New Orleans, LA: Drip Affogato Bar

The food options in New Orleans are endless. In every corner, you’re bound to see amazing seafood, delicate pastries, and classic po’ boy sandwiches, but one thing I always admired about the NOLA food culture is how businesses are finding innovative ways for customers to have unique eating experiences.​With Drip Affogato Bar being the newest, hip dessert bar in the city, there’s no question to how much attention they got from the short amount of time they were in business. Presenting a dessert that all coffee + ice cream lovers will enjoy is a treat that any local or tourist will love.

When I entered inside Drip Affogato Bar for the first time, I instantly fell in love with the design of the place. The aesthetic was chic, contemporary, and minimalistic; the marbled tables, sleek long counter tops, pink accents, and petite succulent centerpieces made the atmosphere very inviting and photo-op worthy. Although the bar is small in size, I was really impressed with how the decor made the area spacious for guests to sit and dine.When I was deciding on flavor options, I was really pleased with the service I received from the staff. They were very sweet and helped me briefly with their insight about each Italian dessert item. Affogato, translated as “drowned” in Italian, is a European dessert where they combine espresso and ice cream together. During my visit, I decided to try their Tiramisu Affogato. Based on the menu, it contains coffee ice cream, lady fingers, mascarpone, cocoa powder, and a shot of espresso.

When I received my affogato, I couldn’t help but be in awe with the presentation! The Tiramisu affogato was perfectly presented in the exact way it was described in the menu. As you can tell from the photo, the staff did a great job in detail with how they carefully placed each ingredient. I also adored how the affogato was placed in wooden trays with the espresso shot off to the side.Before you eat, you would pour the espresso shot over the ice cream (only after you take lots of photos and footage, of course). I find it clever how Drip Affogato made espresso pouring a fun element to the affogato dish- it definitely made my order feel extra special to taste.

To this day, I can still remember my first bite of the affogato: it was creamy perfection. The ingredients used in their affogato tasted very fresh. I later learned that the ice cream was hand-made and carried from a New Orleans local business. The texture of the ice cream in combination with the lady fingers made me feel like I was in heaven with the rich flavored goodness. What I admired most it that nothing about the dish tasted overly sugary or caffeinated. Overall, the dish was a naturally sweet blend of ice cream and coffee in harmony. The only critique was that I wished the dessert was a lot bigger in portion for me to further enjoy!

When discussing with the manager about their recently opened business, I learned that the owner was inspired to create a dessert bar due to affogato being her favorite dessert. Prior to her business, affogatos weren’t a common dessert popularized within the New Orleans food scene. However, it was very advantageous to her when she opened her shop, making her desserts highly marketable with less business competition. With research, I discovered that Drip Affogato is the only affogato bar in the nation that is independent from big named dessert franchises. From the popularity they are receiving from social media and the amount of customers they get from being located in the French Quarter, it will be no surprise to me if they end up expanding their business within the next 5 years.

If you ever visit New Orleans, I highly recommend visiting this cute affogato bar in 703 Carondelet St. Their unique affogato flavor options, ice cream, and bubble teas are worth the taste. Learn more about their business at www.dripaffogatobar.com/. Check out the flavors at their site and let me know what kind of affogato you would have ordered! If you want to see more of my New Orleans adventures, follow my Instagram: @reesarei for the latest updates.