Café du Monde — Beignets Since 1862

Café du Monde is a historic coffee stand located at 800 Decatur Street in New Orleans that has served signature chicory coffee and beignets since 1862. Founded by Fred Koeniger in an 1813 market building, the cafe introduced chicory coffee during Civil War blockades to stretch supplies. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the establishment reopened after a record seven-week shutdown.

New Orleans · from the walk “Moon Walk: New Orleans Riverfront Revealed” · audio ~3 min · Generated

Café du Monde, 800 Decatur St, New Orleans

Why does Café du Monde in New Orleans serve chicory coffee?

Take a deep breath. You're standing right here at eight hundred Decatur Street... at one of the oldest coffee stands in America. Café du Monde. The name means "Café of the World," or some translate it as "the People's Café." And there's a reason for that.......... This spot has been pouring coffee since eighteen sixty-two. Think about that year for a moment. The American Civil War was raging, and New Orleans had just fallen to Union forces in April of eighteen sixty-two. The city was occupied, chaotic, uncertain. And yet, right here, a man named Fred Koeniger opened a humble coffee stand inside the Butchers' Market building... so patrons could drink coffee and indulge in fried doughnuts before shopping for their meat and produce.......... Now here's a detail most people walk right past. The building you're looking at... the Meat Market structure erected in eighteen thirteen... was designed by city surveyor Jacques Tanesse and built by Gurlie and Guillot. It replaced an earlier Spanish market from seventeen ninety-one that was destroyed by a hurricane. And nearby in the French Market complex, a structure known as the Bazaar Market was built in eighteen seventy, designed by Joseph Abeilard... one of America's First African-American architects.......... But what about that distinctive coffee? Why does it taste different from anything else you've ever had? During the Civil War, Union naval blockades cut off the port of New Orleans. With shipments halted, desperate New Orleanians began mixing things with their coffee to stretch the supply... acorns, beets, even burnt sugar. But chicory root... that stuck. Just as the French had done during Napoleon's blockades, resourceful New Orleanians stretched their precious coffee by mixing it with ground, roasted chicory root, which could be grown locally. What started as desperation became Tradition.......... And there's one more story that gives me chills. When Hurricane Katrina forced Café du Monde to close for seven weeks in two thousand five... it was the longest shutdown in the café's entire history. Before that, the longest had been just two weeks, caused by Hurricane Betsy in nineteen sixty-five. Over one hundred news organizations, including Abc's Good Morning America, covered the reopening. The café reopened to the sounds of jazz, and cheering patrons danced a second line among the crowded tables. Beignets and café au lait... flowing again like a heartbeat restored.......... And here's one last twist. After the Vietnam War, Vietnamese refugees settled along the Gulf Coast and discovered that Café du Monde's chicory coffee tasted remarkably like what they drank back home... a shared French colonial legacy. Many began working here, and soon families were sending those iconic orange-yellow tins to relatives across America. A coffee born from a Civil War blockade... embraced by refugees from the other side of the world. That's New Orleans for you.