With its mix of neighborhood spots, cutting-edge restaurants, and century-old stalwarts, New Orleans’ culinary landscape is a tribute to these influences. Many restaurants in the city are must-visit destinations, renowned for their chefs and longevity. By booking DTW flights and enjoy famous dishes including gumbo, jambalaya, po’boys, and beignets are still available at their original sites in the city.
Top restaurants in New Orleans
1. Commander’s Palace
Renowned chef Jaime Shannon has been associated with the Brennan food enterprise since 1880. Situated in a Victorian mansion, the famous Garden District restaurant serves a range of cuisines, including a Creole menu. The Creole menu, cultivated by chefs Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, Tory McPhail, and Meg Bickford, is ideal for small gatherings, celebratory dinners, and casual lunches.
2. Herbsaint
Renowned for its James Beard honors, Donald Link’s main restaurant is a favorite in the Central Business District. With a seasonal menu that incorporates French, Southern, and rustic Italian flavors, the restaurant serves food from nearby farmers and fishermen. With its varied wine list and daily specials, the restaurant draws a mixed crowd of visitors, local families, and after-work workers.
3. Brigtsen’s
Renowned chef Frank Brigtsen serves up contemporary Creole fare in a century-old Victorian cottage in the Riverbend. His dishes, which include fish meuniere, maque choux, shrimp rémoulade, and rabbit gumbo, are straightforward but delicious and prepared with care and flavor. This makes it the perfect place to experience New Orleans food in a cozy and private atmosphere.
4. Coquette
With a neighborhood bistro feel, the restaurant in the Garden District boasts an experimental kitchen. Using seasonal, local ingredients, Chef Michael Stoltzfus crafts a modest menu that includes dishes like red snapper with butter beans, Mexican street corn-style okra, and black drum in vegetable sauce with fennel sausage. There are always surprises when choosing the five-course blind-tasting option.
5. Cochon
Talented chef Stephen Stryjewski has created a warm and inviting space that features sophisticated delicacies including head cheese, andouille, and boudin that enhance the flavors of Cajun culture. With a drink menu that includes moonshine flights for rabbit and dumplings, cochon with cracklings, entire Gulf fish, and smoked short rib with chanterelles, the restaurant serves pig, seafood, and produce that is produced locally. Its location in the Warehouse District is reflected in the setting, which is both modern and rustic.
6. Gris-Gris
Famous for its inventive takes on classic cuisine, Gris-Gris in New Orleans serves up delicacies like duck breast with local molasses and sugarcane demi-glace, and oyster BLT with smoked pig belly, tomato jam, rocket, and sugar cane vinegar. The chicken and dumplings recipe that Chef Eric Cook’s mother makes is also a favorite. Regulars from the neighborhood and those celebrating special occasions love the restaurant because of its distinctive layout, which includes an open kitchen, dining area, bar, and outdoor balcony seating.
7. Saba
Uptown restauranteur Alon Shaya serves modern Israeli food in a light-filled, airy space with an emphasis on staff well-being. Shareable menu items include roasted chicken with harissa, lutenists, local tomato ezme, and hummus with blue crab on top. The meal is complemented by inventive cocktails and a wine list that includes Slovenian and Israeli wines.
8. La Petite Grocery
New Orleans classics are given a distinctive spin at Chef Justin Devillier’s restaurant, La Petite Grocery. Stuffed beignets, gumbos, and turtle Bolognese are just a few of the items available on the table. Despite having added Justine to his repertoire of culinary skills, Chef Devillier’s hallmark dish is still this Uptown location.
9. GW Fins
Fresh fish is served every day as an entrée at a fine dining establishment in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Appetizers include grilled prawns prepared in the New Orleans style and lobster dumplings. Biscuits, a special halibut/scallop combo called “Scalibut,” and creative meals like dry-aged fish and the “Seacuterie” plate are also on the menu. Don’t overlook the “Scalibut” pairing. If you want to know more about New Orleans then book cheap flights from Detroit to New Orleans.