There's no place like New Orleans when it comes to delicious food. We are known as much for our incredible food as for our love of living! Dining in New Orleans is truly an experience in itself, and it's worth a trip just to enjoy the taste of New Orleans. You'll plan to return just to eat at the restaurants you weren't able to visit the first time!
Our many excellent restaurants make any trip to New Orleans worthwhile, spicy seafood, blackened redfish, shrimp remoulade, Cajun delicacies, pralines, beignets, cafe au lait...be prepared!
Restaurant Guide
Browse through information and pictures of the best restaurants in the city. Check out 360º tours, directions, recipes and more! The perfect place to make your dining reservations at all New Orleans restaurants at once and ahead of time.
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Restaurant Recommendations
We highly recommend the restaurants featured below. They range from fine French dining to casual hideouts featuring live Cajun music and dancing. Favorites of locals for years--and we're sure you'll love them, too! We've included quotes from many who have enjoyed their experiences.
Fine Dining
These award-winning upscale restaurants offer elegant fine dining. Please note each establishment's dress code!
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Commander's Palace is one of New Orleans' most acclaimed restaurants and is a local favorite. Every bite of its "leading-edge Haute Creole Cuisine" has been delighting its guests since 1893. The winner of six James Beard Foundation Awards, this iconic Garden District restaurant has been home to renowned chefs Paul Prudhomme, Emeril Lagasse, Jamie Shannon, and since 2002, Tory McPhail, a James Beard Rising Star Chef and Best South Chef winner.
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Located in Exchange Place in the heart of the French Quarter is The Pelican Club. They offer a wide range of New Orleans style dishes in an incredible atmosphere. They promise a meal that is a true New Orleans experience.
Casual Fine Dining
The following restaurants combine casual dining with white tablecloth elegance. Casual dress allowed.
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The Court of Two Sisters is more than just a famous name. This restaurant offers a daily mouthwatering jazz brunch that features a jazz trio and authentic Louisiana-Creole fare. They've also won awards for the best outdoor dining in the city.
Casual Dining
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Enjoy some of the best Creole cooking in New Orleans at Gumbo Shop. Voted a New Orleans favorite by locals, Gumbo Shop serves award-winning okra, seafood and chicken-andouille gumbo, alongside other great dishes. The restaurant has high ceilings, traditional New Orleans décor, and a beautiful courtyard.
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The Steamboat Natchez offers daily dinner jazz cruises and harbor jazz cruises with a New Orleans food buffet. Enjoy great music and food as you cruise along the Mississippi!
BOOK River Cruise BOOK Jazz Dinner Cruise
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Stop in for a handcrafted lager and while you're enjoying a pint, check out their menu. I have a feeling you'll be pleasantly surprised by the food. Their menu features New Orleans favorites and they have live jazz every night by local musicians.
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Daisy Dukes offers affordable, yet delicious po-boys, crawfish and other truly authentic New Orleans foods. Their bloody marys will get your day started in the right direction. They also have delivery and catering options.
Quick Bites
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New Orleans' Cafe Beignet provides a grand setting outside and in, and some of the best coffee and beignets around. Breakfast served all day. New Orleans Cajun specialties and fried seafood are also available. (
See special offer)
Creole and Cajun Food History
New Orleans' Creole and Cajun foods each have a long history and have both been influenced throughout the years by many cultures. It is interesting to note that the Ursuline Sisters from France introduced French cooking to our city. Sister Xavier Herbert of their order was the first female pharmacist in the country and taught settlers the benefits of using herbs in their cooking. When the Spanish began to settle here, they brought us the pepper and the tomato: the beginnings of our Shrimp Creole. Refugees from the West Indies, Sicilians and Indians have all been influential in the evolution of what we believe is the best, spiciest and most delicious food anywhere.
New Orleans even has traditions related to food. One of them is eating red beans and rice on Mondays. Many of us grew up never knowing the reason why--we just enjoyed it. However, Monday is "clothes" day, and red beans and rice is the perfect meal because it cooks slowly while we are doing the laundry.
Our tradition of eating seafood on Fridays is based on the Catholic practice of abstaining from meat on that day, especially during the Lenten season. (In this city, it is no sacrifice!)
Cajun Food, Kingcakes, & Louisiana Products!
Cajun Recipes | New Orleans Cooking
