Café du Monde facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Café Du Monde |
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Café Du Monde is open 24 hours a day (2011)
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| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1862 |
| Current owner(s) | Fernandez family |
| Food type | Coffee & beignets |
| Dress code | Casual |
| Street address | 800 Decatur Street |
| City | New Orleans |
| State | Louisiana |
| Postal/ZIP code | 70116 |
| Country | United States |
| Seating capacity | 400 |
| Reservations | No |
| Website | Cafedumonde.com |
Café du Monde (which means 'Café of the World' in French) is a very famous outdoor coffee shop. It is located on Decatur Street in the historic French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. This special place is a landmark and a popular spot for tourists. It is well-known for its café au lait (coffee with milk) and delicious beignets. You can even find its coffee, which has chicory in it, in stores across the United States.
Contents
Discovering Café Du Monde's History
How Coffee and Beignets Arrived
The French first brought coffee to the Gulf Coast and the Mississippi River around the year 1700. During the American Civil War, there was a shortage of coffee. Because of this, people in New Orleans, called Creoles, started mixing chicory with their coffee. This special blend is still served at Café Du Monde today. Chicory adds a unique, chocolate-like flavor to the café au lait.
The Acadians, also known as Cajuns, came from Nova Scotia in the 1700s. They brought many French traditions with them, including the beignet. Beignets are different from most doughnuts. They are square pieces of dough without a hole in the middle. They are usually covered with lots of powdered sugar. Sometimes, people eat them with fruit, jam, or maple syrup. At Café du Monde, beignets come with a thick layer of powdered sugar and are sold in groups of three.
Café Du Monde: A Timeless Tradition
Café Du Monde is the oldest coffee shop in New Orleans. It first opened as a simple coffee stand in 1862. The menu has stayed almost the same since then. It still offers dark-roasted coffee with chicory, served black or with milk. You can also get beignets, white milk, chocolate milk, hot chocolate, and fresh-squeezed orange juice. Sodas and iced coffee were added more recently. The vice-president of Café du Monde, Burton E. Benrud Jr., says that beignets are the only food item on the menu at the French Market location. He also shared that Café Du Monde wants to keep things just as they have always been. The recipes have not changed much over time.
Reopening After Hurricane Katrina
Café Du Monde closed its doors on August 27, 2005, because of Hurricane Katrina. Even though the shop only had minor damage, it stayed closed for almost two months. The owners used this time to fix up the eating areas and kitchens. Six weeks after the hurricane, Café Du Monde announced its reopening. This was seen as a sign that New Orleans was starting to recover. Over 100 news groups, including ABC-TV's Good Morning America, reported on the reopening. The French Quarter location welcomed customers again on October 19, 2005, with national media watching.
Exploring Café Du Monde Locations
The Original French Market Spot
The original building where Café Du Monde is located is called "The Butcher's Hall." It was built by the Spanish in 1791. However, a hurricane in 1812 damaged it. A new market building was built in 1813. The coffee stand started at the upriver end of the French Market in 1862.
For more than 100 years, Café Du Monde was one of two similar coffee and beignet places in the Market. The other was Morning Call, which opened in 1870. Morning Call moved out of the old French Market in 1974 to a suburban area called Metairie. Later, Café du Monde opened a new location in New Orleans' City Park. This new spot became very popular.
Expanding Across New Orleans
Starting in the late 1980s, Café Du Monde began opening more locations in shopping malls. Today, there are nine Café du Monde coffee stands in the New Orleans area. These include the original spot in the French Market at 800 Decatur Street. Other locations are at Riverwalk Marketplace, Esplanade Mall, Lakeside Mall, Oakwood Mall, Veterans Boulevard, Mandeville, Covington, City Park in New Orleans, and New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport.
Café Du Monde in Japan
After the 1984 Louisiana World Exposition in New Orleans, Japanese companies wanted to bring Café Du Monde to Japan. In 1989, the Duskin Company contacted Café Du Monde. They agreed to a franchise deal, and Duskin opened its first Japanese shops in 1990. The franchise grew to have as many as 32 locations.
The Japanese Café Du Monde shops mostly looked like the original ones. They used the same green and white colors and French Quarter style. However, the Japanese franchise added more kinds of beignets to the menu. They also offered seasonal desserts, which are not available at Café Du Monde in Louisiana. But the Café Du Monde coffee with chicory stayed the same. By 2016, there were only 10 locations left in Japan. In early 2018, Duskin ended the business agreement. All Café Du Monde locations in Japan closed on March 31, 2018.
Products You Can Buy
Since the early 1990s, you can often buy Café du Monde coffee in Asian grocery stores across the United States. After the Vietnam War, many refugees from Vietnam came to the U.S. They were used to French-style chicory coffee, just like people in Louisiana. As more families settled in cities along the Gulf Coast, many Vietnamese people in New Orleans started visiting Café du Monde. They also began working there. Many in this community would send the orange-yellow tins of Café Du Monde coffee to family and friends. This was an alternative to American coffee, which did not have chicory. Because of this, markets serving this group started stocking the coffee. You can also buy a packaged Café du Monde beignet mix to make them at home.
Gallery
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You can see beignets being made through the back window at the French Quarter location.
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A classic tin of Café du Monde coffee with chicory.
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The front of a Café Du Monde beignet mix box.
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Information about the history and instructions for the beignet mix.
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See also
- French Market
- List of doughnut shops
- List of Louisiana Creole restaurants
