As we welcome our visiting competitors to the Rhodes 19 Nationals this weekend, we also expect you may want to sample some of New Orleans famous cuisine. So here is a quick guide to some of the dining choices nearest the club.
First is Southern Yacht Club itself. Once you have registered and received your guest card, please feel free to dine at our club in either the 1849 Bar or the main dining room. Thursday night is Grill Your Own in the bar, and regular a la carte service is available in the dining room. Friday and Saturday are open for dining in either location, although we ask you to make reservations at the club so the kitchen and wait staff can be prepared to offer you great service.
Beyond the club itself, here are some other options in and near our neighborhood:
West End
- Sala is right around the corner from the club on Lake Marina Drive. Operated by the youngest generation of a very experienced restaurant family, Sala offers both small and large plates, meat and seafood dishes in an upscale bistro setting. salanola.com/
- Lakeview Harbor is next door, recently relocated from its longtime location a couple of miles away in Lakeview. It is known for hamburgers but also offers a variety of steaks, seafood, poor boys and salads. lakeviewharbor.us
- II Tony’s, next door to Lakeview Harbor, is a quintessential New Orleans Creole Italian restaurant. It offers a variety of Sicilian Italian dishes at extremely economical prices. Make sure you get an order of garlic bread to mop up the marinara sauce. www.two-tonys.com
- Blue Crab is just across the New Basin Canal and recreates the old, pre-Katrina days of seafood dining on the Lakefront. Sit inside or on the balcony overlooking Southern Yacht Club and enjoy oysters on the half shell or grilled, plus a full menu of fresh seafood expertly prepared. And the owner is a member of SYC, so ask for Nick and introduce yourself. thebluecrabnola.com
- Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar is just down the street. It is a new location for one of the oldest oyster bars in the French Quarter. Back in the 1940s, Felix’s original French Quarter location put the New Orleans oyster bar on the map,
creating a place where oyster-lovers could ‘belly up to the bar’ and have the freshest oysters shucked right in front of them. The tradition lives on at the Lake. felixs.com/
Bucktown
Just across the 17th Street Canal from West End is the former fishing village of Bucktown, where, until Katrina washed them all away, the commercial shrimp and fishing boats docked right in the canal. Some are still there in a new marina built next to the Coast Guard station.
- R & O Restaurant on Old Hammond Highway is legendary for its Italian roast beef poor boy, the R & O special poor boy, pizzas and Italian salad too big for one person. www.r-opizza.com
- Station 6 is a two-year-old restaurant owned and operated by Alison Vega, a celebrated New Orleans chef who just returned from several years of living in the Caribbean. The menu is sophisticated and features a variety of inventive seafood dishes, plus the traditional oysters raw and grilled. station6nola.com