Description:

New Orleans was a coffee town from way back.   In the 18^th century, coffee plantations arose in Brazil and Central America, and with its proximity to the Caribbean, New Orleans became a major point of entry for importing coffee beans and a center for grinding and roasting coffee.   The United States got most of its coffee from New Orleans. With the French population here, of course, coffee houses became popular in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Café du Monde, with its main location on Decatur Street at the French Market, dates to 1862.  It’s a traditional coffee house that serves nothing but black coffee, café au lait, milk, orange juice, and beignets – a fritter of sweet dough, dusted with white powdered sugar.   One thing that makes Café du Monde coffee different from the ubiquitous Starbuck’s is the chicory added in-roasted and ground from the root of the Belgian endive, in case you were wondering.

Café du Monde is open 24 hours a day, every day but Christmas.   We locals are happy when we have visitors so we have an excuse to visit again! We order beignets and café au lait, with plenty of napkins to eradicate the tell-tale powdered white sugar. Café du Monde is the best spot in town for people-watching, and it’s a great equalizer.

Du Monde, of course, means “the world,” and that’s what Café du Monde does. It brings citizens from all parts of the world together, to enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee and a pick-me-up of beignets, right here at the mouth of the Mississippi River.