Friend, Goorin Brothers, Reservoir Café, Lilly’s Café, and Brigade Coffee Oh My!

Friend, Goorin Brothers, Reservoir Café, Lilly’s Café, and Brigade Coffee Oh My!

Freret Street has nothing on the current explosion happening on the Lower Garden District’s Magazine Street over the past few months. Name your poison, er passion – clothing, food or coffee – and it’s got a new shop in the area.

Clothing

If you’re looking to find stylish yet casual menswear, look no further than Friend. The owner, Parker Hutchinson, has really outdone himself and pretty much every other men’s store in New Orleans. Check out Friend’s Facebook page to see the summer lookbook, then question why you haven’t stopped in yet.

Looking for something to top off that new wardrobe you just picked up from Friend? Next door you’ll find the newest Goorin Brothers Hat Shop. As you first step in, you are instantly transported to a different time, a time when guys were gentlemen and girls we ladies. If you manage to exit the shop without purchasing a fedora or cloche, you’ve got much more willpower than most.

Food

Nothing warms the soul like a cup of pho and a Vietnamese iced coffee. Lilly’s Café is the place to go for this order. Lilly’s is a cute, and fun Vietnamese café on Magazine and Felicity. Often times Lilly herself is there to take your order and make sure everything is amazing. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu.

Even though Stein’s Market and Deli and Juan’s Flying Burrito have been staples in the neighborhood for some time, there’s no way to have a LGD food list without adding them in.

Coffee

Reservoir Café is thrift store turned coffee shop that managed to keep its unique and funky flair by keeping a lot of the odds and ends from its previous existence. Need I say more?

The last to make the list of hip new places on Magazine Street isn’t a shop or a store. It has no seating, and depending on when you show up, it might not even be there. Brigade Coffee is one of New Orleans latest food/beverage trucks, and damn if they don’t have some of the best espresso in town. You can often find the truck hanging out in front of the Skuba Design and Goorin Brothers building weekday mornings, but I would check their Twitter before making the trip out.


Bonus Round

Goorin Brothers and Friend often times have happy hours on Thursdays. Just make sure to look good.