NOLA FoodFest

I went to this festival with high hopes. I haven't been to this fest since 2010 and remembered liking it back then. This yr I was rather disappointed in both the food and the lack of vendors. There were about 30 vendors out there (which I thought to be rather small). I could literally walk the whole area in 5 minutes that's how small it was.I really like Dunbar's food in general and tried their strawberry shortcake. It was a letdown as they used frozen strawberries and it was caked in whipped cream. The ribs from this BBQ place in Memphis was so-so. The guy who was sitting next to me with his ribs said, "These are the best ribs I have ever had." I, on the other hand, thought the ribs were average at best. This is a festival I will probably skip in future years unless I happen to be in the Quarter that weekend during the day.FYI: Prices were reasonable as most items were between $4-7 for decent-sized portions.

In only in its 2nd year, the Roadfood festival gets high marks for organization and, of course, great food! I enjoyed local favorites (shrimp remoluade poboy & crawfish enchiladas) but also got to sample Maine seafood chowder - those Maine folks were LOVING the weather this weekend. I was disappointed in the shrimp uggie (2 shrimp & some mini-bits of potato?); I know Ugelisich's is closed but c'mon charge more & don't be so stingy. Most items were anywhere from a dollar (Rouse's mini-muffalettas) to around $7 (Dunbar's fried fish & fries). You have until 6 tonight...or you have to wait until next year. Get out there!

As a bona-fide fat kid, I am always looking for new and interesting places to stuff my face. New Orleans makes it easy to eat pretty much everywhere, and this is--in large part--due to festivals and fairs. I love the ability to stroll through cordoned off streets with a (very boozy) mint julep in one hand and a fried thing in the other, watching babies and dogs enjoy the music of upstart buskers. Mmmm, wonderful. The quality and quantity of food was decent, not stellar. I would have preferred smaller, cheaper portions so I could spread my money around a little bit more. The sheer number of Yelpers I saw means the 'fest was small enough to have a little elbow room and not wait in any huge lines. (I think I saw 6 Yelpers. Memory = fuzzy because mint julep = amazing.) Of all the ways to blow $20 on a meal, this was one of my favorites. Fantastic. Accessibility notes: Can get crowded for folks with mobility devices. Hot and sunny.

Meh is probably the best way to describe it. Once again, the space was small, the prices were half-way ok and it was super crowded. I have to admit, I think the Yelp VIP tent was kind of...over-kill and not necessary (At least on Sunday when I was there). Took up a lot of space with very few people in it. I was kind of excited to try the Salt LickTexas BBQ (it's been a while) and Gus's Fried chicken (Also been a while).I tried the bbq brisket sandwich (With something they call coleslaw but wasn't) for $8, it was decently priced for the amount of food but was very underwhelming. A man who was close to us when we tried it said he went to Salt Lick often when he lived in Texas and the stuff we were eating was a very bad version of their food. I would have to agree. Can do better in the back yard.Gus's chicken was a great thing to try but not for the reasons one might think..While the skin was ok (greesy but ok) there was no flavor to the meat. Ms Linda's chicken is so much better. Heck, even Brother's chicken is better than this. It couldn't suckle at the teet of Chubbie's chicken. So it might be famous up there, but down here, we know how to spice things better. And at 4 bucks for a breast and 3 for a thigh, the prices were too high for a festival like this. But like most festivals, I'm going to have to tack that up to the over-charging by the organizers to have booths in the festivals. Greedy, greedy festival organizers.

Nothing really exciting to look at but the things we had tasted great and I wish we tried more. I wish the portions were actually a bit smaller (and cheaper) so we could try more things. We tried Gus's Fried Chicken, the Fry Bar's roasted garlic thyme gouda fries, Bayou Barn's crawfish boil, Oceana's soft shell crab poboy and two flavors of the Meltdown popsicles. Despite all that there were still things we wanted to try but were too full.All of it was good but Gus's and the Fry Bar's were my favorite.We ate on the side of the curb and walked around the French Market afterwards.

What a treat! The NOLA Food Fest happens to land on the week of my vacation. Tents lined up serving food from restaurants nationwide. It's a food tasting adventure! Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken from Memphis, Tennessee had a long line. The smell was intoxicating and it was absolutely worth the wait. Their fried chicken was tender, juicy, crunchy and a tad spicy. No sauce was provided. The Fry Bar's Thyme, Gouda & Garlic Fries were a hit. It tasted gourmet-like and the fresh sautéed garlic pieces were delicious. Ketchup and Remoulade were available. The Crawfish Empanada was unique and had generous amount of crawfish. Voleo's Seafood Restaurant's Homemade Crawfish Rolls with Sweet & Spicy Sauce were mushy and the sight of crawfish was questionable.Antoine's Restaurant's Baked Alaska with Chocolate Sauce was heaven! It was the best ice cream cake I've ever had so far. Ice cream slapped in between cake and merengue, you just can't go wrong.

Weather a local or visitor to New Orleans a little research on weekend festivals is the best way to enjoy the city and its culture. This festival in the French market had a variety of food truck foods from around the country.

What a great fest! Roadfood Fest was nice and small and not crowded at all. Basically it's the complete opposite of French Quarter Fest, and as much as I love FQF, I enjoyed this fest too. There were a good 20 to 30 vendors I believe at decent prices, which allowed my boyfriend and I to try a variety of the foods offered. Like every food fest there were hits and misses. Overall, I enjoyed this small-scale festival. It's nice not to be rubbed against someone when walking around in the hot sun.

After a late night of drinking, I stammered out of bed and took a 45 minute walk into the quarter to have brunch at the Roadfood Fest. I was surely hungry and I was able to fill my belly with a whole bunch of Louie Mueller's brisket as well as grilled cheese sandwiches with BBQ pork inside (from a vendor I'm forgetting). I didn't stay very long for the contests and other events but I assumed that they were fantastic. Next year, I will prepare better and check them out. But I was happy with what I did and what I ate.

A festival downtown that I can actually push a stroller and not run over people's feet? Wow!It wasn't overly crowded, which was nice, but there was a great turnout. Unexpectedly, I ran into one co-worker and a bunch of Yelpers. Always nice to actually be able to pick people out in a crowd.Great food, great drinks, and everything was moderately priced - although I agree with Lindsay. Some smaller-portioned options would have been nice. Luckily, we had a hungry baby with us who was more than happy to finish off our food.Hopefully this continues to grow. We will return next year, hungry for more!