Have you ever wondered what it might be like if all goods and services remained at a fixed cost? Imagine filling up your gas tank for $20, every single time. Or buying a suit for a flat 10 dollars, no matter the brand or material. Even yet, imagine any meal you eat out on the town costs a consistent 15 bucks. Where would you eat? What would you eat?
New Orleans, in all its glory, dedicates the entire month of August to this genre of imagination. The 2018 Coolinary New Orleans Restaurant Month presents an opportunity to dine at the best New Orleans restaurants at a fixed price for brunch, lunch, or dinner. Your foodie aspirations can become a reality as the value of your wallet finally reflects your refined taste buds. From August 1-31, 106 restaurants across the Big Easy sit alphabetically on COOLinary New Orleans website, making up one of the largest arrays of fixed meal costs across a city. In other words, 106 of New Orleans’s finest eateries will be serving foie gras for the same price as a hamburger dinner. Using the COOLinary website’s sorting features, you can even curtail your experience further to find the perfect $15 brunch spot for your group—and there’s a location setting, too! For instance, if you’re looking for French cuisine in the Garden District (a rather particular search, but not too specific for New Orleans), La Petite Grocery offers a three-course dinner meal, which includes dessert options, for only $39.
Although prices vary at each restaurant, the cost remains rather low for the quality. In addition to the list of 106 restaurants to visit this summer for cheap, COOLinary is offering a sweepstakes for the chance to win an all-expenses paid dinner for six at Arnaud’s. The contest ends August 24 at 3:00 p.m. CST; click here to enter. Listed on our most recent issue as #1 for Best Vegan Menu, Seed is offering a four-course meal, only served during the week. Chock-full with natural ingredients, Seed will be serving an Artichoke Cake with Mango Salsa for the first course of this meal. Similarly, Sala has created a decadent lunch for COOLinary month, served only during the week, with two courses, each priced at $19. Their dinner menu will be served on the weekends with a three-course meal for a cool $36. Public Service, a very popular dining spot in New Orleans today, also carries a fairly light and fresh menu this August to escape the summer heat. Their three-course dinner menu begins with a Grilled Watermelon Salad and finishes with a choice of dessert being either a sticky bun or carrot cake.
Set up with 5 plasma TVs, outdoor seating, and personal brewery tours, Gordon Biersch is coming in hot to New Orleans Restaurant Month with a three-course meal for $28.32 that includes a drink, unlike most of the restaurants on the 100+ list. I’d suggest saving this dinner menu for a weekend night with friends, as the meal begins with their Southwest Nachos and finishes with a Double Bacon Double Cheeseburger and legendary garlic fries. Crescent City Brewhouse is also participating in the event with a three-course meal for fan-food lovers and seafood lovers. Their dinner menu consists of options like Seafood Gumbo, Boudin Balls, Redfish St. Louis, and Southern Roasted Duck for a fairly cheap $35.
Reginelli’s Pizzeria is also stepping out this month with an extensive menu featured on the COOLinary website. If pizza is your thing, head down to the Central Business District to try Reginelli’s Gumbo 10” pizza with andouille, spicy smoked tomato sauce, crystal-marinated shrimp, holy trinity, and pickled okra. The menu features plenty of options to try for a three-course meal, costing only $19.50. Need to get your pasta fix? Try Pascal’s Manale, conveniently located in the Garden District; their fixed-price menu includes a first, second, and third course, beginning with a shrimp cocktail and filling you with a pasta bolognese or ravioli alfredo for only $18 during lunch hours. If you’re looking for a selected menu that has more options to choose from for a low price, Antoine’s Restaurant features a three-course meal with entree options for each course. And the price is only $20.18, including dessert!!
Cafe Degas, a New Orleans favorite and classic, sits among the 100+ restaurants for this fixed-price month. This is a must-stop for myself, as the $20 lunch menu features steamed moules frites and escargots with an additional tricentennial treat for $5: a glass of ruby port. Another staple of New Orleans, Galatoire’s Restaurant, also participates in the fixed-price fun with their lunch and dinner menus ranging from $20 to $39!
One of my favorite spots in New Orleans is also participating in the 2018 COOLinary Event with a very alluring lunch and dinner menu: The Country Club. The country club not only has gourmet food options, including Crispy Lemongrass Shrimp and Chargrilled Veal Tenderloin, but also features the perfect summer pool to hang out at with friends or a good book. Though I’m not sure the fixed menus are served poolside, The Country Club is definitely on my list to visit this August for my next $20 gourmet meal.
