Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd

Oh, how we love unassuming little cafes hidden away on side streets. Especially if the food is good and the people pleasant. That's how it is at Buddy's, a tight but cute little dinette with a classic New Orleans neighborhood menu. Plus fried chicken. My hat is off to them for using the spelling "poor boys" in their official logo.

Mandeville

When the exodus from the South Shore to the North Shore became heavy in the 1980s, almost immediately the relocatees started looking for neighborhood restaurants like the ones they'd enjoyed for decades in and around New Orleans. They didn't find them. The closest approximations were the country-style diners on the major highways, which lacked both charm and good cooking. Eggs Sardou? Pasta with tasso and crawfish cream sauce? Forget about it! By the time of Katrina, the first New Orleans-style neighborhood eateries were finally there, beating the chains in the rish to serve this ballooning market. And so we have places like Liz's.

French Quarter