Feasting at festivals

It's spring time in NOLA and that means festivals on festivals on festivals! After Mardi Gras, it's pretty much non-stop festivals until Halloween. What that means is plenty of outdoor fun, live music, and of course, food. This past weekend was a successful one because I went to two food focused festivals: Louisiana SPCA's Brunch Fest and FoodFest: America's Hometown Eats.

We started at the Brunch Fest in City Park that was a fund raiser and adoption promotion for the SPCA. There were many doggies out and about as well as way too many people in a tight space setup. Though we got there only a few hours in, the lines were unbelievably long and many vendors were already out of food. Man was I disappointed! All I got after a 20+ minute wait was a got a Bloody Mary and fruit parfait from The Cheesy Cajun for $12.

Needless to say, we quickly left and headed to the French Quarter for FoodFest. Though it's advertised as hosting America's Hometown Eats, vendors were primarily from all around Louisiana and Memphis. Not that I'm complaining, because we got some bomb food from every booth we tried (plus less than 2 minutes wait for any of them)!
Highlights:

• Gus's Fried Chicken, Memphis - $2 for a wing, $3 for a thigh, but man do they know how to do their chicken fried! It's extra crispy, paired great with their slaw, and even better topped with Louisiana hot sauce. 
• Central BBQ, Memphis - great ribs with the most seasoned BBQ chips you'll ever taste and even greater service. My friend bought a t-shirt, but they didn't have her size, so one of the owners offered to mail her one for free! 
• Sheraton, NOLA - they had all their gumbo trophies laid out on the counter for everyone to say, and I must say their gumbo was very rich, flavorful, and got more tasty with each bite. I also ordered a delicious glazed redfish topped with a crab/peashoot salad for $8 (best value, hands down). 

Festival season is definitely my favorite season of the year.