Fried chicken, beignets and a surprise laundromat puppet show are featured on two cheap blind dates in New Orleans.
Couple #1: Javan & Michelle
- Javan Whitaker is an artist, model and actor born and raised in New Orleans.
- Michelle Flynn is from Italy and is attending Tulane University.
Couple #2: Praneeth & Bethany
- Praneeth Panjam is from India and moved to New Orleans for a job.
- Bethany Barnoski is a former Marine that decided to stay in New Orleans to attend Tulane for undergrad and continued to Loyola for her MBA.
Great cheap date ideas: Fried chicken, beignets and a surprise laundromat puppet show
In this episode, couples are challenged to create dates with these three themes:
- Eat fried chicken
- “Wine” down and write a NOLA jingle
- Get a small business beignet
Beignets:
Don’t prefer the traditional New Orleans style beignets? Neither does Javan and Michelle, so they visited Mr. B’s Bakery, a New Orleans bakery known for their airy and flakey glazed beignets.
Loretta’s Authentic Pralines are known for everything! This shop is the first Black-owned candy store in the city’s history with the famous pralines traveling all around the world. Now the shop is known for the praline beignets, which Praneeth & Bethany thoroughly enjoyed.
Fried Chicken:
Michelle doesn’t care for veggies, but Javan was able to break her out of her shell and try the greens as the side to their fried chicken plate at Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe, a creole soul restaurant that specializes in gumbo, fried chicken, seafood and more.
Praneeth & Bethany tried the sweet heat chicken at Peewee’s Crabcakes, known for their signature crabcakes, but also their chicken. They have four locations that are open for you to try throughout the city.
[Got BBQ on the brain? Check out our Top 5-04 guide to the best BBQ in New Orleans.]
Wine Down:
Grab a crafted cocktail at Victory Lounge. This establishment perfects the art of vintage cocktails that taste fabulous. They also must pack a punch because while writing the jingle, Bethany got Praneeth to “twerk” for her!
The Business Bar is a multifacet place where you work on your laptop, grab a cocktail and eat. While Javan and Michelle didn’t partake in alcoholic cocktails, the Shirley Temples seemed to do the trick while they wrote their jingle and concocted their rap names!
Extra Activity – Music, Puppets, & Laundry…oh my! with Praneeth and Bethany
Black and Gold Wash and Fold is a basic laundromat that doubles as a community center after hours mostly for artists to perform live for the public. Bethany volunteered poor Praneeth to participate in this… “unique” puppet show. Although there was a disclaimer provided beforehand no one was prepared for what was to come. It was a wild and creepy ride to say the least!
[Looking for standup comedy in New Orleans? Check out Comedy House NOLA. A locally-owned, women-owned comedy house in the Warehouse District.]
Watch these dates in action and see who wins!
Want to learn more about these great cheap date spots?
Check out the “My Amazing Cheap Date: Fried Foods and Perplexing Puppets” episode to see the two couples compete for a gift card to Lilly’s Cafe and the victor of the challenges.
You can watch all of the episodes of “My Amazing Cheap Date” for free on the Very Local channel. Click here for details on how to get the channel.