New Orleans is surrounded by water, sluiced by water, defined by water. So why isn’t it easier to find spot for a nice meal and maybe a drink with a waterfront view?
The answer of course is the landscape of levees, flood walls and wharves that also define our area, and that leaves scarce space for waterfront restaurants and bars. Ours is a hard-working waterfront and one that is occasionally menacing.
But things are changing, and the options are growing, so if a Labor Day beach trip isn’t in the cards for you, they may be just the thing for a restorative change of scenery.
Let’s start at the West End, where there’s a cluster of restaurants, Felix‘s and Blue Crab and the regional chain Landry’s all with waterfront decks, plus dockside bars for Felix’s and Blue Crab.
You can go vastly more upscale at the new restaurant in the Four Seasons Hotel at the foot of Canal Street. It’s called Chemin a la Mer, or pathway to the sea. The glass walls of the dining room and the outdoor patio can feel like sitting on the front porch to the Mississippi River, giving you a view of ships cruising past at mast height.
Up on the north shore Pat’s Rest a While is a newer addition in Old Mandeville that makes you feel like you’re not just looking at Lake Pontchartrain but somehow sailing it, thanks to its elevated height.
Down the road in Madisonville the upscale Tchefuncte and the down scale tavern the Anchor comprise a two-concept venue on the Tchefuncte River.
Check out Acorn, a family-friendly café in New Orleans City Park perched over a lagoon, Palmettos on the Bayou in Slidell, which proves very aptly named, or even Deutsches Haus for German beer and tavern food on Bayou St. John.
Let’s face it. At this point in a New Orleans summer it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think it helps, even just for a meal, to change up the view.
