Felix's Restaurant and Oyster Bar

(Picture by: natedougherty)

The last restaurant we visited on our trip to new Orleans was Felix's Restaurant and Oyster Bar on the corner of Iberville and Bourbon Street. It's one of the most well-known places for oysters in the area, but it definitely has a mom-and-pop diner feel to it. The decor is simple and the employees are really friendly.

The oysters are, not suprisingly, outstanding. Jonathan Swift wrote, "He was a bold man that first eat an oyster," and Sarah has yet to try one. I love, them, though--I first tried them at Whole Foods a few months ago. Felix's has other good food besides oysters, however.

For appetizers, we sampled the shrimp remoulade, grilled oysters and raw oysters. The remoulade had a nice horseradish kick to it, and the oysters tasted like oysters "scampi." They were topped with garlic, butter and breadcrumbs(?) and were tender and not overcooked. The raw oysters were very fresh and tasty.

(Photo by: SaraRose423)

For our entrees, Sarah ordered shrimp creole, Jonathan had chicken fingers, and I had red beans and rice. The shrimp creole was quite good, and the red beans and rice were excellent, especially the sausage.

(Photo by: nmyra)

To drink, I started with an Abita Andygator, a high gravity lager. It was quite strong, served in a belgian-beer style goblet and had a very good flavor and clean finish. I finished the meal with an Abita Amber, a Munich-style lager, which was also good. Abita is to New Orleans what Great Lakes Brewing is to Cleveland. There is a huge variety of styles, most of which are not available outside the nearby brewing region. The main difference, I'd say, is in the "crispness" of Abita beers, which seems tailored to the warmer weather, versus the somewhat heavier profile of Great Lakes beers. I really like both breweries, though, and I'd pick Great Lakes for Cleveland winters.

Speaking of drinking, there's a whole lot of it that goes on right outside Felix's on Bourbon Street. We were a bit intimidated by the noise level (and it wasn't even Mardis Gras), but there's definitely a much more peaceful vibe inside the restaurant.

We'd strongly recommend a visit to Felix's anytime you're in New Orleans!