Galatoire’s

Friday lunch at Galatoire’s is a New Orleans rite of passage and the best way to kick off a long weekend. To do it right, you need to sit in the downstairs dining room, which requires getting in line on Bourbon Street before it opens at 11:30am. You can make a reservation, but there’s no guarantee of being seated on the first floor other than just showing up early.

Once you’re in, it’s basically an upscale party where the servers wear tuxedos, drinking is definitely encouraged, and you can eat old-school classics like shrimp remoulade and gumbo until you’re ready for a post-lunch nap. This place is just a ton of fun, partly because of the all-over-the-place crowd: you’ll probably see New Orleans judges in seersucker suits, society ladies, tourists, and plenty of bachelorette groups.