Final Weekend of the Fest

BBQ Shrimp Po-Boy from Liuzza's by the Track.

The mercury is rapidly rising and soon hundreds of thousands will once again flood the Fair Grounds for the final four days of the Fest. Kudos to all of the parrot heads out there who are playing hooky today. Those of us stuck in our cubicles are jealous with envy.

No matter how much you indulge in the bounty of festival eats, chances are that you will be ravenous when you exit the gates. The next question then becomes, "Where's dinner?"  Although there are several restaurants in close proximity to the Fest, the odds of you scoring a table at one of them this weekend are less than Jonathan Vilma's chances at overturning his suspension on appeal. The outdoor dining areas at Cafe Degas, Nona Mia, and Santa Fe will likely be full with revelers rehydrating and refueling. And in case you didn't take Rene's advice last week about grabbing a bloody mary on your way into the Fest, lightning could strike with an opportunity for a roast beef po-boy at Liuzza's by the Track, which is the subject of our Eats Review in this month's issue of OffBeat Magazine.

If you venture out just beyond the immediate vicinity of the Fair Grounds, the odds of a you finding an open table dramatically increase. To wit, I have 2 suggestions, both of which are a short streetcar ride or an ambitious walk up Carrollton Avenue. Toups' Meatery is a new venture by Isaac Toups, whose most prominent position was chef at Cuvee. I stopped by there for lunch last week and started with a spicy pork and poblano sausage and finished with an excellent confit chicken thigh atop firm white beans. More on Toups' in the coming weeks. My second suggestion is Taqueria Guerrero Mexico, which is almost a 2 mile hike from Esplanade but worth the journey for a ginormous torta filled with barbacoa.

Have a great weekend and don't forget the sunscreen.