36 Best Restaurants in USA

Louisiana culinary renaissance man John Folse first hooked up with Celebrity chef Rick Tramonto, of Chicago's Tru, in 2012 to create this lavish, multi-million dollar venue, combining Folse's deep knowledge of Cajun and Creole food with Tramonto's modern techniques. A decade later, Folse took over as the sole owner and the restaurant continues to impress with its pomp and circumstance, impeccable service, and dramatic dishes like butter poached lobster and black gnocchi, turtle soup with deviled quail egg, and the option to add bone marrow, lobster tail, blue crab (or a combination) to any dish. Diners can explore the restaurant's deep wine cellar via an iPad. Request a corner booth looking out over the muraled dining room for optimal people-watching.

Seasoned restaurateur Ralph Brennan has matched this beautifully renovated historic building with a menu that features innovative twists on contemporary Creole cuisine. The culinary staff excel with full-flavored seafood dishes like cornmeal-fried oysters with bourbon-tomato-bacon jam, Shrimp Skully dancing in a hot sauce and pepper jelly reduction, and a variety of fresh fish. For Sunday brunch, which even has a kids' menu, the BBQ Shrimp and Grits and the Pork Dirty Rice Benedict are just two of many entrées that will remind you you're way down in Louisiana. And don't skip dessert: at brunch, the 11-layer Blackout Doberge Cake is a Ralph's on the Park spin on a special New Orleans sweet. Don't be shy to order at the bar, where you can enjoy the full menu and look out on the oaks of City Park in what has become a virtual public clubhouse for nearby residents.

This sleek venture (whose name is short for "South of Bourbon Street") from the Commander's Palace team puts cocktails, beer, and wine front and center. The menu includes Louisiana-style snacks, such as grilled alligator sausage or cracklings with pimento-cheese fondue, and the cocktails are a mix of pre-Prohibition classics and crowd-pleasing originals. A row of self-service machines dispense wines by the taste or the glass, and a few coveted tables even have personal beer taps. The chef grew up in Puerto Rico, so Latin flavors creep into many dishes, like the oyster tacos or shrimp and tasso pinchos.

When chefs across America started ditching white tablecloths and applying fine-dining flair to burgers and bar food instead, chef Scott Boswell attempted to do the same with the rich, homey comfort food of Louisiana. Though some grumble about paying a premium for what is, at heart, New Orleans neighborhood fare, this crisply decorated café sits on a coveted corner of Jackson Square—and that view is priceless. At breakfast, pancakes are covered in Louisiana cane syrup and eggs Benedict are topped with homemade Cajun boudin. At lunch, oyster po'boys get an extra zing from rémoulade dressing with a touch of heat, and the Club Stanley is topped with spicy pesto Caesar dressing.

The menu at this Uptown seafood specialist reads like a greatest hits collection from the New Orleans culinary canon: from po'boys and fried green tomatoes on the casual end to shrimp andouille brochettes and blackened catfish topped with crawfish etouffée on the fancier side. The cavernous space mimics a Parisian bistro, with a tad too much polish to feel authentic. But who cares about the inside, when the many windows offer views of streetcars rolling by on St. Charles Avenue. The owners also run the nearby but not terribly exciting Superior Grill (3636 St. Charles Avenue).

A stalwart neighborhood joint, the age-old College Inn now occupies a newer building after decades in an older, now-razed structure next door. The menu is full of all-stars, but the po'boys are stand-outs: one filled with fried oysters, havarti cheese, and bacon; another with fried green tomatoes and shrimp rémoulade; and even a dessert po'boy featuring fried bread pudding all get rave reviews. The menu has changed quite a bit since the restaurant first opened in 1933, but certain items, like the veal cutlet entrée, have remained—and for good reason.