Cafe du Monde - New Orleans, LA

Posted By Michael Stern on January 23, 2008 10:09 AM

Café du Monde is the New Orleans coffee shop, and it has been for about a century and a half. It is always open, and the characters you’ll meet here – any time of day, but especially at odd hours in the middle of the night – are among the Crescent City’s most colorful.

Seating is mostly outdoors, and chances are good that you will be serenaded as you sit under the awning by street musicians of the French Quarter. The menu is limited to chickory coffee, either black or au lait (with a lot of milk), white or chocolate milk, orange juice, and beignets. Beignets are wonderful: square, hole-less donuts, served hot from the fry kettle and heaped with powdered sugar.

After leisurely coffee-sipping and beignet-eating, you can stroll across Decatur Street to the place where fortune tellers, tarot card readers, and palmists set up shop every evening and discover your future.

Overall Rating

18 out of 18 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes

Posted By kevin on November 12, 2011 10:39 PM

This place has really good beignets, OK? Maybe the best in New Orleans even. Access is tough via car, so park and walk unless you do like I do and hit it around 7am, when you can park right out front.

That said, you go in, sit yourself down, the lady comes over and takes your order and, in like less than three minutes you get smoking hot, powdered sugared beignets and your super-awesome coffee/cafe au lait. It is a stunning combo that may make you rethink donuts and wonder why you cannot get beignets all over the US.

The only bummer is this is a cash-only operation. Bring cash or else. Also, this place is not just popular; it is a hot ticket popular. During their rush times (most of the day) don't plan on lollygagging as they need to turn that (your) table, so fill up and get to steppin'! Not a tourist trap but an institution. Do not miss.

Overall Rating

cafe au lait

beignets

1 out of 1 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes

Posted By Sean Fluharty on November 8, 2004 5:35 PM

You would think that there's nothing spectacular about fried wedges of dough dusted heavily with powedered sugar, and I thought the same thing 15 years ago when I moved to Louisiana from Pittsburgh. Yet every time I'm in the Crescent City, I feel compelled to make a trip to Cafe du Monde. There's nothing better on a Saturday or Sunday morning than a plate of beignets and a cup of cafe' au lait. The bustling crew of waiters and waitresses, the long line of customers, the spilled sprinkles of sugar on the ground, and the pigeons fighting for any morsels which might reach the ground. It's a unique dining experience, not one to be missed.

Overall Rating

8 out of 8 people found the review helpful. Was it helpful to you?

No Yes