New Orleans ? Something about the Big Easy seems too easy this Super Bowl week.

Easy to make a dinner reservation, easy to hail a taxicab in a rainstorm, easy to push through the crowd on Bourbon Street at 1 in the morning.

National Guardsmen patrol the Louisiana Superdome. Sunday's Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans has been designated a National Security Special Event.

Perhaps there’s something about soldiers strolling the streets that doesn’t lend itself to carefree debauchery in the French Quarter.

“Oh my God, it looks like Beirut,” one shocked pedestrian said Friday morning, as he strolled down Poydras Street and looked at the military trucks and National Guardsmen surrounding the Superdome.

In the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, this year’s Super Bowl is unlike any other, and certainly nothing reminiscent of the previous eight played in this party town.

The game has been designated a National Security Special Event. The Secret Service and FBI are in charge of the security detail. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue has deemed security the No. 1 priority, and he’s spending millions more than ever to show how serious he is.

“I have a very high degree of confidence that security will not only be unprecedented, but it will be world class and very, very effective,” Tagliabue said.

By the way, the game will pit the St. Louis Rams against the New England Patriots, although at times this week, their matchup has come off as only a subplot to all the flag waving and security checks going on.

“We’ve got security guards guarding security guards,” Rams safety Kim Herring said.

He’s only half kidding.

More than Mardi Gras beads or the scantily clad women who seek them on the balconies of Bourbon Street, the prevailing presence in the Crescent City has been the hundreds of NFL security guards wearing their trademark yellow shirts.

They and the military personnel scattered about the city in uniform have given New Orleans a secure feel. It’s all part of NFL Vice President of Security Milt Ahlerich’s promise to make New Orleans the safest place in America on Sunday.

But the bunker mentality has come at a price.

“It’s more like a feel-bad measure to me,” said New Orleans resident Charlie Heuer. “You see all these soldiers out there with M-16s and it makes you think they might have a reason to use them. It’s a little unnerving.”

Earlier in the week, it was still possible to get a hotel room in downtown New Orleans, although the supply is drying up.

Michael Reiss, chairman of the New Orleans Metropolitan Convention and Visitors Bureau, said most hotels are requiring a four-night minimum stay. But he said many people with reservations were paying for four nights but only coming for two or three.

“I walked around Thursday night, and lots of restaurants said their business was soft,” Reiss said.

Parts of the French Quarter were deserted. Taxi drivers complained about slow business. And there was no problem finding a table at 11 p.m. at the famous, and ultra-touristy Pat O’Brien’s bar.

“I expected it to be a lot better,” said Jeffrey Farr, who drives a carriage in Jackson Square. “In years past, a couple of weeks before Mardi Gras, the French Quarter has been jammed. I mean, you can look around. It’s like a ghost town.”

But the weekend lies ahead, and there is still the expectation that things will pick up. Reiss figures about 100,000 people will fill downtown today and Sunday. The city’s method of estimating the crowd is by weighing all the trash.

So far, however, the crowds around town haven’t been too big. The new emphasis on security isn’t the only theory floating around.

The slowing economy could be one factor.

The game was originally scheduled for Jan. 27, but had to be delayed a week because of the attacks. That involved a massive swapping of dates, hotels and venues between the NFL and the National Auto Dealers’ Association, who were originally scheduled to be here Feb. 3.

Also, there’s only one week between the conference title games and the Super Bowl this year. New England’s unexpected trip here has made it hard for fans to infiltrate the city.

“Five years ago, the Green Bay fans planned early because they were confident, and they were here all week,” Reiss said, referring to the 1997 game between the Packers and Patriots.

Of course, if there’s any place that can produce a good time even in the era of more somber celebrations, it’s New Orleans. The city’s unofficial motto is “Laissez Les Bon Temps Rouler” French for “Let the Good Times Roll.”

Local resident Susan Sachitana walked around downtown and told her friends it was “a little disconcerting” to see all the soldiers.

“But in New Orleans, it takes a lot to make people upset and stop partying,” she said.