Best restaurant bargains in New Orleans

— -- Cost-conscious travelers can enjoy bountiful pleasure at mealtime if they choose their itinerary carefully and order smartly. To help with the planning each month, USA TODAY's Jerry Shriver offers a menu of suggestions from a major destination.

Down-home dining: Profiles of cheap-eats classics

1. Parkway Bakery & Tavern 538 Hagan Ave.; 504-482-3047; parkwaybakeryandtavernnola.com

One of the many glories of this city is that it offers so many definitive cultural experiences for a pittance. At this beloved Mid-City tavern, diners can plunk down about $12 and enjoy one of America's greatest sandwiches (the po-boy); a bag of regionally produced potato chips (Zapp's); a glass of regionally produced beer (Abita) or root beer (Barq's); a sense of history (the building dates to the 1920s); easygoing New Orleans-style hospitality; and a cast of quirky neighborhood characters. The menu boasts more than 20 types of po-boys ($3.65-$12.95), all served on locally famous toasted Leidenheimer French bread, and the roast beast/gravy, shrimp, oyster and Italian sausage versions are among the city's best. Invest an additional $3 to $3.95 and top off that meal with banana pudding or bread pudding with rum sauce.

• Top treat:Hot roast beef po-boy with gravy, $6.65-$8.85

2. Casamento's 4330 Magazine St.; 504-895-9761; casamentosrestaurant.com

In a city abounding in few-frills oyster bars, cozy Casamento's in the Magazine Street corridor is one of the oldest (it dates to 1919) and, judging from the lines that regularly form outside the door, most popular. Raw oysters from nearby Gulf Coast beds ($9 a dozen) are the stars, but close behind are the beautifully simple and amply portioned oyster stew ($5.50-$9) and loafs stuffed with fried seafood ($6.45-$12.90). The restaurant is closed during June, July and August, but when the locals begin flowing back into the pearl-white-tiled dining rooms, there's a sense of renewal unmatched elsewhere.

• Top treat:One dozen raw Louisiana oysters, $9

3. Elizabeth's Restaurant 601 Gallier St.; 504-944-9272; elizabeths-restaurant.com

The praline-coated bacon appetizer ($5) is the celebrated teaser at this bare-bones diner in the Bywater neighborhood. But connoisseurs of preserved meats will flip over the house-cured pastrami (thick-sliced and intensely smoky and spicy), smoked turkey and Italian sausage with red gravy (sandwiches are $8.25-$9.50). And out-of-towners longing for classic Southern and New Orleans fare will find a tempting slice of it here, including fried chicken livers with pepper jelly, blue-cheese oysters, chicken-fried steak, fried green tomatoes with remoulade sauce, and catfish po-boys (most items cost under $11 at lunch).

• Top treat:House-cured pastrami on rye, $9.50

Easy splurges: Low-cost dishes at the hot new places

4. MiLa 817 Common St., in the Renaissance Pere Marquette Hotel; 504-412-2580; milaneworleans.com

Young husband/wife chef team Slade Rushing and Allison Vines-Rushing are native Southerners (Mississippi and Louisiana, respectively) who made names for themselves in New York, and their new venture in the Central Business District honors those sensibilities — particularly the youthful part. The décor is straight out of the hip Manhattan lounge scene, while the menu reinvents traditional regional classics with ingredients from area farms. The "deconstructed" oyster Rockefeller and root-beer float have become justly famous, but just as creative are the sweet-tea-brined rotisserie duck, the sweetbreads and black-truffle grits, and the caramel-poached apples with brioche beignets and spiced ice cream.

• Cheapest dinner appetizer: Organic green salad with shaved turnips and sunflower seeds, $7. Others, $8-$18.

• Cheapest dinner entrée:Sweet potato pappardelle with baby shiitake mushrooms and shaved Virginia cheese, $19. Others, $26-$34, plus $65 tasting menu and $20 three-course lunch menu.

• Worth trading down? No. Both the salad and the pasta are relatively routine dishes; the fireworks begin with the $10 venison pâté appetizer and the $27 pan-roasted grouper in andouille sausage broth.

5. Patois 6078 Laurel St.; 504-895-9441; patoisnola.com

At this year-old bistro in the Uptown neighborhood, New Orleanian chef/owner Aaron Burgau deftly accentuates the French-Mediterranean roots of modern Louisiana cuisine. Sharing equal space with local dishes such as duck-andouille sausage gumbo, crabmeat salad and almond-crusted fish are Euro-classics such as mussels in tomato broth with saffron aioli, fennel-crusted tuna and hanger steak with irresistible parmesan-truffle fries.

• Cheapest dinner appetizer:Duck-andouille sausage gumbo, $7. Others, $7-$16.

• Cheapest dinner entrée:Gulf shrimp and fettuccine with pig-jowl bacon, lemon, chilies and arugula, $21. Others, $21-$28.

• Worth trading down? Yes on the appetizers — the dark, nutty-flavored roux makes the gumbo a standout. Flip a coin on the entrées: The shrimp and fettuccine offers plenty of bang for the buck, but so do entrées costing just $2 or $3 more.

TELL US: What are your favorite spots to get tasty treats in New Orleans?