New Orleanians raise a glass to just about anything and we always pair it with world-class cuisine. We do it all with a style and flair unlike anywhere else, and it seems it’s no secret that our cocktail culture and New Orleans dining is top notch.

(photo from acodring on Flickr)

Recently, Saveur magazine named New Orleans as the Reader’s Choice for Restaurants and Dining and gave the city Outstanding Mention for Cocktails and Drinks Culture in this year’s Culinary Travel Awards 2013. The praise continued with the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel New Orleans being included in the Outstanding Hotel Bars list. Saveur and saveur.com readers were polled and the results made one thing quite clear: New Orleans continues to be a winner.

New Orleans has been racking up tourism awards and each of these accolades only reaffirms what we already know to be true: we have something really special going on here in our city, and we are anything but Anywhere, USA. Stephen Perry, New Orleans Convention and Visitor’s Bureau President and CEO, said it best when he said, “These awards are true reflections of how our chefs, mixologists and entire hospitality industry not only work hard every day to preserve the rich history and culture that New Orleans has been known and loved for by visitors for centuries, but continue to evolve their masterpieces for the modern traveler, and keep our destination a place that visitors want to return to often.”

New Orleans’ dining and cocktail culture is the bee’s knees. (photo from Steelite International on Flickr)

That’s the other upside to getting publicity and acclaim like these Reader’s Choice awards – the more people visit New Orleans, the more they fuel our economy, further driving our number one industry of tourism. As we continue to do what we do best and nurture our unique culture, the world takes notice, which means only good things for our future.