Got summer plans? The Bourbon Orleans invites to you to the Big Easy with an exclusive hotel offer for summer stays! Enjoy free parking, 2 drinks at Bourbon Oh!, 2 for 1 admission to tour Mardi Gras World with rates from $99. Click here to reserve online.

Connect with the Bourbon Orleans Hotel on Twitter at @bourbonorleans and find out about upcoming events and special offers.

New Orleans plays homage to Pamplona’s famous running of the bulls at the San Fermin running of the bulls, organized by the NOLA Bulls, taking place July 9-11, 2010.  The ”encierro” begins right here in the  French Quarter on the morning of July 10 and the streets will be packed with “bulls” or members of the Big Easy Rollergirls and several roller derby leagues across the country along with thousands of runners dressed in white with red sashes.

The Bourbon Orleans and the New Orleans Hotel Collection is proud to be a hotel sponsor of this event. Stay at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel during this weekend and save 15% off our best available rates.  Click here to learn more.

Despite the Gulf spill, New Orleans is located more than 100 miles inland.  Our guests can be assured New Orleans remains vibrant and the mint juleps taste exceptionally good in the summer weather!  As a location that never had a beach, the city of New Orleans is a wonderful place to explore, dine, eat some wonderful Creole, southern or Cajun food, and spend an exciting night on Bourbon Street or at a Jazz club.  All seafood served is 100% safe from consumption. Remember, catfish and crawfish are two seafoods that do not come from the gulf waters, and are both in plentiful supply. Stay longer and play more in New Orleans this summer by taking advantage of our best rates of the year starting at $84! Click here to reserve online.

The French Quarter is host to Vieux to Do – three festivals in one. The festivals include the Louisiana Seafood Festival, the Creole Tomato Festival and the Cajun-Zydeco Festival.

Stop by our booth at the Louisiana Seafood Festival this weekend where Paillard’s Executive Chef, Guy Sockrider will prepare crawfish crepes and bananas foster! Below is an photo of his savory crepe! See you there! Rest assured all our seafood served is 100% safe to eat.

Our Friday crawfish boils at Bourbon Oh! have been a hit with our guests and locals! Below are a few photos of Chef Guy Sockrider preparing the crawfish.

Summer is the best time to find the best New Orleans hotel rates. Stay at the Bourbon Orleans for summer getaway rates starting at only $59 for midweek stay and $119 for weekend stays!  Click here to reserve online.

Musicians, business leaders in New Orleans and community radio station WWOZ-FM have come together to create the GULF AID benefit concert to raise funds for wetland recovery efforts, fishermen and their families as oil continues to gush into the Gulf of Mexico from the site of the collapsed deepwater Horizon. The fundraising concert will take place on Sunday, May 16, rain or shine from noon – 10 pm at Mardi Gras World River City overlooking the Mississippi River in New Orleans.

Multiplatinum recording artist Lenny Kravitz, who is also a part-time New Orleans resident, will perform as well as Allen Toussaint, Mos Def, Ani DiFranco, The Voice of the Wetlands Allstars (featuring Tab Benoit, Dr. John, Cyril Neville, George Porter Jr., Waylon Thibodeaux, Big Chief Monk Boudreaux, Johnny Sansone, and Johnny Vidacovich), Zachary Richard, Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, Soul Rebels Brass Band, Irvin Mayfield’s Playhouse Review, Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, Jeremy Davenport, Rebirth Brass Band, MyNameIsJohnMichael, with additional artists to be announced.

Tickets are $50 and are available exclusively via Elevate Tickets (www.elevate.com).  VIP packages will be available. All funds will be managed and distributed by GULF AID in partnership with WWOZ.  The fund has been created to assure that all monies are properly distributed to organizations to focus on two key elements of recovery – the wetlands/coastal environmental issues and the well-being of fishermen and the regional seafood industry.   

Donations may also be sent to GULF AID, a 501 C3 non-profit corporation located at P.O. Box 6917, Metairie, LA 70009.

Ewell Smith, Executive Director of the Louisiana Seafood Promotion and Marketing Board stated:  ”Our fishermen appreciate the unprecedented support and leadership of the efforts to draw attention to the extraordinary need of our coastal fishing communities.  Thousands of families across south Louisiana will potentially be impacted for years to come and will need all the help they can get to survive.  They bring the catch of Louisiana seafood to America’s tables.  Without them we lose a vital part of our culture and heritage that make Louisiana so special.”

GULF AID will be held at Mardi Gras World’s scenic River City, which offers dramatic views of the Mississippi.  The site is being donated by Joe Jaeger and Barry Kern, partners in the Mardi Gras World facility. “As a response to the threat to our fishing industry and wetlands, we decided to create an awareness and fundraising drive, GULF AID, and called on our personal friends, musicians, restaurateurs and corporate sponsors to help,” said Barry Kern, Blaine Kern Studios.

New Orleans Jazz and Heritage radio station WWOZ 90.7 FM will broadcast live from the concert, which will also be streamed live on the internet: wwoz.org.  “Our response is sure, immediate and passionate—our music community, through its music and heritage station, WWOZ, is calling on all its many friends throughout the country, to step forward in an effort to give heart to the devastated and the displaced,” said David Freedman, WWOZ General Manager.

Rehage Entertainment, producer of the Voodoo Experience and the Essence Music Festival is producing GULF AID.  “WWOZ and the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Foundation called about this very special project and we have had the privilege of working non-stop for the last 3 days,” Rehage said.   “The event will feature world-renowned artists, including the home team players, all of which share a love for our city and concerns about how the recent developments in the Gulf will affect the lives of people in Louisiana and bordering Gulf states.”  YES Productions has donated video production services to document the concert.

Sidney D. Torres, IV, owner of SDT Waste and Debris, LLC is a concert financer and organizer.  “As a native of St. Bernard Parish, I have family members and friends who have been affected by this tragedy. We can all come to the aid of the fishing industry and those whose livelihoods depend on fishing by buying a ticket to GULF AID,” Torres said.

Updates on the concert will be posted at www.wwoz.org

On twitter: http://twitter.com/GulfAid
On facebook: Search: Gulf Relief

A special occasion is worthy of a special meal.  Paillard’s Executive Chef Guy Sockrider has prepared a prix-fixe Mother’s Day menu that is sure to please. Join us on May 9 from 11:30 am - 2 pm and enjoy our Mother’s Day menu. Reserve by calling Judy LeBlanc at (504) 571-4672.

Choice of :

Louisiana Crawfish Firecracker Raviolis
New Orleans Sherried Turtle Soup
Louisiana Shrimp Absinthe
Oyster Rockefeller Soup 

Choice of:

Salade Midi-Champagne Marinated Creole Tomatoes, Avocado, Basil Oil
Tri- Colore Salad with a Sherry Shallot Vinaigrette

Choice of:

Roast Prime Rib au Jus, Roast Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Broccollini
Pan Seared Speckled Trout Kottwitz, Haricot Vert, Parslied Potatoes
 Pan Seared Airline Breast of Chicken Rosemary, Swiss Chard, Pop Corn Rice
Tempura Fried Soft Shell Crabs Choron, Brabant Potatoes, Grilled Asparagus              

Choice of:

Pecan Bread Pudding with Makers Mark Caramel Sauce
Grand Marnier Chocolate Mousse Torte
 Fresh Louisiana Strawberry Shortcake

$38.50 Adults
$16.50 Children 3 – 12
Children 2 and Under Free

Join us each Friday at Bourbon Oh! at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel for a Crawfish Boil!

 Each Friday through Crawfish season in June we will be offering a traditional CRAWFISH boil at Bourbon Oh! from 12pm-8pm to include a full plate of CRAWFISH, boiled potatoes, corn and Andouille for $12.95 – ALL YOU CAN EAT!! We hope to see y’all there!

What looks, tastes, and smells like seafood, but doesn’t come from the sea? It’s crawfish, a freshwater shellfish that is considered a Louisiana delicacy.

Crawfish (or crayfish) resemble tiny lobsters. They are also known in the south as mudbugs because they live in the mud of freshwater bayous. they are more tender than lobsters and have a unique flavor.

Most of the crawfish consumed in the United States are from Louisiana, although people from other states consider them a delicacy, too. Locals still hold the traditional crawfish boils, where friends and family gather to feast on pounds of crawfish. In the spring, families will go out fishing on the bayous or crawfish farms in an age-old tradition that thrives to this day.