zapp's

Have you had these chips? You may see them here and there around Atlanta but these chips are everywhere in New Orleans and, I imagine, the surround areas. Zapp's are kettle chips with some kickin Louisiana flavors that you just can't find in typical grocery stores in Georgia.

We had a bag (or two) of these a day during our stay at New Orleans, trying out each flavor and experimenting with different chip combinations. My favorites were the Voodoo and the Spicy Cajun Crawtators. The Voodoo is a hexalicious combination of salty, savory, and slight spiciness that keeps your hand reaching in for more. The Spicy Crawtator tastes like a combination of spicy Cajun spices with shrimp cracker seasoning mixed together on a kettle chip. While both are good by themselves, I think they're better when eaten together. The Voodoo can get salty after awhile so balancing it out with the spicy, shrimpy/crawfishy taste of the Spicy Crawtators is perfect.

If you're Canadian like your boy, you've had Ketchup chips before. The spicy ketchup chips is exactly what it sounds like and it's awesome. If you like Tobasco ketchup, you'll like that flavor. The sweet potato was good though not memorable and the WHO DAT is actually regular kettle chips but the packaging is cool so I'm giving props where it's due.

bourbon house (new orleans, la)

(shrimp po boy)

On the first floor of the Astor Crowne is where my favorite shrimp po boy in New Orleans is located - Bourbon House.

I had a lot of shrimp po boys while I was in New Orleans but the po boy at Bourbon House was, in my opinion, the best. Here's why - they use bigger shrimp compared to some of the other places in town I visited and the shrimp were fried to a juicy, golden perfection. "Dressed" [mayo, lettuce, tomato, pickle - (also known as the class IB anti-arrhythmics. Google that one kids)] inside a soft, Leidenheimer French bread...it's simply magical. You see those fries in front of that behemoth of a sandwich? They're crispy, seasoned beautifully and awesome. A great compliment to the po boy. At about $1-2 more or on par in terms of price with its competitors, I'll take the Bourbon House po boy any day and lots of it while I'm in New Orleans.

Also very tasty is the seafood gumbo at Bourbon House. This seafood gumbo is excellent but can't really be compared to the other traditional gumbos in town because the taste is different. This gumbo is cleaner and more refined whereas the other local gumbos are more reminiscent of what you'd expect of New Orleans gumbo. One isn't better than the other per se, just a different type of gumbo.

Final Thoughts - loved the shrimp po boy at the Bourbon House and I recommend checking this place out for lunch or dinner.

gumbo shop (new orleans, la)

Gumbos were the perfect remedies throughout our stay in New Orleans because it was cold, rainy, windy, and downright freezing most of the time. One of the most memorable gumbos we had was at the Gumbo Shop located off Saint Peter Street.

(left - seafood, right - chicken andouille)

We tried both of the gumbos: the seafood and the chicken andouille. Both were really tasty but the seafood gumbo was the favorite. The flavors were deep and bold with a good amount of shrimp and crab meat. Paired with a hot, buttered baguette this gumbo is fit to soothe any weary soul. The chicken gumbo was also well done and I'd recommend it for people who are looking for a thicker, heartier, chicken soup.

Even a cup of the Gumbo Shop's gumbo is quite filling and is a perfect snack when that 16:00 hunger hits right before dinner time.