Cheap Eats Near Tulane University: Student Favorites

Cheap eats near Tulane University in New Orleans cluster on two Uptown streets: Freret Street, home to Dat Dog and a kettle-boiled bagel shop, and Maple Street, where a New York-style bagel shop serves students. Camellia Grill is a streetcar ride away. A recent student paper and a recent radio report name them, so check each menu for prices.

What are the best cheap eats near Tulane University?

No source states a price for these four places, so this page calls them student favorites rather than cheap by number. What the sources do agree on is where students eat. Tulane's student paper, the Hullabaloo, wrote that students look beyond campus dining to local places on Maple Street and Freret Street, and a recent radio column by Ian McNulty of WWNO names two bagel shops near the Uptown campus.

• Dat Dog, on Freret Street, sells sausages and hot dogs with toppings from crawfish to alligator to vegan options, according to a Where Y'at list. The Hullabaloo calls it a place many students frequent.
• A bagel shop on Freret Street near the Uptown campus is described by the tourism board's Freret Street guide as making handmade, kettle-boiled bagels and bagel sandwiches.
• A bagel shop on Maple Street is modeled on a New York original and, per a local radio column, known for Taylor ham breakfast sandwiches and late-night bagels for students. A student paper calls it a Tulane favorite.
• Camellia Grill, on South Carrollton Avenue by the St. Charles streetcar line, is a classic diner known for omelets, burgers and the milkshakes called freezes, per Where Y'at and the tourism board's streetcar guide.

Where can you find an Uptown New Orleans cheap lunch?

Freret Street is the easiest stretch: a few blocks of counters, bakeries and sit-down places a short walk from campus. The tourism board's guide lists quick lunch spots there, including Good Bird and The Company Burger, though we confirmed only one source for each, so they are not recommended here. Maple Street offers bagels, pizza and pasta counters.

A cheap lunch is also a matter of method. Order the thing the place is known for, share a side and avoid extras that double the bill. Check a menu before you sit down, because prices at student-friendly places move.

What is Tulane student restaurant culture?

The Hullabaloo's writer argued that the meal plan does not reach the neighborhood's best food, and that off-campus counters fill the gap. In practice that means quick service, late hours and portions that travel. Loyola University is nearby, and its students share many of the same places along St. Charles Avenue and the streetcar line, so a Loyola student food run often ends at the same counters.

If you are visiting a student, pick one of the counters above and walk. Ask what they actually order, because the answer is usually a single dish: the breakfast sandwich at one shop, the loaded hot dog at another. That one dish is what you should rate, and it is what the next student will want to know.

The Freret Street guide covers the street in more detail.

How do you eat on a New Orleans budget dinner?

• Share a main. Many places serve more than one person needs.
• Pick the house dish. A place's signature sandwich or plate is usually better value than an add-on.
• Eat at an earlier hour. Lunch menus and daytime specials are often easier on a budget than dinner.
• Cook one meal. A pot of red beans is a budget dinner at home, and the Monday custom behind it is a New Orleans habit worth borrowing.

Ask about portion sizes before you order. Where Y'at's list of low-cost New Orleans meals does not state prices either, so a menu or a phone call is the only reliable check. A student on a tight week might choose one big breakfast sandwich and skip dinner out, while a visiting parent might choose a sit-down diner meal for the table. Neither is wrong, and both are worth writing down so the next person has a head start.

How do you keep a budget list with Mosey?

Rate what you eat, and the budget picks sort themselves. In the Mosey app only the place and stars are needed, and "Rate each dish too" lets you name the bagel sandwich or the hot dog you ordered. Add the Great Value tag only when the visit earned it, and Quick Service or Good Portions when they fit.

Make a list called Under budget and add each counter with a note, such as "split the large". Share it by invite link with a roommate so you can both add to it, and tag who you were with so they can rate the same meal. The lists page explains how, and the ratings page covers tags.

Where next in the city?

For the streetcar end of the neighborhood, the Carrollton and Riverbend guide is next, and the coffee shops guide covers study cafes. The New Orleans hub lists every page for the city, and the US food guides cover other towns.

Get the Mosey app, rate your next student lunch by the dish and keep the ones worth repeating on a list.