Mardi Gras weekend restaurant with 8 people - Sunday, March 2 dinner

We are traveling down for our fifth Mardi Gras, and we have three couples coming down with us for their first MG, so we're trying to make some plans to show them a good time.

I'd like to reserve a table for 8 for Sunday dinner, so we can eat together and see Bacchus.

I'm aiming for a classic New Orleans experience, but also taking into account parade route and timing, as well as places that will let you reserve a larger table.

Right now, I have a 5 p.m. seating at Tujague's on Sunday, March 2. I'm not excited about taking rookies to watch the parade on Canal, but we could walk over to Tchoup and toward CBD.

We're also booking a 4:45 p.m. table at Emeril's Meril for Sunday, March 2, which would let us have a long, leisurely early Sunday supper, then we could go over to Tchoupitoulas for parade viewing.

Two questions:

* Bacchus rolls at 5:15 pm, are we right in thinking it'll get down to Canal by about 7 p.m.?

* Suggestions on other places/timing?

We have gotten burned trying to eat after parades before, because New Orleans isn't really a late-night dining town, so we're figuring dinner before the parade is a better bet but what say you?

We'd go up to Brigtsen's after the parade, if that's a better call than being right in the shit.

We're all staying on the Marigny/Bywater area, but we're willing to take a cab if we can go out and around the box.