Review: Café Du Monde

Tell us about your first impressions when you arrived.
Controlled chaos—it's the culinary Eiffel Tower of the French Quarter.

What was the crowd like?
The lines are lengthy. Always. And yet, everyone seems happy to be here—happy to surround empty tables like vultures, order the usual, and leave their powdered spoils of war picked clean.

What should we be drinking?
Café Du Monde's coffee is nearly as famous as its fritters, but don't ask for a skinny caramel macchiato here. Save the chocolate milk for the kiddos, and go with a black coffee (cut with chicory to keep its bitterness at bay) or a milky café au lait.

Main event: the food. Give us the lowdown—especially what not to miss.
It doesn't get much more classic than the sugar-dusted beignets at Café Du Monde. Are they all that different than a donut without the hole, or fried dough with French flair? That's for you—and more than 10,000 (!) Yelp reviews—to decide.

And how did the front-of-house folks treat you?
The staff exudes patience and efficiency. They're not here to be your friend, though—they're here to wipe tables down, take orders, and repeat.

What’s the real-real on why we’re coming here?
Only the most hardened cynic would skip Café Du Monde when visiting New Orleans for the first time—so make a point of stopping here. Just don't do it in the morning if you can help it, as that's when the wait is at its worst.