Hey everyone hope you're having an amazing day. It's mark wiens. I am in the beautiful food, loving city of new orleans louisiana. Today we're going to go on a little mini food tour just eat at some of the places.

I thought looked incredible: we're going to go to a place called little dizzies for creole soul, food. It's like every single dish is just blowing me away, then we'll be going to a really neighborhood grocery store that serves daily specials and then probably tonight we'll go eat. The original charbroiled oysters that's a full grill, literally a magical display like a bonfire of oysters. It's a dream come true, so it's just gon na be a leisure day.

Gon na be some delicious food and i'm gon na share it all with you right now. I just love the relaxed friendly pace of new orleans. I love the huge trees. I think they're oak trees that just go over the roads that just create tunnels for the roads and the amazing architecture as well.

It's just a beautiful city and the first place that we're going to today is called lil dizzies. They specialize in creole soul, food and when i was researching when i was thinking about places to eat in new orleans. This was one of the the top places that i wanted to visit, so i'm very excited. So it's really packing here today, but they have yeah.

They have some tables on the inside. Some tables on the outside, and one thing to know about new orleans, is that they really have daily specials. So, depending on what day you come, you will get the daily special of that day, like, for instance, monday is a red beans and rice day. Today is a thursday at little dizzies and i specifically came because i cannot wait to try their smothered okra with rice with fried chicken and i think i'll also get one more one more plate.

So i am marquisha barcada co-owner of lil dizzy's, cafe located in the heart of tripmate um. This is the third generation of my kids that own the restaurant. We started back in 1960s with eddie by kate, who is my husband, wayne's grandfather, all right and my father-in-law. Recently, retired, in november of 2020, my husband and i purchased the restaurant in december.

Okay just reopened february 15th. Congratulations, that's incredible! All right! And so, and so the food you serve are family recipes, family, cookbook, okay, it is cooked out of the bucket cookbook. You can purchase an autographed coffee. You feel unsigned copy here at the restaurant, all right so ship them.

We are famous for our gumbo fried chicken and breadfruit. Could i please get the smothered okra with fried chicken? Yes, sir, and then also a catfish plate? Love this place, the owner, the staff they're so friendly got in line, got to the front of the line, all the specials. All the food is prepared at the front, and so you can kind of choose the different dishes that you want and you order the dish. And then you choose your different sides.

So then they dish you out, i'm so happy to be here on a thursday when the special is smothered okra. What's your name rashad very cool to meet you, oh here comes a fresh batch of fried chicken. Thank you. Thank you very much.

Thank you. I think. That's our order going out, so it's oh just sat on the window, but it's so busy in there but they're so incredibly friendly. I think this one is the the special the smothered okra.

Let's see if we can open this up, oh nice, they kind of divide it. Oh there's cornbread on there two pieces of fried chicken and they they separate the fried chicken from the smothered okra. So it doesn't get soggy. But let's let's take off this paper and reveal, oh that looks amazing and i'll.

Take off this paper and just kind of plop that fried chicken into the the plate. There we go, oh man that smells unbelievable as soon as you open that package, and the next thing that i got is. Oh yeah got the fried catfish with a couple of sides: hot fresh crispy, with dirty rice, which it looks like there's some minced meat in there and some spices. It looks incredible and then also with the with the special greens, maybe mustard greens or collard greens, but then yeah truly.

The dish that i cannot wait to try is that smothered okra, oh man, it looks incredible, served over rice and then, of course, served with fried chicken, but yeah look at the the sauciness of that. You can tell that it's i mean that's sauce, but then also oh, there's celery in there uh. You can tell that the okra is also partly making that sauce as well. I'm gon na try to get a little bit of everything onto this first bite.

Oh wow! Yes, that flavor, oh man, you immediately taste those simmered down the sauteed ingredients, the celery, the onions in there. You definitely feel the stickiness of the okra, which i absolutely love, smoky saltiness of the sausage, the shrimp the tomatoes like bringing it together, wow. That is like ultra comfort, outrageously tasty, a little squirt for my next bite. Just i'm always a huge fan of louisiana hot sauce, the heartiness just the layer upon layer of flavor, okay and a piece of that hot, fresh, fried chicken, oh yeah, it's hot! It's fresh! It's so moist all the way to the bone.

The crispiness is just tear off some of that fried chicken into the smothered okra i mean it is smothered okra. Oh it all squirt up the louisiana hot sauce. Oh yeah yeah. It is called smothered okra for a reason.

Okay, so you've got the crispiness of the chicken, the skin and then again all smothered in the okra. Okay: let's try the catfish look at this huge piece, this big fillet of catfish. Oh, you can see that maybe cornmeal cornmeal breading in there it's hot, it's fresh wow, the crispiness of that batter. It does have a bit of a graininess to it.

I think it has some cornmeal in there, then the catfish, underneath it just melts in your mouth. It even almost has a little bit of a mustardy kind of a hint of a turmeric flavor to it. I'm gon na add on a little bit of that louisana hot sauce again. That would be the perfect addition wow that is just so good cooked, so perfectly and just hot and fresh, and i got that with some of the greens, some of the uh yeah, i'm not totally sure what type of greens it is, but maybe mustard greens or Collard greens, definitely with some meat in there.

Oh wow. I wasn't expecting that much flavor. It has this immediate sourness to it, plus the greens that just melt in your mouth and then this amazing smoky sausagey, bacony flavor to it that just blew me away and then the dirty rice, which i don't think i've ever had dirty rice. But i'm not totally sure what it is, but you can definitely see some.

You can smell some herbs in there. You can see some minced meat and you see a lot of onions in there as well. It's like every single dish is just blowing me away that one again is just wow loaded with favorite flavor, the minced meat. It has this incredible herbal blend to it, the vegetables and the herbs are just sauteed down until they like melt into the rice.

That is a spectacular meal. Actually i mean both meals are spectacular. I need one more immediate bite of that rice, wow dirty rice, unbelievable, i'm extremely happy. I think this is my favorite restaurant.

In new orleans, oh man, i almost forgot about the cornbread, so crumbly not too sweet great texture. I would say that the only thing that i'm disappointed about and disappointed about myself is that i'm not in new orleans long enough to try the daily special every single day. Here. Let me tell you: if i lived in new orleans, i think i'd be here every day for lunch, that i could try the daily special every single day, amazing food.

This is a restaurant that you don't want to miss when you're in new orleans. Next stop. We are at a place called freddy's one-stop food store. It's i love the location within the neighborhood.

I love the yellow paint, the entire setting and atmosphere, and i know they have a lot of local dishes. They have po boys and they have whole plate lunches. So you can get a whole meal plate. Uh, let's walk inside! I'm very excited.

This place looks incredible. It's a little grocery store on the corner and then the fresh, cooked food for the day is at the front here: okay, red beans, rice, sausage, green beans, purple cabbage mac and cheese, spaghetti and meatballs. The meatballs can also go into powerboy, okay mustard greens, peach cobbler. Oh and corn, on the cob on the stove, yes and a plate, is a meat and three sides, or it could be four sides for eight dollars all right.

It's family run it's so friendly the service uh. It is a little grocer. They do have some little necessity foods, but then i think the main reason that you come here is for the prepared foods and they also have some deli meats, some cheeses as well. But again, the main reason that you come here is for the plate: lunches the prepared dishes.

Can i get a full red beans and rice plate? Does that pair the best with the sausage? Or what do you think? That's the classic? What's the classic red beans and rice, okay, yeah, i want the classic red beans and rice sauce. Is it an andui, anduli um? I think it might be yes. Okay, sometimes we get different brands and then, with um, with some of the mustard greens as well would be awesome. Oh one, more side, rice cabbage, please thank you very much.

All right, absolutely an amazing place, there's no seating on the inside, but they do have some tables on the on the edge of the yellow building, which i did see, which looks fantastic, perfect location for eating. Oh yeah, red beans and rice. The real deal got a seat here overlooking the street on the sidewalk, the yellow background of freddies, and i cannot wait again. Red beans and rice is a tradition on mondays in new orleans, there's rice on the bottom got the red beans.

On top, you can see a variety of meats in the red beans, maybe some ham, and then i got it with a sausage. I think it's, the andui sausage. Do you say andui andoui. I think it's andui sausage.

On top, i got two sides. One is the red purple, a purple cabbage actually and then the other is mustard greens for the day, which also looks like it's cooked down with some pork. Definitely some pork try that red beans and rice, it's a monday in new orleans, oh wow, yeah that just melts in your mouth, the starchiness, the softness of the red beans, the flavor, the deep flavor of that ham in there or the meat bones. Oh and i love how the beans they're partly mashed, but partly whole.

At the same time, i love that texture. I mean i love beans. I can eat beans every day of my life. Oh, you can tell the juiciness of that that mix of fat and meat you can see a bit of chili in there that casing popped, that takes it to the next level.

With that sausage, you can really taste the flavor of rosemary in that sausage and then it's salty it's juicy it's so much flavor in that sausage, along with the starchiness of the red beans. Look at that! That's an entire piece of, i guess. That's looks like pork. Skin or pork ham, ham, hock, it is the ham hawk.

It's so soft that just disintegrates in your mouth, the greenness a bit of onions, simmered down sauteed down in there and the flavor of that ham, hock and then. Finally, on my plate, i got some of the purple cabbage, which again looks sauteed down. You can see some - maybe some pepper in there - some onions for sure, oh butter, again soft the wilted down sauteed down onions. The butter comes in so nicely salt and pepper.

I'm gon na put that onto the red beans. Let me get some of that hot sauce. This is the louisiana hot sauce crystal one of the best brands for sure oh yeah, i'm gon na need a lot of these packets. The best thing to do, though, is take a little bite of the sausage which powers so much flavor mix it with the red beans, get it with the the right combination of rice.

Some of that louisiana, hot sauce hardest part is trying to balance everything onto one tiny little plastic fork and get it to your mouth before it all falls off. Oh yeah, with that sourness, the vinegariness of the hot sauce how's, the mac and cheese in the fried chicken, this mac and cheese bro. As you can see, we have an empty plate. It's like you guys are polishing it up already.

I'm pretty sure somebody's grandma made this in the back, those greens or mustard greens fantastic melt in your mouth, so much cheese, milk, i'm pretty sure, there's at least like 20 pounds of velveeta in there, and i am completely okay with it. I may save this last bite for pam for dessert. We got a peach cobbler, all of us to share wow, that's gooey and very sticky wow. That is hearty and buttery and sweet really good, though that's just kind of more the stickiness of it is amazing.

It's cool sitting outside on the edge of the building on the sidewalk you meet, so many friendly people from the neighborhood passing by delicious food, great service, hospitality, neighborhood, environment, highly recommended and again you've got to check their daily specials because it changes every day of the Week, next up on this food tour, we're going to go eat what is probably the best single bite of food that you can eat in all of new orleans step outside in the parking lot, and i can immediately smell the aroma of the char girl, the flaming Oysters welcome to drago's seafood, restaurant and a mix of creole cajun food, all sorts of seafood, but the reason that you come here is for the original charbroiled flamed oysters, which this entire restaurant. It's a huge restaurant and uh yeah dedicated to char-broiled oysters, which i believe that they invented this particular method of making oysters, which is now popular throughout new orleans. So we got special access into the kitchen, but what i like about it is it's a completely open air kitchen, so you can see the entire oyster grill, the char broiling flame, grilling, oyster grill. At the front i mean right in the center of the restaurant.

So that's why the aroma's just pouring into the entire restaurant, the centerpiece, is that oyster grill and we're gon na watch them as they make an entire batch, starting with the raw oysters. Alright, so we're starting a fresh batch here. Raw oysters go on my raw oysters. Go on to the grill, then they're, sprinkled with like ladled on with a butter mixture and then a sprinkle of i believe it's parmesan like spiced herb, parmesan cheese goes on and what they do is they kind of do one section of the grill, then those finish And then they do another section of the grill and just keep kind of like rotating going down the grill and back, and so those are gon na just ignite and stay on fire until they like pump up that fire and then extinguish them.

You can just hear them popping and sizzling and boiling all at the same time, and they just keep adding more butter, and it's really the butter that just ignites that flames up ah and wow. Yes and then he turns up cranks up that heat cranks up that fire, the smoke, the fire and even sprays it down when you need to put out the fire there's, he kind of sprays it on the bottom to put out that fire uh, but the smokiness. That's just gon na embed into that, like melted, caramelized, butter, the oyster and that parmesan cheese. Oh, it's a work of art, it's just fires and oysters and lots buckets of butter wow, that's a full grill, more butter and a little more butter goes on yeah, nice and clear.

Look at that. Sizzle is that is that mostly butter, that entire batch of oysters is ready. They dish them out by the dozen onto your plate. Another little spoonful of butter goes on and that kisses and sizzles plop on a few pieces of toast a couple wedges of lemon and directly to your table sizzling.

Thank you very much, cj still boiling on the plate. Thank you. That was one of the coolest culinary displays them cooking, i mean it's just like it had to be invented by somebody who was a pyromaniac without a doubt, just in love with fire cooking, there must be like three soup ladles of butter per dozen oysters just ignited. Yes, the aroma, the parmesan cheese, the oh man ignited, so they come off the grill, still smoking bubbling that amount they finish it.

Not only do they cook it with butter, but they finish it with an entire ladle of butter. There's at least three ladles ladles, like soup, spoons ladles of butter per dozen oysters. I think i'll try one without lemon first just to get taste it, but i think you got ta. You got ta hit that with lemon right.

I want a really charred one. You can see oh yeah, those are still boiling hot wow. I might even just keep it there on the what's the correct method you can spoon spoon or or pour in your mouth, okay pop it with a spoon. You can see the melted butter, the cheese which has caramelized literally in a flame.

Oh wow, smokey butter. Goodness, oh, you can taste the smoke. You can taste the fire, the oyster just melts in your mouth, contrasted by the umami of the on fire, parmesan and ladle of butter and the herb in there um time. Could it be time or could it be um oregano? Something like that.

You definitely taste the herb that, like breaks up the the flavor of it, but that is that is insane like melts in your mouth yeah. That is insane. You just go ahead and limit it all yeah yeah the lemon is. We might need more lemons.

Look at the way on the bottom: oh that's still so hot! Oh, you can barely hold it. I'm gon na attempt to hold it but release free, the oyster hold it so hot. We now know oyster shells retain their heat. Don't try to pick that up.

It's still on fire, okay with lemon, oh yeah, it's perfect! Oh wow! It's perfect! Yeah with that squeeze of lemon that sugar, too breaks up the richness, yeah yeah, you get a great punch, the butter, the great balance richness of the butter and the oyster. Along with that acidity wow, that was perfect, that's like, unlike any other oyster creation, i've ever had in my life and actually on the menu. It says it's the best bite of food in town and i don't think anybody could argue with them. I think we're just gon na accept what they say it is that good.

It is that good and it's that magical the way they make it. It's a dream, come true, some of that sauce underneath, oh man, that's fair enough! You can dip your your bread into that butter pool, there's an actual pool on the bottom there of butter and charred oyster shell, which you dip. There's got to be garlic in there too, with the parmesan, oh wow, i'm going to put a whole oyster on this piece of bread too. It's literally a a butter bath and you're going to love it there's nothing to dislike about a butter bath.

That's on fire! I'm trying to think of any other place where you can even get something like this. Oh look at what the bread tube goes on. Soaks up, it absorbs the the oily buttery, goodness. Bread gives it a good little crunch, as well with the crust and with the char as well.

You get a little bit more of that crunch, like the layers of texture, there's nothing to dislike about pools of melted butter on fire yeah. This is one of a kind: it's just sensational gon na attempt to eat one, but actually they're they're like look, you can hold it up and it doesn't slide off because they're so just they're, just butter drip out they're, just like completely encased they're, like fossilized onto The shell with that that fire, but i think you can yeah, i think the the spoon method works better. You kind of got to put your nose into it that way, but still tastes, insanely good, no matter what you do, they're unbelievably good. Oh man! Okay, i just spotted okay.

I've got to try another combination, i located the tabasco, honest, they're, even good cold. It takes on like a cold pizza kind of they're made to be an appetizer, oh with the tabasco. It's amazing too. It also adds the in the same way that lemon breaks, the richness, the vinegar of the tabasco, also cuts the richness and oh they're, both good yeah.

This is my final oyster. I'm gon na do a tabasco shot, an extraordinary oyster creation as good as everybody raves about them, without a doubt absolutely like. When we're coming to new orleans, i can't tell you how many people recommended drago's char-broiled oysters. So, thank you all for the regular recommendation and we thoroughly enjoyed three dozen of them anytime you're in new orleans.

You need to stop here. Pick up half thousand a dozen three dozen. However, many you want, but it's a it's a phenomenal treat, i'm oddly feeling a little bit sluggish right now. Well, i guess it's not odd, i'm sure that's a common side effect.

It might be from the butter yes and so that completes this food tour today, amazing restaurants, i think probably my favorite restaurant in all of new orleans is little dizzy's, cafe the heart, the passion and the just incredible creole soul, food. That combination is those family recipes. Freddies is another beautiful spot on the corner. I love that grocery store atmosphere and then, of course, when you are in new orleans, you do not want to miss the original char grilled flame ball oysters at drago's.

Thank you to all of the restaurants and i'll have all their information in the description box below must eat food when you're in new orleans, and i want to say a huge thank you to you for watching this video, please remember to give it a thumbs up. If you enjoyed it, leave a comment below i'd love to hear from you and if you're not already subscribed, remember to subscribe and also click the little bell icon so that you'll immediately get notified of the next video that i published thanks again for watching good bye From new orleans i'll see you on the next video.