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Craw puppies

What: Hush puppies with the addition of crawfish: deep-fried, ball-shaped, and hard to stop popping into your mouth.

Where: The famed Acme Oyster House (724 Iberville St., map) in the French Quarter is a divey kind of place with great craw puppies served with a sweet-and-spicy horseradish-honey dipping sauce. 

When: Sun-Thurs, 11am-10pm; Fri-Sat, 11am-11pm. Acme is popular among tourists, so try to time your visit with an off hour so you don’t have to wait on a line, which often extends down the sidewalk. Weekday afternoons are a good bet.

Order: Sit at the lively bar in front of the oyster shuckers; order the tasty craw puppies ($6.99), some raw oysters, and a cold Abita beer—Amber, Turbodog, whichever. It’s a fun atmosphere, so don’t be surprised if you keep coming up with more things to order.

Alternatively: It’s not quite the same thing, but in the same (addictive appetizer) class are the beer-battered crab beignets at R’evolution (777 Bienville St., map), also in the French Quarter. Similarly, we bet the crab and artichoke fritters at Donald Link’s seafood restaurant, Pêche (800 Magazine St., map) would be good eating.