Cafe Du Monde is the most well-known place to get beignets in New Orleans. But unwilling to wait in a line that stretched out the door and halfway down the block, I did not go there. Instead, an unassuming little cafe, New Orleans Famous Beignets and Coffee, the next street over was host to my first tasting of the treat.  They were described to me as “kind of like a donut, but square, and better,” so I was expecting something more like mandazi, which are Kenyan fried donuts.  Instead they were more like the lovechild of a biscuit and baklava.  The outside is a bit crisp and flaky, plus covered with enough powdered sugar that simply breathing releases storms of it, and the inside as soft as a cloud.
I can’t imagine that Cafe Du Monde’s beignets are better, because what could be better than that?  If you’re willing to wait, go right ahead, but frankly I don’t care enough.  New Orleans Famous Beignets and Coffee is fast and cheap (3 beignets for $3), and delicious. The one thing I don’t recommend is wearing dark clothing.