Where to Eat in New Orleans: A Local's Guide to the Best Restaurants
The restaurants worth your time and money in New Orleans, LA
Commander's Palace: Creole fine dining in Garden District
Commander's Palace has been the grande dame of New Orleans dining since 1893, and its alumni list reads like a hall of fame — Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, and current executive chef Meg Bickford all honed their skills in this turquoise Victorian mansion in the Garden District. The turtle soup is legendary, the shrimp and grits are a Creole masterpiece, and the bread pudding soufflé is the dessert against which all others are measured. The jazz brunch on weekends is a uniquely New Orleans institution.
Pro Tip
The weekday lunch is one of the best deals in fine dining — 25-cent martinis (limit two, with an entree) and a three-course prix fixe for around $40. Jacket required for dinner.
Dooky Chase's Restaurant: Creole soul food in Tremé
The late Leah Chase, the Queen of Creole Cuisine, turned Dooky Chase's into a civil rights landmark and one of the most important restaurants in American history. During segregation, it was one of the few restaurants where Black and white diners could eat together. The buffet lunch features fried chicken that's arguably the best in the South, gumbo z'herbes, stuffed shrimp, and red beans and rice cooked with the patience and love that only a grandmother's kitchen can produce.
Pro Tip
The lunch buffet runs Tuesday through Friday and is the quintessential experience. Arrive by 11:30 AM. The art collection on the walls is museum-quality and worth studying.
Bacchanal Wine: Mediterranean small plates in Bywater
Bacchanal is a wine shop, restaurant, and live music venue rolled into one of the most magical settings in New Orleans. Walk through the front door, choose a bottle of wine from the shop shelves, then carry it through to the back garden where string lights hang over mismatched tables and live jazz or blues plays on a small stage. The food is Mediterranean-inspired small plates — cheese and charcuterie boards, wood-fired flatbreads, and seasonal dishes that pair perfectly with whatever you've chosen from the racks.
Pro Tip
Bring your own wine glasses for the garden — Bacchanal charges a small markup on bottles opened on premises. The backyard is the entire experience; skip indoor seating.
Parkway Bakery and Tavern: Po'boys in Mid-City
Parkway has been serving po'boys on Hagan Avenue since 1911, and the roast beef po'boy here is the one by which all others should be judged. The roast beef is braised until it falls apart, doused in its own gravy, and piled onto Leidenheimer's French bread — the crusty, airy loaf that is essential to a proper New Orleans po'boy. The fried shrimp and fried oyster po'boys are also exceptional. The restaurant was nearly destroyed by Katrina and its resurrection is a neighborhood triumph.
Pro Tip
The surf and turf po'boy (roast beef and fried shrimp) is the best of both worlds. Grab a Barq's root beer — it was invented in New Orleans. Eat at the picnic tables along the bayou.
Cafe Du Monde: Beignets/Coffee in French Quarter
Cafe Du Monde has been serving beignets and chicory coffee at the French Market since 1862, and despite being the most famous restaurant in New Orleans, it somehow hasn't been ruined by fame. The beignets arrive three to an order, golden and pillowy, buried under an avalanche of powdered sugar that you will inhale at least once. The chicory au lait is strong, bitter, and milky — the perfect counterpoint to the sweet beignets. The open-air pavilion, the Jackson Square setting, the 24-hour service — it all works.
Pro Tip
Skip the morning rush — go at 2 AM when the French Quarter is winding down and the line is short. Wear dark clothing unless you want to spend the rest of the trip covered in powdered sugar.
Beyond the Usual: Exploring New Orleans's Food Scene
New Orleans's dining scene extends far beyond these highlighted restaurants. The city's neighborhoods each bring their own culinary personality, from ethnic enclaves serving family recipes passed down through generations to ambitious young chefs redefining what New Orleans food means. The best strategy for eating well in New Orleans is to stay curious, ask locals where they eat (not where they take visitors), and be willing to follow a recommendation into a strip mall, a food truck, or a hole-in-the-wall that doesn't look like much from the outside but serves food that stops you mid-bite. The restaurants listed above are proven starting points, but they're doors into a much larger world. Every neighborhood has its own food story, and the best meals in New Orleans are often the ones you discover by accident — turning down a side street because something smelled incredible, or sitting at a counter because the only table was taken. Trust your instincts, tip generously, and eat with the kind of open-minded enthusiasm that New Orleans's best chefs bring to their kitchens every day.
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