🍲 Where to Eat · New Orleans, LA
Restaurants in New Orleans
51 real, currently-operating restaurants — classic Creole fine dining, chef-driven modern spots, po’boy shops, and neighborhood institutions.
🏆 French Quarter to Mid-City
✅ Verified Open
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👨🍳 Chef-Driven & Modern
🦪 Seafood & Oysters
🥪 Po’boys & Casual Institutions
🏡 Neighborhood & Comfort
🍨 Bars, Cafes & Sweets
💜 Community Dining
New Orleans dining spans two centuries of continuous history — Antoine’s has been serving French-Creole food since 1840, while a new generation of James Beard-recognized chefs is redefining what modern New Orleans cooking looks like a few blocks away. In between, you’ll find the city’s essential po’boy shops, neighborhood institutions, and a serious sweets scene. We checked each listing directly against its own official site and confirmed a few notable closures along the way.
10 Restaurants
Antoine’s Restaurant
New Orleans’ oldest restaurant, open since 1840, serving French-Creole classics like Oysters Rockefeller.
Galatoire’s
Classic Creole fine dining on Bourbon Street since 1905.
Arnaud’s Restaurant
Historic French Quarter Creole fine-dining institution dating to 1918.
Brennan’s
Storied French Quarter Creole restaurant and birthplace of Bananas Foster.
Broussard’s
French-Creole fine dining in a historic courtyard setting since 1920.
Tujague’s
New Orleans’ second-oldest restaurant, a French Quarter fixture since 1856.
Commander’s Palace
Uptown Garden District Creole landmark and one of the most decorated restaurants in the country.
Muriel’s Jackson Square
Contemporary Creole dining in a historic building overlooking Jackson Square.
Mr. B’s Bistro
Brennan-family Creole bistro in the French Quarter.
Dooky Chase’s Restaurant
Legendary Treme Creole/soul food restaurant and civil-rights-era meeting place since 1941.
10 Restaurants
Emeril’s
Chef Emeril Lagasse’s acclaimed Warehouse District flagship, open since 1990.
Bayona
Chef Susan Spicer’s French Quarter fine-dining institution in a restored 200-year-old Creole cottage.
Cochon
Michelin Bib Gourmand Cajun-Southern restaurant from chef Donald Link.
Pêche Seafood Grill
Open-hearth seafood restaurant that won the James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant.
Domenica
Modern Italian restaurant inside The Roosevelt New Orleans hotel.
Shaya
James Beard-winning modern Israeli and Lebanese restaurant Uptown.
La Petite Grocery
Chef Justin Devillier’s acclaimed bistro on Magazine Street.
Toups’ Meatery
Chef Isaac Toups’ contemporary Cajun restaurant in Mid-City known for its charcuterie.
6 Restaurants
Acme Oyster House
Long-running French Quarter oyster bar and New Orleans seafood institution.
Deanie’s Seafood
Bucktown-born seafood institution with a French Quarter location.
Pascal’s Manale
Uptown home of the original New Orleans BBQ shrimp.
GW Fins
Upscale seafood restaurant sourcing fish from around the country daily.
Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar
70-plus-year-old oyster bar and seafood restaurant with locations in the French Quarter and Lakefront.
Drago’s
Home of the original charbroiled oyster, with a location inside the Hilton New Orleans Riverside.
10 Restaurants
Coop’s Place
French Quarter dive bar serving beloved Cajun po’boys and rabbit-and-sausage jambalaya.
Verti Marte
24-hour French Quarter corner store and po’boy shop.
Central Grocery
The French Quarter Italian grocery credited with inventing the muffuletta.
Willie Mae’s Scotch House
Legendary Treme fried-chicken spot and James Beard America’s Classic winner.
Killer PoBoys
French Quarter po’boy shop with a chef-driven, non-traditional menu.
Turkey and the Wolf
Bon Appétit Best New Restaurant honoree and Michelin Bib Gourmand sandwich shop.
Napoleon House
Historic French Quarter bar famous for its muffuletta and Pimm’s Cup.
Domilise’s Po-Boys
Uptown po’boy institution and Michelin Bib Gourmand pick.
Parkway Bakery & Tavern
Mid-City po’boy shop and New Orleans institution.
Cochon Butcher
Old-world butcher shop, sandwich counter, and wine bar next door to Cochon.
5 Restaurants
Mandina’s
Mid-City Creole-Italian family restaurant serving the neighborhood since 1932.
Neyow’s Creole Cafe
Mid-City Creole comfort-food spot known for its fried chicken and gumbo.
Ralph’s on the Park
Creole restaurant overlooking City Park from Ralph Brennan’s restaurant group.
Mother’s Restaurant
CBD institution since 1938, famous for its baked ham and debris po’boys.
9 Restaurants
Pat O’Brien’s Bar
French Quarter bar credited as the birthplace of the Hurricane cocktail.
Bar Tonique
Unpretentious French Quarter craft cocktail bar open since 2008.
The Joint
Bywater barbecue spot featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Angelo Brocato’s
Italian ice cream and pastry shop in Mid-City, open since 1905.
Dong Phuong Bakery
New Orleans East Vietnamese bakery famous citywide for its king cakes.
Hansen’s Sno-Bliz
Iconic family-run snowball stand serving Uptown since 1939.
Cafe Beignet
French Quarter beignet and coffee shop with multiple locations, an alternative to the crowds at Café du Monde.
Sylvain
French Quarter Southern bistro in a restored 18th-century carriageway building.
Ruth’s Chris Steak House
The New Orleans flagship location of the steakhouse chain that started in the city in 1965.
1 Restaurants
Café Reconcile
Nonprofit restaurant and workforce-training program for at-risk youth in Central City, serving Southern soul food.
Planning Tips for This Area
- Reserve the classic Creole institutions ahead of time. Antoine’s, Galatoire’s, Commander’s Palace, and Arnaud’s all get booked up, especially on weekends and around major festivals.
- Po’boys are their own category, not a fast-food substitute. Central Grocery’s muffuletta, Domilise’s shrimp po’boy, and Verti Marte’s 24-hour counter are destinations in their own right.
- A few well-known names have recently closed. Praline Connection, Marjie’s Grill, and Coquette have all shut down — double check before building a trip around any single restaurant.
- Save room for the sweets scene. Beignets, snowballs, and king cakes are their own tradition here, from Café Beignet to Angelo Brocato’s to Dong Phuong Bakery.
Do I need reservations for the classic Creole restaurants?
Yes, especially for dinner — Antoine’s, Galatoire’s, Commander’s Palace, Arnaud’s, and Brennan’s all fill up, particularly on weekends and around major festivals like Jazz Fest and Mardi Gras.
Is Praline Connection still open?
No — both of its former locations are confirmed closed. If a guide or map still lists it as open, that’s outdated information.
How does NME choose which restaurants to feature?
We verify each restaurant directly against its own official site and current operating status rather than relying on aggregator lists, and we exclude anything we can’t confirm is still open. Read more on our methodology page.
Know a Restaurant We Missed?
If you know a great restaurant in New Orleans we’re missing, email us and we’ll take a look.
Heading to New Orleans?
See the full trip guide — where to stay and what to do, organized the same way, by category.
