New Orleans: Camellia Grill

A lovely streetcar ride uptown [or a cab if you’re in a hurry] takes you to this local favorite, and nationally known, diner. Camellia Grill reopened after a too-long closure due to Katrina, its back in full swing offering the best of real diner food with all of the trimmings. There are no tables here, just a serpentine counter that is usually full of folks happily munching omelets, burgers, chili and fountain concoctions prepared right behind the counter. The staff is friendly and calls the regulars by name, but everyone is made to feel welcome when they get a stool. When the stools are full, those waiting for a spot sit on a long bench along the wall [in strict order of arrival] and sometimes that bench is full up too, so a line forms out the door. All of that means that everyone knows this is the place to be, and it is worth the wait.

This is authentic diner food, the kind that you crave after too much fancy stuff, and nothing like the food at those upscale faux diners like Buckhead Diner in Atlanta or its twin Fog City Diner in San Francisco. The burgers are great, and I love the buns . . . which are soft and squishy in just the right way and absorb the juices and condiments. The fries too, hot out of the grease, are just what the doctor ordered. But to take them to a higher level, have them doused with chili and cheese and you’ll be in diner heaven. Get a chocolate shake to wash things down and you’re all set. Until its time for dessert, where the apple pie shines, warmed up on the grill and paired with vanilla ice cream. Who could ask for anything more? Breakfast is available all the time, so if you’re in the mood for an omelet at after a night of partying in the Quarter this is the place to be.

So when in the Big Easy, head uptown to the Camellia and support this local institution, and have some fun as well. If you take a cab, be sure to have the address with you . . . and make sure that the cabbie knows to turn left off of Canal . . . I have discovered that there is a whole new cadre of cabbies that arrived after Katrina and they are not from New Orleans and don’t really know where things are outside of the major hotels and the French Quarter. It’s another shame that the post-Katrina migration took with it the collective knowledge of the city and its colorful history that was a topic of conversation and point of pride for cabbies as they drove you to your destination. I took several cab rides while I was in town and none of the drivers had been in town very long, had any real feel for the city or its history and for the most part did not speak English well enough to carry on a conversation. It was sad.

EatHereOrNot: EAT HERE

http://www.camelliagrill.net/