The city of New Orleans is not located on the Gulf of Mexico, it is located on the

bank of Mississippi River, so there is no oil from the BP oil spill on the shoreline

of the city of New Orleans.  This includes the French Quarter, Marigny, Bywater, CBD, Warehouse/Arts District, Garden District and Uptown areas.


The Louisiana coastal area you have seen on the news and that has been so severely effected by the BP oil spill is located approximately 2 hours drive south of the city of New Orleans.


We at Inn The Quarter have not personally smelled any odor in the air in the city of New Orleans that did not exist before the BP oil spill.


Oil refineries are present throughout the region and occasionally, when the wind blows from the right direction, the smell of gas could be detected in the air way before the BP Spill.  This has not changed.


Restaurants are buying clean, raw food from other parts of the country whenever it can not be obtained locally, so it is still safe to eat anything on the restaurant menu that you would have normally ordered before the BP Spill

Crawfish, alligator and catfish are fresh water, not salt water, creatures and are not currently affected by the spill.  I will update this statement in the even that this fact changes.


Inn The Quarter staff have attended all local seafood festivals since the BP spill and have enjoyed every dish we sampled with no ill affects (aside from a slight weight gain from overindulging!).


Restaurants are constantly inventing new dishes that will accommodate fluctuations in seafood and fish resources
New Orleans Restaurant Association article

Clean waterways are open for swamp tours, airboat tours, and limited charter fishing so feel free to have us book these activities for you.  80% of Louisiana waterways are now open for recreational fishing.


A new and much more stringent daily testing program is being used insure the safety of our food supplies


Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries continues to work closely with the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality to conduct coast-wide sampling of fish, crabs and shrimp, to ensure all seafood harvested from the Gulf is a safe, quality product.

Louisiana Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries enforcement is patrolling the closed fishing areas daily to ensure tainted seafood does not get into the market.

Since the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20, 2010, the Louisiana Restaurant Association (LRA) has been monitoring the BP Oil Spill situation daily and working with officials from many federal, state and local agencies.


DHH scientists and registered sanitarians are conducting enhanced testing of oyster meat taken from the closed beds to monitor the presence of oil, called hydrocarbon testing. Additional testing is also being conducted in unaffected oyster beds. These tests will create a baseline, which will be used to ensure the safety of oysters once the incident clears in order to evaluate the the feasibility of reopening beds in the future.


The best way to help insure a good quality of life and tourism in the city of New Orleans and surrounding areas is to come and enjoy a visit.  Many stores, restaurants and music venues are contributing portions of their profits to assist those whose lives along the Gulf Coast have been so horribly impacted by the BP oil spill.