New Orleans hotels, home to Big Easy eats

New Orleans' famous Rib Room. Credit: Rauch

Sure, New Orleans is famous for Mardi Gras and football, but the  N’awlins joie de vivre is a year-round lifestyle that speaks more to your gastronomic counterparts: feasting on rich, otherworldly foods. And in this Cajun Creole capital, it’s entirely possibly to satisfy the most exotic of cravings from within your very own hotel.

Loews New Orleans Hotel is home to Café Adelaide & the Swizzle Stick Bar where the cocktails are avant-garde and true to New Orleans fashion, nothing is done in a small way.  With their one-of-a-kind dedication to living the good life, their delectable platters more than back it up.

If prime rib more your thing, the Rib Room in the French Quarter’s Omni Royal Orleans won’t disappoint. A Zagat Award-winner, it dishes up its famous prime rib and a myriad of other beefy delights. The Rib Room has special menus for low-cholesterol or veggie-friendly dining. There’s even a Sunday Champagne Jazz Brunch complete with “Sugar Bear and the Jazz Cats” to keep the kids entertained while you head to the popular bar and grab a “Washbucket Martini” — it’ll clean you right up.

Whit Honea is a travel writer living in Seattle with his wife and two children. He packs light and travels often to far-away places, exotic lands and more than a few theme parks.