Jazz Fest Food in New Orleans: What to Eat and Where

Jazz Fest food in New Orleans is a spring tradition at the Fair Grounds: dozens of booths selling crawfish bread, cochon de lait po-boys, ya-ka-mein and crab beignets between sets. Walk the grounds once before you get in line, share what you buy, and pick two or three dishes worth the wait.

What is Jazz Fest food in New Orleans?

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival takes over the Fair Grounds Race Course in spring, and the food is half the draw. Most booths are run by local kitchens, caterers and family businesses, and they sell a short menu of festival dishes rather than their whole repertoire.

That makes the food a snapshot. A dish you love one year may move to another booth or disappear, which is why this guide describes what was on sale and not a promise for the next season.

Which Jazz Fest food booths are worth the line?

These five appeared in a local magazine's festival guide and in a second festival source. Check the festival's current food list before you plan, because booths change from year to year.

• A barbecue booth sold a cochon de lait po-boy, a roast pork sandwich that regulars treat as a festival staple.
• A catering booth served ya-ka-mein, a New Orleans noodle soup that one festival guide calls a must-try.
• A Treme kitchen drew lines for its crawfish bisque in one guide, and the magazine listed a trout plate.
• A praline maker sold a lump crab beignet, a savory twist on the city's best-known fried dough.
• Ba Mien Vietnamese Cuisine offered a banh mi xiu mai, a reminder that Vietnamese cooking is part of the festival's food.

None of these is a ranking. They are places that two sources agree were cooking.

What is Jazz Fest cochon de lait?

Cochon de lait is Cajun French for roast suckling pig, and in practice it means slow-roasted pork that is pulled or sliced and piled on French bread. At the festival it is served as a po-boy, often with a dressing and a spoonful of its own juices. Its appeal is the combination of tender meat, crisp-edged bread and a messy, shareable format.

Eat it standing up, with plenty of napkins, and split one with a friend if you want room for sweets. The po-boys and muffulettas guide explains the bread and the dressings if you want to compare it with a sandwich from a regular counter.

How do you make a Jazz Fest eating plan?

A good Jazz Fest eating plan has four steps:

• Walk the food areas before you buy anything, so you can see the range.
• Choose one savory dish, one fried dish and one sweet item for the first round.
• Share each plate. Festival portions are generous, and you will want to try more than three things.
• Keep water in the mix, and leave room for a frozen coffee or a snoball in the afternoon.

Go with a group so you can split the work of waiting in line. One person holds the chairs, two go for food, and everyone meets back at a shady spot. Bring a small bag for napkins and wipes, wear shoes you can stand in all day, and keep your phone charged so you can find each other when a set ends and the crowds shift.

What Fair Grounds food is there besides the booths?

Beyond the main food areas, the festival has craft and market stalls, a Louisiana marketplace with local makers and, in some years, a cluster of dessert vendors near the kids' area. Dishes are also tied to the stages and cultural pavilions: a Jamaica pavilion served oxtail and jerk-spiced mushrooms, and Congo Square had a Jamaican curry chicken pattie.

If you want a classic snack, the snoball guide explains the shaved-ice treat locals reach for in the heat. And if you need a bite outside the gates, the Mid-City guide covers the neighborhood around the Fair Grounds.

How do you rate and remember what you ate?

Festival food is easy to forget, so rate it as you go. In the Mosey app only the place and stars are needed, and "Rate each dish too" is where you can name the cochon de lait po-boy or the crab beignet. Add tags such as Food Truck or Great Value if they fit, and write one line about the heat of the day.

Rate the regular kitchens you visit after the festival the same way, and keep a list of dishes you would order again next spring. Rate five different places of the same kind and the app starts handing out badges, so a few weekends of eating show up as a visible trail of what you have tried.

Where next in the city?

Carnival season comes first in the calendar, and the king cake season guide covers the sweet side. For crawfish outside the festival, read the crawfish season guide. The New Orleans hub lists every page for the city, and the US food guides cover the rest.

Take the Mosey app to the Fair Grounds, rate each plate by the dish and keep the ones you loved on a list for next year.