Abita Brewing Company

The Great N.O. Road Trip

by Kyle Petrozza

As the weather warms and we humid beings begin to emerge from our drafty homes a faint call can be heard coming across the lake. It sounds a bit like: Beer! Fill your car with whoever is thirsty, aim for the causeway and behold the New Orleans road trip. Abita beer is ubiquitous in the city and can be found across the state, in better bottle shops around the country, and in the clutched hand of many a passed out reveler. The brewery tour goes something like this: Arrive at the tasting room where ... Continue

Mid-City Lanes Rock 'N' Bowl

Rock 'n' Bowl!

by Kyle Petrozza

Ah, bowling. Whether it's making a comeback or has never left is up to you and Woody Harrelson to decide but here in New Orleans, Mid City Lane's Rock 'N' Bowl remains an undisputed standard in classic fun. The clapboard, intimate, character filled lanes of yesteryear have given way to the new, cavernous alley/bar/venue/conference space. Devoid of the cheesy laser lights and house music of "galactic bowling" alleys, Rock 'n' bowl sports a well stocked bar, a stage that hosts some of the city's f ... Continue

Haydel's Bakery

The Patron Saint of Cakes

by Kyle Petrozza

This unassuming bakery way out on Jefferson highway has been providing New Orleanians' with their traditional sugar fix for three generations. David Haydel's status as "the only baker in Louisiana that is internationally certified as a Craftsman and Master Baker" may have something to do with the uncommonly delicious delicacies that make their way out the door and onto the tables of the city. Arguably one of the city's best King Cakes, they ship them all over the country for those homesick sou ... Continue

River Road Flea Market

Treasure Hunting

by Kyle Petrozza

In a city overflowing with furniture suitable for the Sun King, and some of it dating back to his reign, its safe to say that you have choices when it comes to decking out the shotgun. The River Road Flea Market steps in to fill the gap between yard sales and consignment shops hooked up via conveyor belt to the mansions of St Charles. The walls stand filled with time machines ready to take you and your dollars for a ride back to say, Acadiana c. 1953. Giant metal crawfish hang from the ceiling, ... Continue

St. James Cheese Company

Cheese Please

by Kyle Petrozza

You've just picked up your favorite Côtes du Rhône from the Wine Seller when it hits you that you don't know a Lincolnshire Poacher from a Stinking Bishop. Fear not, the neighbors have you covered. The St James is an encyclopedia of all-things-once-milk as much as it is a lunch spot. The staff will kindly help you navigate the mounds of stinking goodness as locals gathered around small tables take to their lunches of charcuterie platters, salads, and cheese sandwiches you wish your momma made fo ... Continue

Prytania Theatre

Cinema Paradiso

by Kyle Petrozza

The Prytania is your quintessential neighborhood nickelodeon. It lacks the seediness of a back alley screening of Seventh Seal and is worlds away from anything resembling a "plex.." Prime time slots are filled with the latest family friendly, mind numbing blockbusters. It's in those off hours though, when the tykes are off at school or dreaming of Hannah Montana, that the theatre hikes up its skirt to show off its roots. The midnite hour brings the twenty-and-thirty-somethings into full nostalgi ... Continue

Gene's Po-Boys

Hurt So Good

by Anna Marschalk-Burns

So maybe you find yourself stumbling down St.Claude with fishnet stockings inexplicably braided through your hair and some suspicious bruises. And suddenly you see the hot pink exterior of Gene's calling out to you, beckoning you with flat soda and po-boys. Flakey, crunchy french bread po-boys cradling a spicy hunk of meat, smothered in cheese, drenched in mayo. Pure hedonism wrapped in sandwich paper. This is going to hurt later, you tell yourself but no more than a hangover or a sex sustained ... Continue

Stein's Market & Deli

Deli of the Gods

by Kyle Petrozza

Face it, New Orleans is filled with more than just Creoles and LSU fans and for better or worse, many of us have come from the Northeast. Such is the case with Stein's Market and Deli; unquestionably for the better. In a city filled with all manner of things fried then stuffed inside thick loaves of white baguette it is a damn good day when you find hot pastrami, Swiss, and slaw on seeded rye. Philly's pennants, Tastycakes, and Herr's chips speak to Stein's heritage of brotherly love but don't l ... Continue