New Orleans-themed gift guide: From pralines to folk art
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Piety and Desire Chocolate makes beautiful bonbons. Photo: Courtesy of Piety and Desire Chocolate
Looking for the perfect New Orleans-themed gift? Here are a few of our favorite things to give for Christmas, holidays, birthdays and other special occasions.
Worth noting: These shops have brick-and-mortar options in New Orleans. Many have online ordering and shipping too.
Consumables
Pralines: Loretta's and Southern Candymakers are solid choices for the city's iconic sweet treat.
Chocolate: Piety and Desire Chocolate makes bite-size pieces of art.
- Laura's Candies and Mr. Apple also have great candy.
Alcohol: Get a bottle of locally made St. Roch Vodka or Happy Raptor's 504 King Cake rum. (More alcohol ideas)
- Grab jars of pickled okra, spicy string beans and Zing Zang, and you have a bloody mary gift basket.
- Or, go with bitters from Peychaud's and El Guapo for a cocktail-themed gift.
Hot sauce and spices: Be like Beyoncé and have hot sauce in your bag. Crystal and Tabasco are our favorites and are easily found at grocery stores.
- Spice mixes are great gifts, especially if you are flying or want to ship a box. Our kitchen staples are Tony Chachere's and Slap Ya Mama.
- Zatarain's Creole mustard also is a great gift.
Coffee: New Orleans is the country's busiest port for importing and exporting coffee.
- Our go-to grinds are Community Coffee and Parish Coffee.
- Café Du Monde and Congregation Coffee sell branded mugs you can combine with beans for a cheery gift basket.
Chips: Zapp's and CheeWees are our locally grown brands. Double-down on New Orleans flair with Juvenile's CheeWees collab.
Other gifts
Folk art: Commission Dr. Bob to make a custom piece or buy one of his famous "Be Nice Or Leave" signs.
- We also love Tamar Taylor's mini shotgun homes and prints from Terrance Osborne and Bare Bones Studio.
T-shirts: Sure, you can buy a cheesy T-shirt in the French Quarter. Or, you could step up your game and get one that reps a beloved venue like Parkway Bakery, Central Grocery and Hansen's Sno-Bliz.
- Dirty Coast, Fleurty Girl and Defend New Orleans can get you fixed up too.
Jewelry: Mignon Faget is the longtime favorite for upscale New Orleans jewelry.
- You also can gift a jewelry-making workshop at The Bead Shop.
Home items: Snag a King Gator flag from Alexa Pulitzer or Mignon Faget's glass tumblers with New Orleans homes.
Christmas ornaments: Merry Christmas & All That Jazz sells ornaments all year in the French Market.
- Home Malone and Dirty Coast have great seasonal selections of New Orleans-themed ornaments.
- Make your own Venetian glass ornament at New Orleans Glassworks.
Local gift shops
If you want to wander and shop in person, these stores specialize in local swag.
- Defend New Orleans.
- Dirty Coast.
- Fleurty Girl.
- Forever New Orleans.
- French Market.
- Home Malone.
- Little Miss Muffin.
- Southern Food and Beverage Museum gift shop.
Lagniappe: We also love to shop the art on the fence at Jackson Square and scope out the galleries and stores on Magazine and Royal streets.
- Our independent book stores also have fab gift options.