The World Renowned Café Du Monde

If you go to New Orleans and don't go to Café Du Monde, you're doing it wrong.

Café Du Monde was up pretty high on my list of things to do in New Orleans. I needed a beignet in my life!

Café Du Monde is French for Café of the World or The People's Café. The original location is an open-air establishment located on Decatur Street. It's near Jackson Square in the French Quarter.

The café is open 24 hours a day and almost every day of the year. It is closed only for Christmas and for the occasional hurricane.

Every time we walked by Café Du Monde there were people there. Early, late, middle of the day. It didn't matter. There were also usually musicians on the street playing for the patrons as well.

Café Du Monde is known for its chicory café au lait (coffee with milk) and beignets with powdered sugar piled high! Chicory is a root that is commonly used as a coffee substitute. Creoles in New Orleans started mixing it with coffee during the Civil War due to a coffee shortage.

I liked the chicory coffee. I didn't think it tasted that much different. Some say it adds a hint of a chocolate taste.

Café Du Monde's website states, "The Original Café Du Monde is a traditional coffee shop. Its menu consists of dark roasted Coffee and Chicory, Beignets, White and Chocolate Milk, and fresh-squeezed Orange Juice. The coffee is served Black or Au Lait. Au Lait means that it is mixed half and a half with hot milk. Beignets are square French-style doughnuts, lavishly covered with powdered sugar. In 1988 Iced Coffee was introduced to the café. Soft drinks also made their debut that year."

I think I had chicory coffee every way possible- hot, iced, and even their blended version. It was kind of like a milkshake! As for the beignets, they are served warm and lived up to the hype. It's similar to a doughnut, but I think it had more of a funnel cake texture.

I thought it was interesting that even locals recommended Café Du Monde. It's not just some tourist trap, it's legit!

We made sure to go to the original Café Du Monde, but we also visited the one in City Park and the one in the airport.

Also, I would like to note that New Orleans was hit by Hurricane Zeta about a week after we were there. It is very humbling to know that we just missed the storm and it is great to see that the places we patronized seem to be bouncing back and doing fine!