Levee Baking Co in New Orleans is Christina Balzebre's Uptown levain bakery just off Magazine Street at 9th, with sourdough loaves, kouign-amann and a Cuban pastelito programme.
Why locals love it: The Uptown levain bakery just off Magazine Street at 9th, with sourdough loaves, kouign-amann and a Cuban pastelito programme that runs off the main Magazine browse path.
Tip: Bread sells out by 11:00 Saturday; pastries hold longer. Cash discount at the register.
Address: 3138 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115
Why locals love it: The 1957 Treme fried chicken counter on St Ann Street that the world knows in name but most visitors skip because it sits in a residential block off the Quarter food map.
Tip: Lines are real; arrive 11:00 open. The three-piece plate with red beans is the canonical order.
Why locals love it: The 06:00 to 09:00 Saturday-only Vietnamese church-parking-lot market in New Orleans East that locals know and most tourists miss because it ends before brunch.
Tip: Bring cash in small bills and arrive before 08:00; vendors pack up at 09:00 sharp.
Why locals love it: The Algiers Point cafe ten minutes across the river by ferry from Jackson Square, with single-origin pour-overs and a quiet patio that almost no tourist crosses to reach.
Tip: Take the Algiers Ferry from Canal Street; ten minutes across and Congregation is two blocks from the dock.
Why locals love it: The unmarked French wine bar in a Bywater garden on Montegut Street, behind a tall fence with no street sign; you walk past the front three times before you see it.
Tip: Look for the unsigned wooden fence on Montegut between Royal and Dauphine; the garden seats open at 17:00.
Why locals love it: The French Quarter patisserie courtyard most tourists walk past on the way to Cafe du Monde, a 1913 Brocato's space with classic French pastry and a hidden Old World garden.
Tip: Walk through the front cafe to the back courtyard, the prettiest seat in the Quarter for a pastry and espresso.
Why locals love it: The Carrollton Polish-French pastry counter on Maple Street that the Tulane crowd queues for at lunchtime, but visitors south of Uptown never reach.
Tip: The kremowka Polish vanilla custard square is the cult order; arrive before 11:00 on weekends.
