See Nola

Pizza Thursdays

Pete's Easy Pizza Speakeasy. 383-HEAT (Delivery to Bywater, Marigny, French Quarter, Mid-City). Cash only. On Thursdays after 5pm, Pete fires up a wood brick oven and delivers his secret pizza. $10.00 per pie. $1.00 per topping. $3.00 for bread. It's fun because it's a secret. 

Coffea Coffeehouse Gallery

3218 Dauphine (Bywater) 504.342.2484. Update: Closed.  Coffea, in many ways, represents the worst of the new south: outsider art, funky bright colors, homespun "sayings," all thrown together in a whirl of aesthetic nostalgia that can make you feel like you're starring in your own southern cartoon. But the service is extra friendly and the food cheap and tasty. Nothing on the breakfast/lunch menu goes over $6.00. Vegetarians will like their odds of finding something without sausage or fried fish. The surrounding neighborhood is great for a daytime stroll -- it's about an hour walk from the French Quarter. Also has courtyard seating, punks, stencil pirates, hipsters with laptops.

Markey's Bar

640 Louisa St. (Bywater) 504.943.0785. Credit Cards. 7 days: Noon to 'till. A good cab or bike ride away from the French Quarter, in a one-story, wood-sided building you'll find Markey's -- a relaxed bar that feels like it's out somewhere on a country road, far away from city troubles. The locals who frequent this inexpensive Irish bar are inexplicably nice and understanding, even if you might be a little too drunk or loud or whatever. Lots of TVs for sports watching. Menu of burgers and salads that we have yet to try. On Fridays they sometimes have some kind of seafood boiling. Pool table. Video poker.

Hi Ho Lounge

2239 Saint Claude Ave. (Bywater) 504.945.4446. 7 days: late to 'tll.
Call ahead for shows. Closed on random days. A post-storm renovation brings this old punk music club dangerously close to looking like, as someone remarked, "a very nice steak house." New owners ripped out the drop ceiling, installed new booths, refinished the original woodwork and installed ceiling fans. All that work was part of a plan to turn the lowly Hi Ho into a jazzy Jazz Club, but recently the owners have started to book punk shows. The result is a music club that showcases local punk in a room with excellent acoustics and something most punk bands have never experienced: a sound man.

The Joint

801 Poland Ave. (Bywater) Mon-Tue: 11:30am-2:30pm; Wed-Sat: 11:30am-9:00pm. Credit Cards. 504-949-3232. The Joint is casual -- not casual like a bunch of guys in polo shirts and khakis decided to do a casual BBQ place and then bought the "garage-sale" theme offering from a restaurant supply catalog. The food is the thing they are serious about, and it shows. Easily the best BBQ in town -- I think they go for Memphis/Mississippi style, as opposed to the Texas style, but anyway, the ribs are great, the potato salad is excellent, and the mac is the best. They have lots of other permutations: pulled pork sandwich, beef brisket, etc. -- but I've only had the ribs and two sides. Two people can eat for $20, feast for $30.