Don't know what to tell you about Herbsaint, never eaten there.

Cochon would be the right atmosphere. We were thinking of going there too, but decided - why go all the way to NO to eat basically the same meal you can get here at a place like Publican or Bristol? NO has such a distinctive cuisine that's somehow managed to avoid getting homogenized, for the limited time I'm there I want to get as much of it as I can. I'll save the burgers, Thai, Italian, porkmeisters, etc for when I get home. A place like Galatoire's, you ain't gonna find that nowhere else on this planet.

Any of these places are within a 10 minute walk from the Sheraton, that location's right in the middle of everything.

Cochon is definitely going to be noisier.

Herbsaint was a few blocks from our hotel, so we stopped in just to look at the menu: entrees ranged from the mid-$20s to low-$30s. The menu looked very pleasant, but pretty banal and dated.

As for Cochon, I imagine it'd be a great place for a group of guys to quaff some bourbon, eat some pork, and talk some 'ish. It's true that it fits into that haute barnyard idiom that every city seems to have nowadays, but there are enough cajun regionalisms mixed in to make it interesting--and there are some knockout items waiting for you. Just don't forget the Tums...

I ate at Herbsaint about 5 years ago, and it was very good, and of the 3 newer places, I would recommend going there. I think that August may be too formal for a group of guys, and we spent $600 for 3. I didnt really like the food at cochon. Like I mentioned earlier, most of the pork things that we ordered were way too dry/overcooked, but we may just have hit a bad night. You might consider Irene's Cuisine. I thought that it was the best overall quality for the value. Just dont get too rowdy, or I suspect that Irene might send you packing.

-Will

IMO you can get good raw oysters just about anywhere in the country, but to really fry 'em up good you need an expert. This was my fried erster weekend, and I ordered them four times. Each time they were so good they make you whimper. These beauties were from Mr. B's Bistro. Rest of the meal was forgettable, but these - well, I even broke down and took out the camera to immortalize it after I polished off the first one.

FRIED OYSTERS ON THE HALF SHELL – One half dozen deep fried oysters on the half shell; topped with bacon-horseradish hollandaise $9.00

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Thanks for all the input, everyone! We ended up going to Cochon, and loved it.

More details in my post over in the New Orleans - Need Rec's for 8 Dudes thread.

Thanks again!