The roads are pretty crappy - lots of potholes / tree root cracks & bumps / settled divots, etc.
If I were living there, I'd go with a cyclocross bike or with a sporty flat bar bike, with 32mm tires or bigger.
Fenders would be high on my list, too, as N.O. gets alot of rain.

N.O. is a very bikeable city, which is good, because your friend is gonna need some way to burn off all the extra calories she'll be taking in