Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon

By Thomas Pearce Haiku is unlike any other Japanese restaurant I’ve tried around town. It has a sort of hybrid feeling, reminiscent both of the highest-caliber sushi bars and the quirky neighborhood joint. You get a relaxed, classy experience, but at prices that won't break the budget of anyone who has a budget. (How's yours?) The a restaurant's multiple dining areas give adaptable moods. The menu caters to both the novice and the hard-to-please sushi palate, with excellent, very fresh daily specials and custom orders.

Uptown 4: Riverbend, Carrollton & Broadmoor

Everything about Cowbell cries out for a battered, hand-painted wooden sign in front that says, "Last Chance For New Orleans Food!" Cross that railroad track, and you have indeed left the city, in a neighborhood that does indeed resemble the End Of The World. The place is such a wreck (an intentional design statement) that it places in the mind the idea that you could find a cleaner and more comfortable place to eat with food as good. This is largely an illusion, but something they should consider.

Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd

Metairie has not often been the home of neighborhood cafes for which New Orleans proper is celebrated. But there are a few such, and they have a way of being fun and good to find. Bistro Orleans is one of these. Taking over a space in a strip mall that has been home for a number of good to superb restaurants over the years, Bistro Orleans has that blend of seafood, sandwiches and Italian food which, with a few daily specials, adds up to the neighborhood flavor.