SORTEDfood Tours New Orleans, Louisiana

Our Game Changers trips usually take us to destinations we’ve never visited before, but New Orleans is an exception – we'd spent a couple of days here about four years ago. Now, you might think this would dampen our excitement, but knowing the type of experience we were in for only added to the anticipation of returning.

In all our years of traveling, no other city has left such a mark on our hearts as New Orleans. The city has a magical mix of qualities – some of the friendliest people, food created with love, passion and tradition, and, of course, one of the most unique music scenes imaginable.

Any one of these qualities by itself would be enough to create a special location, but combine them all together, and you have the one and only New Orleans.

We had been told by our community to find as many po’boy sandwiches as we could, so we set out using their recommendations to find a good mix of traditional and "new wave" sandwiches, which wasn’t hard work.

For one of the oldest, most traditional and highly recommended po’boys from our community, we were told to head to Mid-City and visit the Parkway Bakery & Tavern, an undeniable stalwart of the New Orleans food scene, operating since 1911! Obviously, we had to order their signature po'boy, the Home Cooked Roast Beef with Gravy.

Here is where we made our big mistake. We unwrapped the sandwich to get some close-up ‘"sexy" shots of the dish, and the whole thing unraveled to create the messiest sandwich anyone’s ever tried to eat! But this only added to the experience – we got completely stuck in and mopped up every last drop of the gorgeous, rich beef stew in proper, finger-licking style.

We were also recommended to head to the French Quarter to Killer Poboys, which expands the traditional po'boy concept with the use of seasonal, local ingredients to create chef-inspired flavors. Our favorite? The Dark & Stormy Pork Belly with lime slaw and garlic aioli was absolutely mind-blowing.

But it wasn’t all about po’boys. We were also lucky enough to get a table in the Garden Room at Commander’s Palace, another New Orleans landmark that’s existed in the Garden District since 1893. This award-winning, top-quality restaurant has been at the top of visitor lists for over a century, and it’s easy to see why. From the famous turtle soup to the theatrical bananas Foster, made right in front of us at the table, Commander’s Palace is a must-visit when in the city.

How could we top off such an incredible day of food? Obviously, by burning off the excess calories we’d eaten by dancing our way along Frenchmen Street. Hopping between bars, we stopped in whichever world-class live music establishment caught our attention as we walked through the heart of New Orleans.

There really is nowhere in the world like New Orleans, Louisiana. Even though we’ve just got back home, we’re already busy planning our next trip back to the Big Easy!