Food & Drink in Gardere

Court Street Café entices diners with an extensive dinner menu composed of hearty, homemade dishes made with fresh ingredients. Guests can prime palates with starters such as smothered cheese fries topped with shredded cheese, bacon bits, and homemade gravy ($6.99) or crawfish kickers—fried balls of crawfish and stuffing accompanied by a spicy dipping sauce ($7.99) that rouses taste buds and teaches them a thrilling flamenco routine. The family-oriented restaurant's flavorful main dishes include the philly cheesesteak sandwich ($7.99) served with bell peppers and provolone cheese on a poboy loaf. Diners craving classic New Orleans flavors can sink their teeth into jumbo portions of barbecue shrimp ($14.99) or hand-battered fried catfish ($10.99), which arrives playfully batting a colorful ball of yarn.

Neatly aligned inside multi-tiered display cases, sugary showpieces at Cupcakes 'N Cream lure frosting fanatics with prismatic toppings and creamy swirls. Red velvet, chocolate mint, and wedding cake highlight an eclectic lineup of taste-pleasing cakes, which can be ordered in sizes including mini ($7/half dozen), regular ($2.50 each), jumbo ($3.50 each), or separate spherical cake balls ($1.50). Harvesting 24 flavors of Hershey's premium ice cream, seasoned scoopers stack cones, cups, and overheated construction helmets with either one scoop ($1.99) or two scoops ($2.99) of sweet reprieve. Crunchers can opt to sink canines into the craggy veneer of a cookie ($0.75–$1.50), and coffee and soda ($1.50) remind sippers why imaginary tea parties are so unsatisfying.

A homegrown success story with a slew of awards and nearly 40 years of history, Popeyes has introduced its menu of Louisiana eats to taste seekers around the globe. Rather than downloading low-quality, unsatisfying meals through the Internet, packs can pick up Popeyes’ family-style meals, pairing eight pieces of Cajun fried chicken with four buttermilk biscuits and a side of award-winning rice and beans ($16.99). A po boy stuffed with crunchy shrimp ($3.49) makes a splash in lunchboxes, and chicken nuggets ($2.49 for six pieces) surf into mouths on waves of refreshing sweet tea ($2.99/gal.).

Menchie’s Frozen Yogurt satiates health-conscious sugar fixes through self-serve frozen-yogurt stations supplying any of the more than 100 rotating flavors into the cups of culinary creators. Tasty foundations ($0.44/oz.) such as new york cheesecake, Heath bar, and low-carb pumpkin can speed date with any combination of 70 rotating toppings such as old-fashioned granola and fat-free brownies. Options for kosher and gluten-free dining abound on Menchie’s menu, as do no-sugar-added spins on boysenberry and french vanilla along with four dairy-free sorbets. Each culinary creation is crafted by the patron that devours it, allowing for a sweet treat more personalized than dark-chocolate business cards.

Brothers Alex and Mark Rechichi always enjoyed constructing hearty, Dagwood-esque sandwiches, but noticed that most of the breads they employed in these edible masterpieces literally crumbled under the pressure of supporting a glorious quantity of healthy meats, veggies, cheeses, and sauces. Naturally, the brothers fell in love when they discovered the sturdy pita, which was both nutritious and versatile. Flatbread in hands, the two brothers founded Extreme Pita in 1997 with a goal of delivering enormous, structurally sound sandwiches to the masses. Since then, the eatery has spawned franchises throughout the U.S. and Canada, where customers can enjoy a variety of pita-based creations ranging from made-to-order wraps to pizza-style flat bakes to jalapeño cheddar chips. Extreme Pita's locations put an emphasis on reducing their carbon footprint by implementing an array of green practices, such as recycling and reusing, using energy-efficient light bulbs, and warming pitas with the sighs of a dragon.

As its name implies, Sushi Village offers a plethora of classic and specialty sushi rolls—47, to be exact. The eatery’s traditional rolls tuck portions of spicy tuna and crawfish into their enclosed bites, with specialty rolls getting even more creative: chefs blend snow crab and fruit sauce in the Hawaii roll, and balance the flavors of barbecue eel and avocado in the house roll. Along with handcrafting sashimi from mackerel and octopus, the chefs also compose hot seafood, beef, and vegetable entrees. With a selection almost as varied as the sushi menu, entrees come with noodles hibachi-grilled, marinated in teriyaki, or coated in a tempura batter. A buffet also gives diners the option to sample from many of the menu’s impressive offerings or steal glances at the spread from afar while building up the courage to approach it.