My food science buddies and I are heading to New Orleans for the IFT Food Expo in June. Being the obvious foodies we are, we are making this trip focused around the food. We are all from California and haven't done any traveling to the south, so we are just a tad bit clueless as to where we MUST eat. On our restaurant list so far- Acme Oyster House, Mother's, and Cafe du Monde. As for the general food list- beignets, gumbo, muffaletta, po'boys, jambalaya. Any additions or modifications we should be making to our list??

Side note: while we are on a college student budget, we are definitely willing to shell out on at least one nice meal! :]