Where Y'Eat

When it comes to finding a food truck in New Orleans, social media is usually the preferred method. But lately just checking local event listings has been a pretty reliable tool, too.

When the New Orleans Wine & Food Experience honors Leah Chase this weekend, it will be using a potent symbol of hospitality to toast one of the city's enduring examples of what hospitality is all about.

If New Orleans was not specifically pining for a modern coastal Italian dining experience in a refurbished industrial space at the border of the Marigny and Bywater, well, you wouldn't know it by the scene at Mariza on any given night.

New Orleans restaurant culture is abuzz with different flavors, new fashions and even a new lexicon these days. Some places set the pace and others struggle to keep up. But then there are those that ignore them altogether, and in some cases stand apart, by essentially standing still. Leni's Café is one example.

By Ian McNulty

New Orleans, La. –
The procedure for ordering at Jazz Fest food booths is pretty straightforward: you name your dish and fork over cash. At some booths, however, it's common for festival-goers to try to make dinner reservations too.

At a clutch of nonprofit restaurants, the notion of service extends far beyond waiting tables.

A family-run po-boy joint where New Orleans beef meets Buffalo shrimp.

A hole-in-the-wall Peruvian cafe doesn't look like the next big thing, but it's still the spot in the New Orleans area to sample a poly-ethnic cuisine that has foodies across the country buzzing.