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3 POYDRAS STREET: SKYSCRAPER CENTRAL

BOUNDARIES: Mississippi River, Poydras St., S. Robertson St.

DISTANCE: 2.04 miles

PARKING: Lots, garages, metered parking

PUBLIC TRANSIT: Riverfront Streetcar, St. Charles Ave. Streetcar

Poydras Street, the main thoroughfare of the Central Business District, extends from the Mississippi River to well beyond downtown. But it’s the stretch between the river and South Claiborne Avenue that serves as the heartbeat of the city’s economy, with the Mercedes-Benz Superdome anchoring one side and the busy riverfront and the nearby Ernest N. Morial Convention Center the other.

Poydras Street is named after Julien Poydras, a French-American politician who represented Louisiana in the US House of Representatives from 1809 to 1811. Until the oil boom of the 1980s, Poydras was just another downtown street, consisting mostly of low- to mid-rise buildings. But with the construction of the Superdome in 1975, along with such buildings as One Shell Square—the city’s tallest—and 1250 Poydras Plaza, the city’s skyline began taking shape. Although Poydras lost many tenants to the oil bust in the late ’80s, many buildings were converted into luxury hotels to accommodate the city’s ever-growing tourist industry.

Other high-rises on Poydras include the Pan American Life Center, Benson Tower, and First Bank and Trust Tower. Several hotels, restaurants, and bars can also be found on Poydras and in the surrounding business district, making New Orleans an ideal choice for conventions and big-time events such as the Super Bowl and the NCAA’s Final Four. A relatively recent addition to the street is the Poydras Corridor Sculpture Exhibition, featuring more than a dozen sculptures by Southern artists, on the neutral ground between the Superdome and Convention Center Boulevard.

 Begin at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside and cross Poydras Street. The vacant high-rise in front of you was once home to the World Trade Center of New Orleans and headquarters of the Port of New Orleans. Built in 1968, the 33-story structure housed foreign consulates and featured a popular revolving bar that overlooked the Mississippi River. The Port has since moved its offices to the riverfront, and the city is looking to repurpose the building as mixed commercial and residential space.

 Turn left and continue down Poydras in front of Harrah’s, the city’s only land-based casino. At 115,000 square feet, it has more than 1,800 slot machines, over 90 table games, and a concert venue. It’s also the home of Besh Steak, one of eight eateries in celebrity chef John Besh’s restaurant empire.

 A block from Harrah’s, at Poydras and Tchoupitoulas Streets, is Mother’s Restaurant, a po’boy joint that attracts huge lunch crowds. For the uninitiated, po’boys are similar to submarine sandwiches but are made on Louisiana’s famous crisp French bread. At one time, Mother’s was the quintessential spot to grab a sloppy roast beef or fried shrimp, and while it’s still worth the stop, po’boys of all sizes, fillings, and prices abound across the metro area.

 Along Poydras Street, you’ll pass numerous hotels and skyscrapers, including One Shell Square, between St. Charles Avenue and Carondelet Street. At 51 stories, One Shell Square is the tallest building in New Orleans and Louisiana. When it was built in 1972, it was also the tallest building in the Southeast, and the first Southern skyscraper to exceed 600 feet.Between South Rampart Street and O’Keefe Avenue sits a mini–entertainment area featuring Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar, Happy’s Irish Pub, and Little Gem Saloon, one of the city’s newest music venues. Little Gem has an especially fascinating history: The club actually dates back to 1904, when it served as a popular hangout for such jazz legends as Jelly Roll Morton and Buddy Bolden. It closed in 1909, and though several other businesses occupied the space over the years, the building sat dormant for nearly 40 years until a group of developers and jazz aficionados brought it back to life as Little Gem in 2012. Regular performers include Dr. Michael White’s Quartet, Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers, Trombone Shorty, and the Viper Mad Trio.

 Cross Loyola Avenue and continue walking along Poydras, past the back of New Orleans City Hall and several other buildings, including 1555 Poydras, one of many buildings that make up Tulane University’s downtown Health Sciences Campus.

 Make a left across Poydras at South Robertson Street, and take in the wonder that is the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, among the most recognizable structures in New Orleans. Home of the New Orleans Saints since 1975, the Superdome is also home to the annual Allstate Sugar Bowl; the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl; the Bayou Classic; and the Essence Festival, the world’s largest African American music festival. Over the years, it has undergone numerous facelifts, but none as sizable as the one following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, when the Superdome served as a last-resort shelter for thousands of evacuees. The powerful storm peeled off part of the roof, and the damage from flooding was so extensive that the building had to be shut down for more than a year for repairs. That year, the Saints played their home games at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, about 90 miles upriver from New Orleans. The Superdome reopened to much fanfare in September 2006, when the Saints beat the Atlanta Falcons in a nationally televised prime-time game.

 Continue walking down Poydras to LaSalle Street. To the right, down LaSalle, is Champions Square, a festival and concert venue built after the Saints won the Super Bowl in 2010. Saints fans, donning their black and gold, enjoy partying at the Square before each home game.

 Across from the Superdome is the 26-story Benson Tower, an office building owned by Saints and New Orleans Pelicans owner Tom Benson. The Hyatt Regency New Orleans, which was shuttered for six years after Katrina, is on that same block. The Hyatt is home to Borgne, another of John Besh’s popular restaurants. As of this writing, plans were under way to convert a parking lot at the corner of Poydras and Loyola Avenue into an entertainment complex anchored by a 40,000-square-foot Dave & Buster’s restaurant and arcade.

 Cross Loyola. To the right, on the median, is the Richard and Annette Bloch Cancer Survivors Plaza, one of two dozen parks around the country established by Richard Bloch, cofounder of H&R Block and a cancer survivor himself until his death from heart failure in 2004. The building at Loyola and Poydras is the Energy Centre, which at 39 stories is the city’s fourth-tallest structure.Between O’Keefe Avenue and Baronne Street, you’ll pass a strip that includes several restaurants, among them Horinoya, serving Japanese cuisine; Reginelli’s Pizzeria; and a Jimmy John’s sandwich shop that’s part of a franchise owned by Saints quarterback Drew Brees. The newcomer to the block is Johnny Sánchez, a taqueria co-owned by John Besh and Mexican American chef Aarón Sánchez, a regular judge on Chopped on the Food Network. The restaurant opened in the fall of 2014.It’s not included in this tour because of ongoing construction, but the South Market District, a redevelopment project two blocks off Poydras between Baronne Street and Loyola Avenue, promises to transform a barren part of the Central Business District into a spectacular complex of luxury apartments, entertainment venues, restaurants, and shops.

 Walk six blocks to Camp Street. The Hale Boggs Federal Building and Courthouse takes up the block between Camp and Magazine. New Orleans has long been known as a hotbed of political corruption, and this is where many elected officials, including former Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards, met their fates.Three blocks from the Courthouse, between Tchoupitoulas and St. Peter Streets, is the Piazza d’Italia, built in the late 1970s as a monument to the city’s Italian American community. At the Loews New Orleans Hotel, in the same block, is one of the Brennan family’s top-rated restaurants, Café Adelaide. The eatery is named for the late Adelaide Brennan, a hat-loving, larger-than-life Auntie Mame type. On Saturdays and Sundays, “Brunch with Hat-itude” includes three free martinis (or “hat”-tinis) for those who don hats. (Baseball caps don’t count.)

 Walk another block to Fulton Street. Closed to traffic, Fulton is an entertainment mall featuring such restaurants as Grand Isle and Ruth’s Chris Steak House, along with the upscale bowling alley—yes, upscale—Fulton Alley. Every winter, Harrah’s New Orleans Casino presents “Miracle on Fulton Street,” converting the walkway into a wonderland of lights, decorations, and snowfall.

 Walk another block to Convention Center Boulevard and back to the Hilton. If you’re hungry, grab a bite at Drago’s Seafood, an iconic restaurant famous for its succulent chargrilled oysters.

POINTS OF INTEREST

Harrah’s New Orleans harrahsneworleans.com, 228 Poydras St., 800-427-7247

Mother’s Restaurant mothersrestaurant.net, 401 Poydras St., 504-523-9656

Happy’s Irish Pub happysirishpub.com, 1009 Poydras St., 504-304-9236

Walk-On’s Bistreaux & Bar walk-ons.com, 1009 Poydras St., 504-309-6530

Little Gem Saloon littlegemsaloon.com, 445 S. Rampart St., 504-267-4863

Mercedes-Benz Superdome superdome.com, 1500 Sugar Bowl Drive, 504-587-3663

Borgne borgnerestaurant.com, 601 Loyola Ave., 504-613-3860

Johnny Sánchez New Orleans johnnysanchezrestaurant.com, 930 Poydras St., 504-304-6615

Café Adelaide cafeadelaide.com, 300 Poydras St., 504-595-3305

Grand Isle Restaurant grandislerestaurant.com, 575 Convention Center Blvd., 504-520-8540

Ruth’s Chris Steak House ruthschris.com, 525 Fulton St., 504-587-7099

Fulton Alley fultonalley.com, 600 Fulton St., 504-208-5569

Drago’s Seafood Restaurant dragosrestaurant.com, 2 Poydras St., 504-584-3911

ROUTE SUMMARY

1 Begin walk at the Hilton Riverside hotel.

2 Cross Poydras Street and turn left.

3 Walk 16 blocks down Poydras to South Robertson Street.

4 Turn left to cross Poydras.

5 Walk 16 blocks back down Poydras to the Hilton Riverside.

Jazz musicians Kermit Ruffins and Shamarr Allen are among the regular performers gracing the stage at the Little Gem Saloon.