Here are The Critics' Street Food Suggestions for Parades

This week the finest of New Orleans food critics turn their attention to an important matter, gobbling up street food along the parade route. While there will certainly be many options in terms of not-so-local carnie-fare, Todd A. Price notes that you won't be finding many local food trucks around the parade route. That's because New Orleans' food trucks have to lurk in the shadows two blocks away from the parade unless they have a fixed location permit for Mardi Gras, which they must apply for each year via a lottery system. That being said, La Cocinita will be at St. Charles Avenue and General Taylor. Food Drunk will be slinging King Cake Burgers to the drunkypants at St. Charles Avenue and Howard, and Crêpes à la Cart will be set up at St. Charles Avenue and St. Joseph.

Meanwhile, Ian McNulty suggests seeking out some fine DIY "entrepreneurial home cooking" along the parade route, ie. people selling tamales, red beans, bloody marys, and more from their garages and front yards, legally or not: "In years past, I've had red, meaty jambalaya in a paper bowl served from a folding table by the sidewalk and sauce-soaked ribs pulled from a trailer-mounted smoker wedged up beside someone's porch. I've had my pick from a veritable buffet of slow-cookers filled with stew, gumbo and dirty rice."

· Along the Mardi Gras parade route, New Orleans food trucks are rare [NOLA.com]
· What's Cooking: Just follow your nose at Mardi Gras [Advocate]
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