New Orleans has a cuisine and hospitality that’s known the world over, but this food-loving town also has become fertile ground for new expressions and flavors from around the globe.
I’ve been covering New Orleans restaurants for more than 20 years, and the interplay between the two has never been more robust. This restaurant guide reflects both.
The guide also is intended specifically to serve locals. Given the city’s allure as a travel destination, there’s no lack of lists aimed at visitors. But people who live here have different needs and expectations, and build different relationships with the restaurants they make part of their traditions, celebrations and daily life.
Picking the best
Given the richness of possibilities across hundreds of compelling choices, I set a framework of restaurant categories each year and pick a comprehensible number (32 in this case). Then I fill the list with my best dining experiences of the past year, restaurants where the food, service, experience and price (at whatever range) all align with the promise of what they’re offering.
I have not included any restaurant less than four months old, because any restaurant needs to grow into itself. This means a number of restaurants I’m excited about aren’t included here. But hold all bets, because my upcoming list of best new restaurants of 2026 is coming soon.
Restaurants are arranged alphabetically within their categories and include price keys.
Only in New Orleans, upscale traditional
Defining Creole flavor in fine dining settings
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New Orleans BBQ shrimp with shrimp calas (Creole rice fritter) is served at Brigtsen’s Restaurant.
Trout meuniere, pan-fried speckled trout with roasted pecans and meuniere sauce is served at Brigtsen’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
The soft shell crab at Clancy’s Restaurant in New Orleans is smoked and then fried and finished with more crabmeat.
Oysters served at Clancy’s Restaurant in New Orleans on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
A tray full of signature dishes makes its way through the main dining room at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Long-serving employees, like Billy Fontenot, have become part of the Galatoire’s brand and business model.
Bouillabaisse, a seafood stew with an aromatic fish broth, of served at Galatoire’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Gulf fish puttanesca is served over fresh capellini pasta at Pascal’s Manale Restaurant in New Orleans.
The crab cake is finished with crispy red onions and basil oil at Pascal’s Manale Restaurant in New Orleans.
Waiters deliver hot fried chicken for Holy Thursday lunch at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
New Orleans BBQ shrimp with shrimp calas (Creole rice fritter) is served at Brigtsen’s Restaurant.
Trout meuniere, pan-fried speckled trout with roasted pecans and meuniere sauce is served at Brigtsen’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
The soft shell crab at Clancy’s Restaurant in New Orleans is smoked and then fried and finished with more crabmeat.
Oysters served at Clancy’s Restaurant in New Orleans on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.
A tray full of signature dishes makes its way through the main dining room at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Long-serving employees, like Billy Fontenot, have become part of the Galatoire’s brand and business model.
Bouillabaisse, a seafood stew with an aromatic fish broth, of served at Galatoire’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Gulf fish puttanesca is served over fresh capellini pasta at Pascal’s Manale Restaurant in New Orleans.
The crab cake is finished with crispy red onions and basil oil at Pascal’s Manale Restaurant in New Orleans.
Waiters deliver hot fried chicken for Holy Thursday lunch at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Brigtsen’s Restaurant
723 Dante St., Riverbend, $$$$
Rustic Louisiana flavor finds its highest level and gives its deepest satisfaction at the homey cottage bistro that chef Frank Brigtsen and his family have run for four decades. Roast duck, velvety shrimp bisque, blackened tuna and cochon de lait are executed with reverence. Trend averse and a tad old fashioned, this restaurant makes newbies to New Orleans cuisine into believers.
Clancy’s Restaurant
6100 Annunciation St., Uptown, $$$$
Here’s an upscale restaurant with the heart of a corner joint. The gently modernized Creole menu is full of dishes that have become signatures. Fried oysters topped with melting wonks of Brie, smoked soft-shell crab, paneed veal and lemon icebox pie are as essential to Clancy’s as the mirrored dining room and marble-topped bar that feels like a neighborhood clubhouse.
Dooky Chase’s Restaurant
2301 Orleans Ave., Treme, $$$
The rooms are filled with Civil Rights history and African American art, and the spirit of the late matriarch Leah Chase is palpable across one of the city’s great social gathering places. Today, the Chase family is more than a steward of this legacy; the next generation is adding chapters to the story, starting with an expanded menu that moves from fried chicken and gumbo to revived house signatures and Creole classics.
A tray full of signature dishes makes its way through the main dining room at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant.
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
Galatoire’s Restaurant
205 Bourbon St., French Quarter, $$$$
Prized for its timeless feel, this Creole grand dame is no museum piece. There’s too much jubilant personality packed into the dining room and long bar, a gem on Bourbon Street. Devote half a day for the boozy Friday lunch; dinner gives a quieter account of its bedrock of French Creole tradition with Gulf fish and lamb chops, classic sauces and crabmeat galore, add Sazeracs. (Note: Times-Picayune owner John Georges is an owner of Galatoire’s).
Pascal’s Manale Restaurant
1838 Napoleon Ave., Uptown, $$$
Creole-Italian cooking, the marriage of Sicilian flavor with New Orleans exuberance, has been the Pascal’s Manale story through more than a century. The Uptown landmark is now part of Dickie Brennan’s group and has been greatly refreshed, including a menu that’s been both expanded and refined. The saloon-style, stand-up oyster bar in the lounge is as classic as ever.
Only in New Orleans, casual traditional
For an anytime connection to local flavor
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A fried shrimp po-boy photographed at Crabby Jack’s in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
Fried chicken served with mac and cheese and dirty rice at Crabby Jack’s in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
Mosca’s Restaurant’s shrimp Mosca is a made with rosemary, pepper and lots of garlic and served family style.
Mosca’s restaurant in Westego Friday, April 16, 2021.
Creole gumbo from chef Bunny Young is served at Vaucresson Creole Cafe & Deli in New Orleans.
Crawfish etouffee from chef Bunny Young is served with fried catfish at Vaucresson Creole Cafe & Deli in New Orleans.
The garlicky oyster po-boy at Liuzza’s by the Track, a neighborhood joint for New Orleans flavors.
The BBQ shrimp po-boy is a menu staple at Liuzza’s by the Track in New Orleans, served next to the gumbo and a schooner of beer.
The BBQ shrimp po-boy is a menu staple at Liuzza’s by the Track in New Orleans.
Salt baked shrimp, part of the tasting menu at The Kingsway restaurant in New Orleans, is a tribute to a dish from the former Kim Son in Gretna. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
A fried shrimp po-boy photographed at Crabby Jack’s in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
Fried chicken served with mac and cheese and dirty rice at Crabby Jack’s in New Orleans, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026.
Mosca’s Restaurant’s shrimp Mosca is a made with rosemary, pepper and lots of garlic and served family style.
Mosca’s restaurant in Westego Friday, April 16, 2021.
Creole gumbo from chef Bunny Young is served at Vaucresson Creole Cafe & Deli in New Orleans.
Crawfish etouffee from chef Bunny Young is served with fried catfish at Vaucresson Creole Cafe & Deli in New Orleans.
The garlicky oyster po-boy at Liuzza’s by the Track, a neighborhood joint for New Orleans flavors.
The BBQ shrimp po-boy is a menu staple at Liuzza’s by the Track in New Orleans, served next to the gumbo and a schooner of beer.
The BBQ shrimp po-boy is a menu staple at Liuzza’s by the Track in New Orleans.
Salt baked shrimp, part of the tasting menu at The Kingsway restaurant in New Orleans, is a tribute to a dish from the former Kim Son in Gretna. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Crabby Jack’s
428 Jefferson Highway, Jefferson, $
A colorful lunchroom spinoff from the better-known restaurant Jacques-Imo’s Café has aged into a low-key classic, serving a mix of old-school New Orleans and off-script signatures. The garlic-topped fried chicken, homey stuffed mirliton plate, shrimp Creole and dirty rice heavy on liver share the menu with po-boys overstuffed with fried seafood or duck rendered down to debris.
Liuzza’s by the Track
1518 N. Lopez St., Mid-City, $
A corner bar near the horse track (and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival) is filled with neighborhood characters returning again and again for a menu of local flavor dishes done one better with a distinctive house style, from the gumbo to the barbecue shrimp. With a schooner of beer and a garlic oyster po-boy in hand, New Orleans life feels grand.
A BBQ shrimp poboy is served at Liuzza’s by the Track. (Photo by David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Mosca’s Restaurant
4137 U.S. 90, Westwego, West Bank, $$
Mosca’s belongs to a tradition unto itself. There’s the rustic northern Italian cooking passed down through the Mosca family, the journey it entails to the edge of the exurbs (about 30 minutes from downtown), and all the stories that adhere to this place like the garlic cloves studding its magnificent whole chicken. Everything is family-sized to share, and the more people at the table, the more pleasure a meal gives. Remember: cash only.
Vaucresson Creole Café & Deli
1800 St. Bernard Ave., 7th Ward, $
The Vaucresson family has been part of the Creole food story for generations, not the least for their hot sausage po-boys. Now, they have a new collaborator, chef Bunny Young, who has made the cafe into the old-school Creole restaurant of my dreams. The daily plate lunch menu offers one generous example after the next of soulful New Orleans pot cooking, like greens and turkey necks, smothered okra and étouffée.
Unforgettable upscale dining experiences
Bucket list destination dining, where dinner is a performance
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Emeril’s Restaurant was recognized last year by 50 Best.
Chef E.J. Lagasse of Emeril’s restaurant makes an oyster soup.
Restaurant August serves a menu of elevated contemporary Creole cuisine in New Orleans.
A slice of Wagyu A5 steak is served with bordelaise and figs, part of the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans.
Taper candles flicker over the linen-clad tables at Restaurant August in New Orleans.
Chilled chili crab noodles are part of the Asian tasting menu at the Kingsway restaurant in New Orleans.
Lamb is served on an antique holder with dumplings at the tasting menu restaurant Saint-Germain in New Orleans.
Duck confit schnitzel is served at the tasting menu restaurant Saint-Germain in New Orleans.
Emeril’s Restaurant was recognized last year by 50 Best.
Chef E.J. Lagasse of Emeril’s restaurant makes an oyster soup.
Restaurant August serves a menu of elevated contemporary Creole cuisine in New Orleans.
A slice of Wagyu A5 steak is served with bordelaise and figs, part of the chef’s tasting menu at Restaurant August in New Orleans.
Taper candles flicker over the linen-clad tables at Restaurant August in New Orleans.
Chilled chili crab noodles are part of the Asian tasting menu at the Kingsway restaurant in New Orleans.
Lamb is served on an antique holder with dumplings at the tasting menu restaurant Saint-Germain in New Orleans.
Duck confit schnitzel is served at the tasting menu restaurant Saint-Germain in New Orleans.
Emeril’s Restaurant
800 Tchoupitoulas St., Warehouse District, $$$$$
In a new era as a tasting menu restaurant, led by E.J. Lagasse, Emeril’s shows what Creole flavor is like set to the highest levels of global cuisine, and how it can still feel intimately of New Orleans. It’s a peak dining experience, luxurious in every way. That includes the regal pricing (starting at $295), though it’s still likely less costly than flying to try restaurants of this caliber in New York. It exceeds expectation at every turn. Meanwhile, the attached Wine Bar at Emeril’s gives a more affordable taste of the style.
The Kingsway
4201 Magazine St., Uptown, $$$$
Chef Ashwin Vilkhu and his family, of the excellent upscale Indian restaurant Saffron NOLA, have created something completely new for New Orleans with an elegant, seasonally changing Asian prix fixe menu. Relatively accessible (starting at $95), it gives choices at each course, with dishes inspired by China, Japan, Vietnam and family recipes. The optional wine pairing is impressive. The bar is available for à la carte service.
Chocolate cake with cremeux, sesame ice cream and peanut finishes a dinner at The Kingsway restaurant in New Orleans. (Photo by Chris Granger, The Times-Picayune)
Restaurant August
301 Tchoupitoulas St., CBD, $$$$$
The original restaurant from BRG Hospitality has always lived up to its name in the setting of polished elegance, like a classic temple of Continental gastronomy. Today, Executive Chef Corey Thomas serves haute Louisiana cuisine, intricate in technique, robust in flavor. There’s either a chef’s tasting menu ($185) or a prix fixe four-course menu ($125), which has choices by course. Dishes are served a la carte only at the bar; consider that an option if only to try the spectacular desserts.
Saint-Germain
3054 St. Claude Ave., Bywater, $$$$$
A bucket list-tasting menu (starting at $250) is hiding in this humble-seeming shotgun house, one that has made a remarkable leap in elevation since first opening. Today, co-chefs Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith take diners on a journey across a culinary terrain of artistry and imagination. The meal feels more like a series of individual culinary experiences rounding into a whole rather than just a progression of courses.
Anytime midrange
Memorable meals that won’t break the bank
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Grilled shrimp, anchovy toast, endive and radicchio salad and roasted mussels fill a table at Evviva restaurant in New Orleans.
Grilled shrimp are covered with garlic and lemon at Evviva restaurant in New Orleans.
Blackened redfish is topped with crawfish sauce over fried grit cakes at The Munch Factory, a casual restaurant in New Orleans.
Tuna tartare tacos give a fresh bite in fried wontons at The Munch Factory, a casual New Orleans neighborhood restaurant.
Barbecue shrimp, chicken fried quail, swordfish, corner store tuna crudo and parisa steak tartare fill a table at Palm & Pine.
Shrimp Creole is served with paneed eggplant at Rosedale.
Dishes including red bean dip, boudin Scotch egg, shrimp Creole with eggplant and vegan curry with Hatch peppers fill a table at Rosedale.
Old brick, vibrant colors and an open kitchen are part of the dining room at Palm & Pine in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Grilled shrimp, anchovy toast, endive and radicchio salad and roasted mussels fill a table at Evviva restaurant in New Orleans.
Grilled shrimp are covered with garlic and lemon at Evviva restaurant in New Orleans.
Blackened redfish is topped with crawfish sauce over fried grit cakes at The Munch Factory, a casual restaurant in New Orleans.
Tuna tartare tacos give a fresh bite in fried wontons at The Munch Factory, a casual New Orleans neighborhood restaurant.
Barbecue shrimp, chicken fried quail, swordfish, corner store tuna crudo and parisa steak tartare fill a table at Palm & Pine.
Shrimp Creole is served with paneed eggplant at Rosedale.
Dishes including red bean dip, boudin Scotch egg, shrimp Creole with eggplant and vegan curry with Hatch peppers fill a table at Rosedale.
Old brick, vibrant colors and an open kitchen are part of the dining room at Palm & Pine in the French Quarter in New Orleans.
Evviva
2600 Dauphine St., Faubourg Marigny, $$$
This darkly seductively spot offers the essence of Italian cooking as it’s practiced in Italy. Co-chefs Rebecca Wilcomb and Marcus Jacobs are always bringing something different for the season and from the market, presented with a nuanced simplicity. The menu reads straightforward and overdelivers with fresh flavor. A few small plates and a shared entrée make an affordable feast, and the wine list is long on value too.
The Munch Factory
4141 Bienville St., Mid-City, $$
The gumbo is timeless, the blackened redfish is a smart update on a classic, and snacks and appetizers like roast beef debris nachos and tuna tartar tacos are just delicious mashups. The Munch Factory has a new Mid-City home and a mostly lunchtime format (open until 5 p.m.), but remains that mid-range, next generation Creole restaurant every New Orleanian needs for their playbook.
Tuna tartare tacos give a fresh bite in fried wontons at The Munch Factory, a casual New Orleans neighborhood restaurant.
STAFF PHOTO BY BRETT DUKE
Palm & Pine
308 N. Rampart St., French Quarter, $$$
Palm & Pine is the upscale/casual neighborhood restaurant for the French Quarter. The feel around the colorful room is laidback; the cooking from co-chefs Amarys Koenig Herndon and Jordan Herndon is serious, and often revelatory as humble-sounding ingredients steal the show. Their menu runs through the Caribbean and Mexico across Texas and around the Deep South before landing in the realm of contemporary Creole.
Rosedale
801 Rosedale Drive, Navarre, $$
Hidden down a residential side street, Rosedale is the nicest neighborhood joint imaginable, punching way above its weight in quality of ingredients, creativity and wine. It’s led jointly by the legend Susan Spicer and her longtime protégé and now co-chef Allison Birdsall. They serve a fresh take on New Orleans comfort food, through sandwiches, salads and a specials list that is always filled with compelling dishes.
Modern upscale
Contemporary cuisine across New Orleans
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Caviar accompanies the banana beignets with cafe au lait butter at Jewel of the South restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Blackened redfish with a sauce based on lobster bisque is served over corn grits at Jewel of the South in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Fins wings are made from the collar cut of snapper or other fish at GW Fins seafood restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Dry aged tuna, served with the bone in, is a periodic specialty at GW Fins restaurant, a pioneer of the technique in New Orleans.
The center hall of an old home leads to the main dining room at Saint Claire restaurant in New Orleans.
Rabbit Rillettes dish served with pickles, blackberry confiture and sourdough at Saint Claire in New Orleans, Thursday, July 3, 2025.
Gnocchi are served with jumbo lump crabmeat and lemon butter sauce at Saint Claire restaurant in New Orleans.
A lentil & potato pierogi dish at Zasu
Red snapper with a golden crust at Zasu restaurant in Mid-City.
Crudo, ceviche and smoked tuna dip start a meal at Peche Seafood Grill in New Orleans.
Spicy ground shrimp with noodles is a standard at Peche Seafood Grill.
Jerk shrimp with curry creamed corn is an appetizer course at Ralph’s on the Park, a restaurant for contemporary Creole cuisine in New Orleans.
Fried soft shell crab and roasted crab claw appetizers share the table at Ralph’s on the Park, a restaurant for contemporary Creole cuisine in New Orleans.
Commander’s Palace chefs meeting in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Advocate staff photo by Ian McNulty -The dining rooms at Commander’s Palace are always festive.
Commander’s Palace bread pudding souffle
The Wagyu steak at Gautreau’s Restaurant in New Orleans is served with a stuffed pepper and a beef doughnut on the side.
Lobster crepe, chilled corn and truffle soup, watermelon salad, Wagyu steak and crab toast are on the summer menu at Gautreau’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Art Nouveau contours and colorful flowers adorn the dining room at MaMou restaurant in the French Quarter.
Poisson a la Florentine, finished with caviar beurre blanc and a parmesan tuile, is a signature dish at MaMou restaurant in the French Quarter.
Caviar accompanies the banana beignets with cafe au lait butter at Jewel of the South restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Blackened redfish with a sauce based on lobster bisque is served over corn grits at Jewel of the South in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Fins wings are made from the collar cut of snapper or other fish at GW Fins seafood restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans.
Dry aged tuna, served with the bone in, is a periodic specialty at GW Fins restaurant, a pioneer of the technique in New Orleans.
The center hall of an old home leads to the main dining room at Saint Claire restaurant in New Orleans.
Rabbit Rillettes dish served with pickles, blackberry confiture and sourdough at Saint Claire in New Orleans, Thursday, July 3, 2025.
Gnocchi are served with jumbo lump crabmeat and lemon butter sauce at Saint Claire restaurant in New Orleans.
A lentil & potato pierogi dish at Zasu
Red snapper with a golden crust at Zasu restaurant in Mid-City.
Crudo, ceviche and smoked tuna dip start a meal at Peche Seafood Grill in New Orleans.
Spicy ground shrimp with noodles is a standard at Peche Seafood Grill.
Jerk shrimp with curry creamed corn is an appetizer course at Ralph’s on the Park, a restaurant for contemporary Creole cuisine in New Orleans.
Fried soft shell crab and roasted crab claw appetizers share the table at Ralph’s on the Park, a restaurant for contemporary Creole cuisine in New Orleans.
Commander’s Palace chefs meeting in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 11, 2023.
Advocate staff photo by Ian McNulty -The dining rooms at Commander’s Palace are always festive.
Commander’s Palace bread pudding souffle
The Wagyu steak at Gautreau’s Restaurant in New Orleans is served with a stuffed pepper and a beef doughnut on the side.
Lobster crepe, chilled corn and truffle soup, watermelon salad, Wagyu steak and crab toast are on the summer menu at Gautreau’s Restaurant in New Orleans.
Art Nouveau contours and colorful flowers adorn the dining room at MaMou restaurant in the French Quarter.
Poisson a la Florentine, finished with caviar beurre blanc and a parmesan tuile, is a signature dish at MaMou restaurant in the French Quarter.
Commander’s Palace
1403 Washington Ave., Garden District, $$$$
This mansion is the flagship of modern New Orleans dining, where a big-deal meal can also feel like a party. It brings the fun to fine dining, braced by high standards held over generations. The menus include numerous pre fixe offerings that are refreshingly affordable (and those 25-cent martinis at lunch!), or you can go big with chef Meg Bickford’s playground of a tasting menu ($90).
GW Fins
808 Bienville St., French Quarter, $$$$
Chef Mike Nelson is breaking the template for Gulf seafood, while giving a better measure of the depth and quality of local seafood. His ever-changing menu could include spear-caught barracuda, swordfish ground for seafood bolognese or magnificent dry-aged cuts of bluefin tuna. With booths like opera boxes and a contemporary style around the room, it’s a posh setting for this innovative expression of modern Louisiana seafood.
Gautreau’s Restaurant
1728 Soniat St., Uptown, $$$$
Quietly excellent for decades, Gautreau’s is now in a distinct chapter with new owners and chef Rob Mistry expanding its horizons. The roasted chicken isn’t going anywhere, but now there are daring, sometimes dazzling new dishes, often drawing from the chef’s Indian heritage. There’s a timeless presence to the room with a worldly view of what Creole cuisine can be. That extends to the more playful menu at its sister wine bar Avegno next door.
Jewel of the South
1026 St. Louis St., French Quarter $$$$
Essentially a modern French Quarter tavern, Jewel of the South has found acclaim for co-owner Chris Hannah’s way with cocktails, giving new life to classics. Chef Chris dos Reis is doing the same in the kitchen. This is Louisiana cuisine, from beignets and crawfish bread to blackened redfish, but in each step it’s been reimagined with a modern vision and exacting technique. Look for much more from Jewel of the South as its ambitious Cocktail Hour (1104 Decatur St.) project launches across the French Quarter in late October.
Red beans with collard greens and puffed rice is a riff on the classic served at Jewel of the South restaurant in the French Quarter. (STAFF PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER)
PHOTO BY CHRIS GRANGER
MaMou
942 N. Rampart St., French Quarter $$$$
Chef Tom Branighan’s tiny art nouveau-esque brasserie is a romantic vision from Belle Epoque-era Paris, but the experience goes beyond looks. The service is polished, and lustiness and delicacy share the menu for a unique expression of modern Continental cuisine. It’s also a restaurant for wine lovers.
Pêche Seafood Grill
800 Magazine St., Warehouse District, $$$$
The seafood restaurant that chef Donald Link and his partners first opened 13 years ago remains as vibrant and inventive as ever, with Chef de Cuisine Nicole Cabrera Mills more recently adding new spark with more Asian influences. Fill the table with oyster platters, crudo and seafood salads and share a whole fish or large-format cut from the daily specials. The wood-fire grill makes this a seafood restaurant where the steak or chicken is just as sound a choice.
Ralph’s on the Park
800 City Park Ave., Mid-City, $$$$
The verdure of City Park across the street is part of the soothing ambience at Ralph Brennan’s Mid-City restaurant. These days, though, chef Chris Vazquez is setting a different pace with broader global influences worked through original renderings of Louisiana flavor. It’s unmistakably Creole while also modern and distinctive.
Saint Claire
1300 Richland Road, Algiers, $$$$
Dining here feels like lifting away from everyday life — a country retreat while still in the city, set in wooded property by the river with candlelight and cinematically arranged scenes inside. The menu at this second restaurant from chef Melissa Martin, of Mosquito Supper Club fame, is French with a Louisiana lens. After dinner, take a drink to the front porch for an extra helping of the country ambience.
Zasu
127 N. Carrollton Ave., Mid-City, $$$$
It might be impossible, but try to forget that Zasu has a Michelin star. This is not the high-touch tasting menu restaurant the rating conjures. Instead, it is, as always, a refined neighborhood bistro with relaxed elegance and chef Sue Zemanick’s personal approach to contemporary American cuisine. The tender baby octopus, delicate crudo, home-style pierogi and golden-crusted fish are all pieces that long ago made Zasu a local’s favorite.
Global flavors
Expanding the New Orleans table with a diversity of flavor
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Chicken biryani is covered with a lid of bread, which is cut away to reveal the aromatic rice at LUFU NOLA restaurant in New Orleans.
Tandoori lamb burra, whole pompano, dahai ke kebabs and Kunthal fry with garlic naan set the table at LUFU NOLA in New Orleans.
Chor muang are flower-shaped dumplings at the Thai restaurant Chada in Mid-City.
Curried goat with sweet potato gnocchi is a signature at Compere Lapin restaurant in New Orleans.
A back dining room leads to private dining spaces at Le Moyne Bistro in downtown New Orleans.
Arroz negra, dark with squid ink, is a signature dish at Ana Castro’s new upscale Mexican restaurant, Acamaya, in New Orleans.
The open kitchen leads to the bar inside Acamaya on Dauphine Street in New Orleans.
Shirley Lee, center, poses for a photograph with her staff at Miss Shirley’s on Magazine Street in New Orleans, Thursday, May 14, 2026.
Iberico pork skewers are served with olives and mojo verde at Dolfy’s, a Basque restaurant in New Orleans.
The dry-aged bone-in rib eye steak is a grand dish to share at Dolfy’s, a Basque restaurant in New Orleans.
Chicken biryani is covered with a lid of bread, which is cut away to reveal the aromatic rice at LUFU NOLA restaurant in New Orleans.
Tandoori lamb burra, whole pompano, dahai ke kebabs and Kunthal fry with garlic naan set the table at LUFU NOLA in New Orleans.
Chor muang are flower-shaped dumplings at the Thai restaurant Chada in Mid-City.
Curried goat with sweet potato gnocchi is a signature at Compere Lapin restaurant in New Orleans.
A back dining room leads to private dining spaces at Le Moyne Bistro in downtown New Orleans.
Arroz negra, dark with squid ink, is a signature dish at Ana Castro’s new upscale Mexican restaurant, Acamaya, in New Orleans.
The open kitchen leads to the bar inside Acamaya on Dauphine Street in New Orleans.
Shirley Lee, center, poses for a photograph with her staff at Miss Shirley’s on Magazine Street in New Orleans, Thursday, May 14, 2026.
Iberico pork skewers are served with olives and mojo verde at Dolfy’s, a Basque restaurant in New Orleans.
The dry-aged bone-in rib eye steak is a grand dish to share at Dolfy’s, a Basque restaurant in New Orleans.
Acamaya
3070 Dauphine St., Bywater, $$$$
The upscale/casual seafood restaurant from chef Ana Castro and her sister Lydia Castro can make you forget everything you think you know about Mexican food. House-made masa and vibrant salsas underpin a menu showing the modern pulse in contemporary Mexican cooking. Don’t miss the crab chochoyotes (masa dumplings) and the textural delight of the arroz negro.
Compère Lapin
535 Tchoupitoulas St., Warehouse District, $$$$
Chef Nina Compton’s upscale/casual restaurant draws a Creole connection through New Orleans to the Caribbean. Her cooking brings strong, vivid flavors, with a particular strength in seafood and a bold approach to spice. The curried goat with sweet potato gnocchi is the enduring signature. Pair this with the biscuits and don’t miss the cocktails.
Chada
3420 Bienville St., Mid-City, $$
The prettiest Thai restaurant in town gives one surprise after the next, from a luminous bar and verdant patio to cocktails as ornate as a flower arrangement. But it’s not all just for snaps and reels. The flavors from chef Tom Intavichai ring true. Try the Chada shrimp, skewered and wrapped in crunchy fried noodles, the regal purple butterfly pea dumplings and stuffed chicken wings.
Chada shrimp are wrapped in crispy noodles at the Thai restaurant Chada in Mid-City. (Staff photo by Ian McNulty, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)
Dolfy’s
4508 Freret St., Uptown, $$$$
Dolfy’s is dialed specifically into Basque tradition with its embrace of wood-fire cooking and the straightforward simplicity of great ingredients. It’s the latest eatery from Adolfo Garcia Jr. and Sophia Petrou Garcia, and the early buzz is well deserved. A progression of small-bite pintxos, a splurge on a shared steak and the outrageously good dessert list make this a top new restaurant. Get the tiny martini, or maybe two.
LUFU NOLA
301 St. Charles Ave., downtown, $$
The best Indian food is rightfully celebrated for its depth of flavor. This restaurant also shows the depth of possibility across the range it presents from the vast regional source material of subcontinent. Great for downtown lunch with dosa and curries, it makes a nice casual date night spot, too, with creative cocktails. The name stands for “Let Us Feed U,” and that is a very good idea.
Miss Shirley’s Chinese Restaurant
3009 Magazine St., Garden District, $$
Dining at this boisterously busy restaurant always feels like joining a family feast. The Lee family mix the nostalgic gratification of good American Chinese food with the flavor bombs of dim sum and more traditional dishes from their background in Hong Kong. Anyone who doesn’t already know the whirling dervish of hospitality that is Miss Shirley herself definitely will by the time the fortune cookies arrive.
Price key: average meal per person
$: under $30
$$: from $31 to $60 per person
$$$: from $61 to $100 per person
$$$$: from $101 to $200 per person
$$$$$: more than $200 per person
Dining and Cooking