New Orleans: French Quarter Food & Cocktail Crawl Tour

4.83

(500 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We ducked off Royal Street just as the air started to thicken with that sweet, boozy smell you only get in the French Quarter. Our guide—Camille, who seemed to know every bartender by name—waved us into this old place with chipped tiles and jazz humming from somewhere out back. First stop: a Sazerac that hit me like history in a glass. I’ll admit, I was nervous about the whole “cocktail crawl” thing (I’m more of a slow sipper), but Camille just grinned and said, “Don’t worry, we pace ourselves.” She was right. We had time to actually taste things—like the way the rye burned just a little before giving way to lemon and something herbal I couldn’t quite place.

Walking between stops meant you caught all these little slices of life—kids chasing each other through puddles, someone singing half-heartedly from a balcony above us. At Napoleon House, red beans and rice came out steaming and earthy; I could smell the sausage before it even hit the table. There was this moment when Li from our group tried to pronounce “beignet” at Café du Monde and totally butchered it—everyone laughed, even the server. Powdered sugar everywhere. The food tour part felt less like checking boxes and more like being invited into someone’s kitchen for stories (and seconds).

The best bit? Camille didn’t stick to some script—she told us about her uncle’s gumbo recipe and pointed out where her grandmother used to buy pralines. We swapped seats at each spot so by the end I’d talked to almost everyone in our little group (fifteen people max). The cocktails changed with each stop—one was smoky, another floral—and I kept thinking how different they tasted in their own corners of New Orleans. Honestly, by the last bite of chargrilled oyster at Seafood Treasure, I was full in every sense: stomach, head, heart. The night felt warm even though rain threatened outside.