Cafe Du Monde in NOLA: Beign -YAY! to cafe au lait and doughnuts

The Café du Monde in New Orleans serves coffee, milk, juice and doughnuts 24 hours a day

There are many must-do's when visiting New Orleans, but three were told to us repeatedly:  taking in live jazz, parading down Bourbon Street and sampling beignets at Café du Monde. While we did all three earlier this month (and more!) on our visit to NOLA, our stop at Café du Monde was by far the most delicious!



A main staple in NOLA's French Quarter, the Café du Monde has been serving it's limited, but scrumptious, menu since 1862. With very few additions to their menu, (iced coffee and soft drinks were added in 1988), the café offers coffee made with chicory - served black or with warm milk - orange juice, white or chocolate milk and - the piece du resistance! - the beignet!

Arriving early in the morning with our friends, I wasted no time getting seated to start my beignet experience.

The beignet is a plain, square French doughnut heaped with powdered sugar (you'll need more than one napkin). Served up warm and quick to your table, one bite tells you why visitors line up day and night (it is open 24 hours) to indulge in this, quite literally, "hot mess".

The sun shine and warm temps allowed for comfortable open-air seating

Although the experience of sipping café au lait and warm doughnuts in an open café, with rotating jazz bands playing just outside it's borders can never be replicated back in our home in Michigan, I did purchase some beignet mix to at least bring back some of the NOLA flavor.

Bringing home some of the Café du Monde experience. Beign-Yay to this hot mess in a box!

The French spelling may throw you off, but it's correct pronunciation says it all: Beign -YAY!, indeed!