150 Best Restaurants in New Orleans, Louisiana

Those in need of a break from the traditional New Orleans white-tablecloth Creole restaurants that feature the same menus of shrimp rémoulade and redfish amandine will be pleased with Compère Lapin, a unique and distinctly contemporary fine dining experience. At the root of James Beard Award--winning chef Nina Compton's cooking are the comforting flavors and spices of her native St. Lucia. Notable favorites are the jerk pork belly, curried goat, and glazed crispy snapper collar. The ambience of the airy dining room, with lofted ceilings and minimalist decor, is romantic and quiet at times, but loud and clubby when the popular craft cocktail bar is busy.

Nestled in the Eliza Jane Hotel, Couvant offers a modern and creative take on French cuisine while staying true to the classics like duck confit and boeuf bourguignon. The upscale but approachable interiors with low lighting, crushed velvets, and black and white tile floor set the mood for a comfortable dining experience.

In a quiet corner of the French Quarter, you'll have to look for the quaint Croissant d'Or Patisserie. Once you've found it, you'll understand why locals and visitors return to this colorful pastry shop for French croissants, pies, tarts, and custards, as well as an imaginative selection of soups, salads, and sandwiches. You can get your goodies to go, but try to get a table during the busy breakfast hours for great people-watching. During Carnival season they bake a traditional French-style king cake filled with almond paste. The café is open from 7 am to 3 pm.

"Straightforward steaks with a New Orleans touch" are the words to live by at this clubby shrine to red meat, the creation of a younger member of the Brennan family of restaurateurs, who also runs Palace Café and the Bourbon House. Start with stellar martinis in the dark cherrywood-paneled lounge, then head back to the cavernous dining room to dig into classic cuts of top-quality beef and seafood. The standard beefsteak treatment is light seasoning and a brush of Creole-seasoned butter, but other options include béarnaise, made-from-scratch Worcestershire sauce, and pepper-cream whiskey sauce.

This famous spot has hosted multiple presidents, musicians, civil rights activists, actors, and literary figures, and you can soak in the history just by viewing the many pictures and articles from over the decades that cover the wall. Come for the lunch buffet during the week for a chance to sample the famous fried chicken, red beans, and other soulful staples. Dinner service is offered Friday and Saturday night only. Chef Leah Chase, the restaurant's beloved matriarch, passed away in 2019, but her legacy lives on.

This downtown outpost of the original Cvitanovich family restaurant in suburban Metairie serves the same famous charbroiled oysters in a hotel lobby setting. The oysters are an absolute must-order (you'll want extra bread to mop up the toothsome sauce), but the other local specialties on the menu like barbecue shrimp, gumbo, fried seafood, and shrimp and grits are also delicious. Families love the place, especially because of the kids' menu.

The team behind popular Bywater wine garden Bacchanal operates this chic bar and restaurant at the Hotel Peter and Paul, where you’ll find dizzying walls of chartreuse and ochre, a generous apertivo hour, and a cavernous back bar that seems carved out of a fairy tale church. Large plates like the chicken confit and grilled Gulf shrimp are perfect for sharing with a date, but plant-based small plates, like whipped ricotta with preserved mushrooms, are particularly satisfying.

Celebrity-chef Emeril Lagasse revamped his urban-chic flagship restaurant in 2023, installing his son E.J. at the kitchen's helm. The 12-table dining room is now served by two seven-course tasting menus, with selections like Grand Isle shrimp with caviar, crawfish pie with andouille, and barbecue lobster gumbo. The Wine Bar at Emeril's---now with its own entrance on Julia Street---is a wine lover's dream, with more than 30,000 bottles spanning the globe and delectable small plates like raw oysters, barbecue shrimp, and crab gumbo.

Just off Esplanade Avenue, Fair Grinds Coffeehouse is the neighborhood spot for fair-trade coffee, tea, and snacks—including vegan treats. There's an upstairs balcony for alfresco dining, and live music at least twice a week.

This lively neighborhood gathering space is more than just your average corner bar. For example, it streams European soccer games (opening as early as 6 am to do so) and hosts a popular trivia night on Monday. The kitchen serves quality American pub food with the occasionally Irish option thrown in for good measure.

A true neighborhood institution, this friendly breakfast and lunch spot is the perfect place to stop for a cold drink and a delicious carry-out po'boy.

If you're trying to find the quintessential New Orleans neighborhood restaurant, look no further: team pennants and posters vie for space on the paneled walls of the low-ceiling bar and dining room, while a jukebox blares beneath them. From the kitchen's steaming cauldrons come boiled shrimp, crabs, and crawfish, piled high and ready to be washed down with ice-cold beer. The daily po'boy roster might feature fried crawfish tails or oysters, meatballs in tomato sauce, or roast beef with gravy, but the fried-shrimp po'boy is Frankie & Johnny's calling card.

This elegant Italian-influenced American bistro draws a steady crowd of locals for its swell happy hour, intriguing menu, and sophisticated setting. The menu is slim, but expertly pared down: try the crispy fried frog legs or lambchop lollipops, followed by the chicken parm.

You'll find some of the best locally roasted coffee and espresso drinks in this bright, pint-size space.

Despite its white tablecloths and refined menu, this small, family-run bistro in its cornflower-blue cottage setting has a wonderful neighborhood feel to it. The Cajun-Creole kitchen originally opened in 1992 and after a brief closing due to Hurricane Katrina, its elevated Cajun fare and friendly service has quickly made its way back into the heart of local diners.

Inside this classic gas station–turned–taco shop, meats are spit-roasted and masa is crafted by hand. The casual, open-air space serves counter-service tacos and snacks inspired by Oaxaca and Mexico City, but much of the focus is on the large bar, where seasoned local talents craft rum, mezcal, and tequila-based concoctions. The outdoor seating is expansive, with lush plants.

An evening at this corner restaurant combines a sophisticated night out with nourishing, down-to-earth food. Expect Italian classics like pastas, pizzas, and prime meats, with a respectable wine list. Try the spaghetti fra diavolo with gulf shrimp, or the spicy rigatoni amatriciana---and say yes to the panna cotta for dessert.

At Chef Aom Srisuk's second Thai restaurant in town, the fish is fresh, the curries are creamy, and the noodles are cooked to perfection. Try one of their Seafood Signature Dishes, with ingredients sourced from the Gulf Coast: the whole fried sea bass with spicy bird chili sauce is an explosion of flavor. There's a full bar and a well-priced happy hour.

The rustic interior, reminiscent of 1920s and '30s Louisiana fish camps, sets the stage here for the likes of shrimp gumbo, crawfish beignets, fresh Gulf fish, hearty fisherman's stew, and a lemon icebox pie that will make you fall in love with New Orleans all over again. Except for freshwater catfish and Canadian mussels, all the seafood comes from the Gulf of Mexico and often straight from the fishermen. Produce and pork are also local, and salad dressings are homemade. Near Caesars Casino, Grand Isle is generally packed, but it's worth the wait (which gives you an excuse to spend some time at the elegant mahogany bar).

At this cozy (read: small) restaurant in the heart of the French Quarter, diners are wowed by the inventive and globally inspired cuisine, though the service is a bit eclectic, too. Menus change regularly, but may feature apple cheddar French toast and beet burrata kale salad for lunch, or a bacon sundae with pecan-praline ice cream for dessert. The staff weave through the tight space with the grace of gymnasts, keeping the crowds both well fed and well lubricated with specialty cocktails. Tables are set outside when the weather's nice.

Even given a few modern touches—like the vegetarian gumbo offered daily—this place evokes a sense of old New Orleans. The menu is chock-full of regional culinary anchors: jambalaya, shrimp Creole, rémoulade sauce, red beans and rice, bread pudding, and seafood and chicken-and-sausage gumbos, all heavily flavored with tradition but easy on the wallet. The patina on the ancient painting covering one wall seems to deepen by the week, and the old tables and bentwood chairs have started to seem like museum pieces. Reservations are accepted only for groups of 10 or more.

When you walk into this tiny po'boy shop on Magazine Street, you can almost guarantee that your sandwich will be made by owner Marvin Matherne. His warmth and humor make it feel like you're invited to eat at an old friend's house, but the food is probably much, much better than anything your buddy can cook: "The Bomb," in particular, is out of this world, with grilled shrimp and catfish piled on and topped with melted Swiss and cheddar.

Long famous for its seafood, GW Fins has shifted its efforts to support sustainable, local fishing practices, and its menu now focuses on the Gulf Coast’s bounty—and whatever fresh catch is delivered daily. The steaklike, dry-aged bluefin tuna rib eye, Parmesan crusted sheepshead, and snapper ceviche with habanero sorbet are just some of the delicious ways that local seafood is utilized here. For dessert, try the pretzel-crusted ice cream pie. The spacious dining room's attractive modern decor and the enthusiastic service make this a relaxing refuge from the French Quarter's crowds.

There's no name more synonymous with a sno-ball than the Hansen family, who invented the flavored (and finely shaved) cups of ice and have been serving it to sweat-drenched New Orleanians since 1934. Honored by the James Beard Foundation with an American Classic award, Hansen's welcomes locals and tourists alike that line up outside the busy shop from March through October. The line moves quickly, but if you want to avoid it, arrive early

The allure of Hermes Bar is that you'll have your pick of the classic dishes that made Antoine's (founded in 1840) famous, without committing to a full-price meal in its austere dining room. Elegant bar snacks such as oysters Rockefeller, shrimp rémoulade, and fried eggplant sticks make just as grand a meal, with the added benefit of a front-row view of the Bourbon Street crowd. Expertly mixed old-school cocktails, such as the Sazerac and Ramos gin fizz, are a tradition here. Hermes is connected to Antoine's, but there is a separate entrance next door. It's open until midnight on weekends. Daily happy hour specials are available from 4 to 6 pm.

Pimento cheese plates, boudin balls, gumbo, grits, black-eyed peas, and banana pudding rule at this vibrant, southern-inspired restaurant on the busy Freret Street corridor. Choose from hearty entrees like catfish plates, barbecue shrimp, and a fried oyster rémoulade po'boy. Locally famous cocktails like the Hurricane, Sazerac, and Pimm's Cup are available at the bar

The walls here are festooned with enough snapshots, garlic braids, and crockery for at least two more restaurants, but it all just adds to the charm of this cozy Italian-Creole eatery. From Irene DiPietro's kitchen come succulent roast chicken brushed with olive oil, rosemary, and garlic; delicious, velvety soups; and fresh shrimp, aggressively seasoned and grilled before they join linguine glistening with herbed olive oil. Waits here can stretch to the 60-minute mark during peak dinner hours, which is just enough time for a bottle of wine in the convivial little piano bar.

Here Verona-born chef Samantha Castagnetti turns out sumptuous, authentic northern Italian pasta dishes, like fusilli with peas, shallots, and Italian prosciutto in an elegant white cream sauce, alongside meaty mains, such as veal osso buco over decadent polenta. This is the kind of place that turns first dates into lifelong affairs; you'll feel like you're dining at nonna's house. The all-Italian wine list is surprisingly affordable, with many glasses at $10 or less.

As the Bywater dining scene has largely shifted toward the new, trendy, and exploratory, this historical location on Poland Avenue has stood its ground, remaining one of the only classic New Orleans dinner joints in the area. Expect large portions of fried and boiled seafood favorites, like catfish, redfish, oysters, and shrimp, as well as po'boys, stuffed flounder, and surf-and-turf plates. It's a fun, casual spot, and you will not leave hungry.