ultra-casual setting.
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FREE YOUR MIND The Community Book Center offers African-centered books and gifts and is a neighborhood meeting spot.
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Pirogues
There are craft cocktails and creative bar food.
ART COLONY The Joan Mitchell Center hosts monthly coffees with artists in residence and other events.
p sho
BEST BETS
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There’s thoroughbred racing during winter and Jazz Fest every spring at the Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots.
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Domino Sound Record Shack
Dig through bins of reggae, funk, punk and jazz on vinyl.
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Coliseum Square/
Lower Garden District
PHOTO BY STEPHEN/CREATIVE COMMONS
COLISEUM SQUARE AND THE LOWER GARDEN DISTRICT HAVE MUCH TO RECOMMEND, including a mix of boutiques and restaurants at the tail end of the Magazine Street drag and the unpretentious bars that carry the area through the evening. During the day, walk surrounding neighborhoods to see some of New Orleans’ most impressive Greek Revival mansions. At night, grab a courtyard table at a neighborhood bar for beers and conversation or saddle up for a not-so-high-stakes game of trivia. Many businesses in this area have a devoted mostly-local clientele—an increasingly rare feature in the city.
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Juan's Flying Burrito
A tattooed staff slings tacos, burritos and margaritas.
dr ink
House Hunting Residential blocks have jawdropping hidden architectural gems.
Brunching
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Surrey’s Cafe & Juice Bar, District Donuts and Stein’s Market & Deli are stress-free brunch options.
Lens Crafting
The Saint
An after-midnight dive with a surprisingly nice tiki patio.
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Plum
Admire beyond-Instagram pics and see film screenings at New Orleans Photo Alliance.
The eclectic gift store’s accessories and jewelry range from glamour to kitsch.
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bayou st. john
THIS AREA OF MID-CITY IS NAMED FOR THE WATER FEATURE THAT FLOWS FROM NEW ORLEANS CITY PARK TO THE NEWLY OPENED LAFITTE GREENWAY. Before Hurricane Katrina, the bayou was neglected and underused; today it is popular with boaters, kayakers, bikers, joggers and picnickers. Downtown Mardi Gras Indian tribes stage their traditional “Super Sunday” there each March, and the Bayou Boogaloo music festival takes over the bayou’s banks in May. There are several neighborhood restaurants and bars nearby — and City Park, with its museum and green space is worth a trip in itself.
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CULTURE VULTURE
happy trails
Visit the New Orleans Museum of Art in City Park.
Run or bike the Lafitte Greenway from downtown to Mid-City.
beer or wine? The Bayou Beer Garden and Bayou Wine Garden are next door to each other.
GAM BIT ’ S 2 1 GU I D E 2016 – 2017
T EA
Blue Oak BBQ
Get roasted garlic mac-and-cheese with your brisket.
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Pal's Lounge
The Ginger-Rita is refreshing — and potent.
p sho
Canal Furniture Liquidators
Enormous liquidation warehouse with serious furniture bargains.
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bywater
THIS UPPER 9TH WARD NEIGHBORHOOD IS A PASTICHE OF BARGEBOARD SHOTGUN HOUSES, dou-
T EA
The Joint
Slow-smoked meats star at this counter-service barbecue joint (which doubles as a Pokemon gym).
dr ink
Bacchanal
There’s no better place to guzzle wine and listen to jazz than this leafy, tiki-torch lit patio.
p sho
Euclid Records
Browse crates of used and new vinyl, tapes and CDs.
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ble-galleried structures and graffitied warehouses, hemmed by the Press Street train tracks and the Mississippi River. Ground zero for heated gentrification debates, in recent years it’s seen an uptick in bars, restaurants and public parks, with Crescent Park opening in 2014 and Mickey Markey Park getting a makeover. Bywater has become a trendy spot, but with roots that go back to 1806, it’s one of the Vieux Carre’s oldest suburbs.
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Pigskin Dreams
Vintage Bywater
Bar Code
J&J’s Sports Lounge is the spot to watch the New Orleans Saints if you don’t want to be the only belligerent drunk yelling at officials.
Wild Mountain Vintage sells women’s clothing and accessories, some by local designers, in a colorful, muraled space.
The Christmas-light strung bar Vaughan’s Lounge features live music, friendly bartenders and free food on New Orleans Saints game days.
GAM BIT ’ S 2 1 GU I D E 2016 – 2017
T EA
Pizza Delicious
The best foldable, New York-style pizza in the city.
dr ink
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Fruits de mer
SEE YOUR WORLD
Food + music
Jack Crescent Park, SatisfyingDempsey’s a 1.4-mile linly greasy seafood ear park that pub grub, a platters, connects the pocket-sized gumbo and French Quarpatio and boiled crawter, Marigny rotating local fish satisfy and Bywater, acts ranging seafood offers sweepfrom goth cravings. ing views of DJs to burthe Mississippi lesque are on River and schedule at downtown. Bar Redux.
The Country Club
Come for the saltwater pool; stay for the drag brunch with bottomless mimosas.
p sho
Webb's Bywater Music
This is the spot for used and new instruments, accessories and sound equipment--plus, owner Paul Webb does repairs.
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GAM BIT ’ S 2 1 GU I D E 2016 – 2017
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GAM BIT ’ S 2 1 GU I D E 2016 – 2017
ST. Claude AVENUE
SOMETIMES CALLED THE “ST. CLAUDE CULTURAL DISTRICT,”
this busy avenue stretches from the Marigny to Bywater, and is in various stages of rebuilding and gentrification. On the Marigny end, you’ll find clubs like The AllWays Lounge, Hi-Ho Lounge and Siberia that feature live music and performance, while small restaurants, galleries and secondhand shops dot every other block or so. The New Orleans Healing Center is a large communal space with shops, a food co-op and another concert/ theater space (Cafe Istanbul).
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The Cheezy Cajun
Cajun meats meet Wisconsin dairy at this casual spot.
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Market Down
Kajun’s Pub
The old St. Roch seafood market now is home to an eclectic array of food stalls.
Neighborhood hangout with nightly karaoke.
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Funny People
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The New Movement Theater presents stand-up, sketch and improv comedy nightly.
Szechuan Deli At Red’s Chinese, try the kung pao pastrami.
Islands of Salvation Botanica
A botanica with Voodoo-themed art, books and candles.
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Tattoo Museum NEW ORLEANS
We never fight. Instead, we practice cooperatively, and every movement is designed to resolve conflict peacefully. Join us for a free class.
504.208.4861 | nolaaikido.com
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GAM BIT ’ S 2 1 GU I D E 2016 – 2017
lakefront/ lakeview
NEW ORLEANS’ LAKEFRONT NEIGHBORHOOD stretches along the shore of Lake Pontchartrain from the 166-year-old Southern Yacht Club and municipal marinas toward the University of New Orleans. For landlubbers, there are recreational spaces to walk, jog or bike along Lakeshore Drive and picnic in park areas. Along the docks, there are bars and seafood restaurants with elevated decks offering views of the lake and sunsets over the Causeway. Harrison Avenue is a busy hub through the heart of the quiet Lakeview neighborhood. It’s crowded with shops, restaurants and bars, and on the second Wednesday of fall months, there is food, music and arts and crafts by local artisans at the Harrison Avenue Marketplace. Near the University of New Orleans, the Sandbar hosts music by established and up-and-coming jazz bands.
T EA
District DonutsSliders-Brew
The artisanal doughnut shop offers Croquenuts (grilled doughnut sandwiches), salads, sliders and breakfast.
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Culture Vulture
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New Canal Lighthouse was built in 1839 to guide vessels traveling the canal from the lake to the present site of the Superdome and since has become a museum.
nature lover
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There are spots all along Lakeshore Drive to picnic, do morning yoga, jog or bike, and the end of Marina Way offers a great view of the lake and the lakefront.
Mondo
Weekday happy hour specials at Chef Susan Spicer's restaurant include $6 specialty cocktails and $3 draft beers.
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Swoon Boutique
late night Parlay’s Bar and Basin Lakeview keep the party going daily until 3 a.m.
The shop offers trendy clothes for women, as well as swimwear, shoes, handbags and accessories.
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ALGIERS POINT
THE CITY’S SECOND-OLDEST NEIGHBORHOOD, ALGIERS POINT was part of a vast swatch of land granted to Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, Sieur de Bienville, founder of New Orleans, and was part of the food supply chain for French settlers. Though physically separated from the East Bank by the Mississippi River, a ferry system (exact fare, cash only) has kept the two banks connected since 1827. The neighborhood has a village-like ambience and is rich in architectural history, with residences dating to the 1840s. It also was home to jazz pioneers including Papa Celestin and Kid Valentine. A paved path atop the levee is used by joggers, pedestrians and bicyclists.
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CULTURE VULTURE
EXPLORE HISTORY
Late night
Visit the Algiers Folk Art Zone & Blues Museum (by appointment).
The Algiers Point Association offers free self-guided tour maps at www. algierspoint.org.
Old Point Bar has live music Thursday through Sunday and cheap drinks and interesting characters all the time.
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Tout de Suite
Eat yummy health food with neighborhood residents and artsy types.
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Crown & Anchor
Hoist a Guinness and take in the vintage decor at this casual English pub.
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Rosetree Blown Glass
This working glass studio housed in an art-deco former theater sells hand-blown vases, bowls, ornaments and more.
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View the Digital
Edition
bestofneworleans.com/current to find the latest New Orleans news, food and entertainment
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GAM BIT ’ S 2 1 GU I D E 2016 – 2017
The other Directory Alternative entertainment you should check out
PORT Downtown arts venue, from Quintron’s Weather Warlock performances to graffiti art shows.
New Orleans Airlift Music Box noisemakers and art incubators.
Parisite skate park New Orleans’ only free public skate park is in Gentilly under the Interstate 10 overpass and is a labor of love built by skaters for skaters.
Mudlark Public Theater Marigny performance space for avant-garde electronics, puppet theater and other events.
Big Dick’s House of Big Boobs DIY strip club with next-level costumes and performances.
Sisters in Christ Record store, zine dealer, brickand-mortar for New Orleans’ alternative database www.noladiy.org.
Saint Heron Solange Knowles’ record label, imprint and cultural clearinghouse frequently hosts events.
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