Where bacon is more than a side
You could start a fight in New Orleans arguing over where to find the best po’boy or bowl of gumbo. But when it comes to the best local breakfast, Elizabeth’s is close to a unanimous choice. A New York Times review best summed up the appeal of this classic New Orleans joint: “The thing to love about Elizabeth’s is that somebody there tried to make bacon better.”
That somebody was Heidi Tull. Heidi received her culinary degree in Charleston and on her first visit to New Orleans, after ravishing the city’s great restaurants, she told her husband, Joe: “I’m not leaving!” And she didn’t. After working in various NOLA restaurants, Heidi finally opened her own place in 1998.
Info
Address 601 Gallier Street, New Orleans, LA 70117, +1 504.944.9272, www.elizabethsrestaurantnola.com | Hours Daily 8am–2:30pm (breakfast/brunch), Mon–Sat 6pm–10pm (dinner)| Tip There are countless other creative uses of bacon in New Orleans. Among the more seductive are the bacon-wrapped dates at Bacchanal (see p. 58), the bacon-duck-and-jalapeno poppers at Borgne (601 Loyola Ave), the maple bacon donuts at Blue Dot Donuts (4301 Canal St), and praline ice cream with bacon and butterscotch at Green Goddess (307 Exchange Pl).
Her motto “Real Food Done Real Good” hangs on a rusted sign above Elizabeth’s front door at the intersection of Gallier and Chartres. The interior walls are plastered with folk art, mostly the “Be Nice or Leave” paintings of Dr. Bob (see p. 58). The artwork gives the place a roadhouse appeal, but it’s the food that inspires pilgrimages to the Bywater neighborhood. The menu includes classic grits and grillades, fried chicken livers with pepper jelly, and banana-enhanced sweet-potato waffles served with duck hash. They are also one of the few restaurants to still serve calas. Calas are traditional Creole deep-fried cinnamon-seasoned rice fritters dusted with powdered sugar. Slave women used to walk the Quarter with baskets of hot, fresh calas on their heads, selling them to earn money to buy their freedom.
But Elizabeth’s signature—and most sinful—item is their praline bacon, prepared by baking chopped pecans, brown sugar, pork fat, and sliced bacon. It’s been called the “candy of meat” and “sugary crack.” Other restaurants have sought to create their own versions but Elizabeth’s will forever be the Neil Armstrong or George Washington of praline bacon: they were the first. It’s hell on the arteries but heaven for the soul.
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