If any one place in New Orleans can encompass the essence of the ""Big Easy,"" it's Jacques-Imo's Cafe. Nothing high brow there. Everything about the restaurant puts you at ease. You'll enter the pastel colored front to arrive in an ecclectically decorated boisterous bar room filled with colorful art work by local artist Frenchy, among others. The music, if a little loud and not ""local"" was familiar and enjoyable. The customers seemed to range from conventioneers to college students to locals. I've eaten here pre- and post- Katrina now, and I was surprised to find the wait for my table was much shorter than I expected. I ate in the main dining area, through the kitchen to the rear of the building. The dining room remains materially unchanged from the first time I ate there, before the storm.
Pros: Food Food Food
Cons: Not a quiet place
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