The Big Easy Reports--FOOOOOD

You all know that one of the best things about New Orleans is the food, right? Which is why I am befuddled by the 20 cars I saw lined up in the Taco Bell drive-thru at lunchtime today. I felt like running down the line of cars screaming, "You're in New Orleans, you morons! Step away from the chalupas and go get a po'boy!" But I didn't, because that would have been weird. And also possibly have led to my arrest by the N.O.P.D.

No, I did not berate the misguided souls at Taco Bell (SERIOUSLY--Taco Bell in NEW ORLEANS?), but I sure as hell did not eat MY lunch there. After dinner at a disappointing and far too expensive chain restaurant last night, I was on the lookout for a good place for a po'boy today. Also after a morning spent packing and moving things to the truck. I was hungry. And I didn't want another disappointing meal. My time here is limited, and I am loathe to waste one meal of it on crap.

So, driving back to the hotel to drop off the moving truck, I spied a very small, unassuming place in a crappy strip-mall named The Cajun Cafe or something. And I thought to myself, "If A. were with me, that's where he'd say we should eat." You should know that A. has a talent for finding really good, cheap local food when we travel. One of his secrets is to see where cops are eating. Another is to only go to restaurants with a crappy exterior, figuring they'll be more worried about their food than their decorations. The Cajun Cafe seemed to fit the requirements. And THEN, when we got to the hotel, my dad asked the van driver where he would recommend we go for a po'boy in the area. And what did he say?

Did you guess The Cajun Cafe? Dingdingding! You got it in one! It had five tables, some truly terrible and yet awesome murals, and though there were no cops, there WERE mail carriers eating their lunch. The food, as I predicted (BECAUSE I RULE), was fantastic. I got a muffaletta (look it up, kids), my dad got blackened chicken. It was perfect New Orleans food, two blocks from our hotel and less than $10 apiece.

There were other activities today--a fruitless search for sandals because my feet are burnin' UP, and a stop at Whole Foods, which I had never been in and which shocked me by its prices and lack of common food like Triscuits--but lunch was the highlight.

Yes, I come to New Orleans and all I can talk about is my lunch. What can I say? Mardi Gras is over, so there are no beads to flash for, and I'm hangin' with the 'rents, so this is as good as it gets.