Ok, here is some places I would suggest

Pat O's- Food is great, atmosphere is great, hurricanes are great, as someone else said, it lives up to the hype IMHO

Crescent City Brew House- In house brewery (across from Jax Brewery in the French Quarter), sort of a whole in the wall, food is pretty good, not everyones cup of tea, but I like it.

French Market- Open air flea market, as with any other like this, don't even consider paying what the price tags says.

Don't know the name, but at the end of the French Market, there is a outdoor restaurant that has a small stage where local musicans play while you eat. It's outdoors, so smoke what you got

Bars-711 Bourbon, small bar, that I like, it's tiny actually, but I always stop and get at least a beer or two.

Bars-Walk up and down Bourbon and drop in to any bar you want to, be careful not to go too far down, Bourbon (you'll know when), the female population will drop off....they will still be dressed as females, but.....that's all I'm going to say.

Never tried Crescent City Cigars (I think that's the name)

New Orleans is a great city, I don't know what they are saying outside of Louisiana, but don't believe all the reports of how unsafe it is, just like any city there are some dangers, but not anything to be overly worried about.

Have Fun