The craziness continues in October with an expected new arrival on Oak Street. Mellow Mushroom, a pizza chain based in Georgia, has hopes to open this month in the two-story building across from Castellon's Pharmacy which once housed Birkram Yoga. The new pizzeria plans to take full advantage of local suppliers and ingredients to give the new restaurant an authentic New Orleans feel in order to cater to the tastes of the community. The restaurant also plans to offer live music, but offering delicious pizza to the neighborhood and its families is their primary goal.
Who let the dogs out? Dat Dog, that's who. The insanely popular Freret Street wiener joint is expanding yet again, this time into the Garden District. Dat Dog's second location is opening on Magazine Street in the old uniform store near Louisiana Avenue, but that's not all. They also recently opened "Sno Dog," a snoball and frozen custard stand in the original location on Freret Street.
If that's not frank enough for you, what about the recent opening of Diva Dawg? Located in what was J'Anita's and The Lucky Ladle (that apparently wasn't so lucky), Diva Dawg is the latest incarnation of the hot dog craze. Owner Ericka Lassair has her dogs supplied by the one and only Vaucresson Sausage and features locally-themed toppings like red beans and crawfi sh étouffée, plus decadent shakes incorporating the fl avors of New Orleans' famous desserts.
Things are heating up over in the historic Holy Cross neighborhood at the recentlyopened restaurant Cafe Dauphine on the corner of Egania and Dauphine. The beautifullyrestored building has been a hit among locals all over the city, with folks willing to drive that extra mile to help support the rebirth of a community that is still severely decimated since the levee failures in 2005, as well as to taste a menu boasting the best of Southern and Creole cuisine. Not-to-miss dishes include their signature Lizardi Rolls - egg rolls fi lled with cabbage, crab meat, shrimp and crawfi sh - and their Deep Fried Stuffed Bell Peppers.
Little Korea is now in the building that originally housed a Taco Bell (a chain we lack in Orleans Parish) on the corner of South Claiborne and Toledano. Korean food is a rare commodity in New Orleans, with the few sources being places like the Wandering Buddha at the Hi Ho Lounge and the Korea House in Metairie. Little Korea mainly features dishes like bibimbap and Korean BBQ with plenty of kimchi, the owners have also incorporated some Vietnamese cuisine like pho and vermicelli bowls in order to offer more variety to their customers.
It seems that there are more varieties of Asian cuisine making their way into the New Orleans scene, one of which is a popular pop-up in the Marigny dubbed "Milkfish" that specializes in Filipino food. Christina Quackenbush runs the pop-up that opens on Sundays in Marie's Bar and Mondays through Wednesdays at the Who Dat Coffee Cafe, offering delicious Filipino dishes like chicken adobo, lumpia and Spam-fried rice.
Finally, the owner of the oh-so-popular velvet Espresso Bar on the corner of Arabella and Magazine has thrown her hat into the coffee truck ring along with newcomers Brigade and French Truck Coffee. She has converted a classic American Woody Teardrop trailer into a mobile coffee house serving cups of Joe sourced from roasters like Intelligentsia, Stumptown and George Howell. Hopefully she's towing along her delicious, house-made pop tarts, too!
