This article is part of a series of interviews with local foodies. As such, these are not my own restaurant recommendations, but they come from people who have far greater knowledge of their home cities than I do as a foodie abroad!<\/em><\/p>\n My first experience of New Orleans was part of a road trip through the Deep South \u2013 the same road trip that would eventually lead me to meet my future husband at a tailgate in Baton Rouge. But New Orleans was the stop right before, and I was on a mission to taste my way through the city\u2019s culinary specialities. I tried all the obvious dishes and street food: coffee and beignets from Caf\u00e9 du Monde, muffuletta from Central Grocery, gumbo from Dooky Chase, jambalaya from somewhere I\u2019ve long since forgotten. And although it was all perfectly fine, I felt like I was missing something. The true local experience, not just the tourist check boxes.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been back to New Orleans since, mostly to visit friends of my husband \u2013 who lived in Louisiana for 12 years before we met \u2013 and I\u2019ve been treated to memorable crawfish boils and meaty cook-outs in their backyards. But I\u2019ve not ventured far into the city\u2019s restaurant scene. To rectify that, I\u2019ve interviewed Megan Douglas<\/strong> \u2013 a Nola native and a HUGE ambassador for her home town \u2013 about her favourite restaurants. From jazz brunches to upscale dinners, and from oysters Rockefeller to trout amandine, these are the best restaurants in New Orleans, according to one very enthusiastic local.<\/p>\n \u201cLike many cities since the covid pandemic, New Orleans has seen a lot of turnover in terms of restaurants,\u201d Megan explains; \u201cbut there are some old classics that are still going strong. For me, what makes a restaurant a New Orleans staple is not just the quality of the food but also that charismatic, attentive service.\u201d [Editor\u2019s note: I believe this is what we\u2019d call Southern Hospitality!] \u201cThat\u2019s become harder to find in recent years, but a few places are still doing it really well: restaurants where the wait staff genuinely see hospitality as a career, and where you have these world-renowned chefs at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCommander\u2019s Palace<\/a> should be on every New Orleans list: it\u2019s the birthplace of the jazz brunch, and it should be part of every visit to the city.\u201d So says Megan, and who am I to disagree? The restaurant was founded by the legendary Ella Brennan (subject of the Netflix documentary Commanding the Table<\/em>), and it was here that a young Emeril Lagasse learned his craft. On the food, Megan recommends the chicken and andouille gumbo, the trout amandine (a New Orleans classic: delicate white fish with shaved pecans and a butter sauce), and the celebrated turtle soup with its sherry drizzle. \u201cIf strawberries are in season, start with the strawberry salad,\u201d Megan advises; \u201cPonchatoula, just 45 minutes outside the city, is the strawberry capital of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n Megan recommends going specifically for the Friday, Saturday or Sunday jazz brunch, when the restaurant\u2019s legendary service standard is at its peak. \u201cYou literally have three waiters per table: one for your water, one to run the food, one to take your order and make sure you\u2019re taken care of.\u201d The music is provided by a roaming three- or four-piece brass band of remarkable range: \u201cthey\u2019ll ask a table of visitors from Bordeaux to name a jazz song, and you can choose the most obscure thing \u2013 I have literally never seen them stumped.\u201d At some point in the meal, the room breaks into a second line, with guests waving napkins and following the band through the restaurant. \u201cAnd the owners walk around and talk to every single table. That is New Orleans service right there.\u201d<\/p>\n Just inside the French Quarter \u2013 walkable from most hotels in the area, or a short streetcar ride away \u2013 GW Fins<\/a> is less theatrical than Commander\u2019s but no less attentive. \u201cIt\u2019s more classic, less schticky. Their whole aim is to make your dining experience an amazing one.\u201d She brought her father-in-law there for a visit, and he (not easily impressed) declared it one of the finest dining experiences of his life. The menu is almost exclusively upscale seafood, and Megan\u2019s top recommendation is the BBQ shrimp, a Louisiana classic. Beyond that, she highlights the lobster dumplings, lobster bisque, scallops and whatever the market catch brings in. \u201cAnything you order there is going to be great. It\u2019s really all about the food and the service.\u201d<\/p>\n Antoine\u2019s<\/a> lays claim to being one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants in the United States, and the history here is extraordinary: this is the restaurant that invented oysters Rockefeller, and the menu still features bananas Foster, flamb\u00e9ed tableside with brandy, and baked Alaska. \u201cYou can get a flight of oysters: Rockefeller, char-broiled and raw,\u201d says Megan. \u201cAnd the 14 dining rooms include the Rex room, which has genuine Mardi Gras artefacts from the Krewe of Rex going back decades.\u201d If you land a charismatic waiter, ask for the tour of the private rooms after dinner (it\u2019s free, though a tip is expected). Friday lunch is also the time to experience the old-school quarter-martini tradition, a New Orleans custom where martinis are served for 25 cents apiece.<\/p>\n Making an equally strong claim to New Orleans dining heritage, Arnaud\u2019s<\/a> also has a dress code, a Mardi Gras museum and a certain grandeur. But Megan\u2019s local tip for Arnaud\u2019s is to bypass the full dining room altogether and head instead for the French 75 Bar<\/a>, the cocktail bar attached to the main restaurant. \u201cIf I\u2019m out in the French Quarter and I need air conditioning for 20 minutes, I\u2019ll duck into the French 75 Bar. You can get these amazing souffl\u00e9 potatoes with Bearnaise sauce plus a cocktail, without sitting down for a whole dinner. The French 75 Bar is named after the classic Champagne cocktail, and it\u2019s really what Arnaud\u2019s is known for.\u201d<\/p>\n Galatoire\u2019s<\/a> is a New Orleans institution, but it\u2019s the Friday lunch service that defines it. \u201cJudges, lawyers and diplomats still pay people to queue for them here,\u201d says Megan. No reservations are taken at lunch; the dress code skews smart (\u201cwear your cute little dress, sometimes a hat\u201d); and the atmosphere lies somewhere between a grand brasserie and a party. \u201cYou\u2019re going to see bachelorette parties, hear a brass band, and at some point the waiters are going to be second-lining alongside the customers. It\u2019s an experience.\u201d The restaurant occupies an atmospheric 1940s building right at the entrance to Bourbon Street, its historic fa\u00e7ade a striking contrast to the neon-lit bars that flank it. Megan tends to save Galatoire\u2019s for particular occasions \u2013 it\u2019s where she holds her annual Mardi Gras captain\u2019s dinner.<\/p>\n Editor\u2019s note: after publishing, Galatoire\u2019s got in touch to say that reservations are now required, so no more queuing, but there are no guarantees on being seated in the main dining room. Usually, I\u2019d update the listing, but I so loved Megan\u2019s description of the judges, lawyers and diplomats paying people to queue for them that I decided to leave it in for posterity!<\/em><\/p>\n Leah Chase \u2013 the legendary \u201cQueen of Creole Cuisine\u201d \u2013 may no longer be with us, but her culinary legacy lives on at Chapter IV<\/a>, run by her grandsons and named for the fourth generation of the Chase family. Located in the CBD and walkable from the French Quarter, its menu is built around modern takes on the classic Creole dishes Leah passed down. \u201cI went with my sister and oh my, everything was amazing,\u201d says Megan. \u201cThe gumbo is Leah\u2019s own recipe, apparently. And the grits, holy hell, the grits! I had to ask the waitress how much butter and cheese was actually in them. She just laughed and said \u2018I know, right?’\u201d The chicken and waffles, crab claws and biscuits also come highly recommended.<\/p>\n \u201cSure, New Orleans has Michelin-starred chefs like Emeril Lagasse,\u201d explains Megan, \u201cbut his restaurants are not where I go to meet friends or take visitors. I\u2019m looking for local, neighbourhood places that are really serving and representing their communities. Most of my picks are in the French Quarter, Downtown, Uptown and CBD neighbourhood (because I live uptown near Magazine Street) but of course it\u2019s worth venturing further afield as well to Bywater and Mid-city.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLa Petite Grocery<\/a> is my local,\u201d says Megan. \u201cWhenever a friend who grew up here comes back home, it\u2019s always the first place they want to go.\u201d The restaurant is probably best known for its hamburger, which sounds understated until you eat it. On Friday afternoons, Megan\u2019s routine is to pull up at the bar with a glass of champagne and an order of frites<\/em>. A reliable uptown staple.<\/p>\n For a proper New Orleans po\u2019boy, Domilise\u2019s<\/a> is Megan\u2019s first port of call. Open since 1918, it\u2019s a no-frills institution: around six diner tables, a counter where you order, a short menu of po\u2019boys and not a lot else. \u201cYou\u2019re going to get alligator, fried shrimp or roast beef debris,\u201d says Megan, \u201cand the lady behind the counter is going to ask you: \u2018honey, you want it dressed?<\/em>\u2019 [Dressed means lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayo \u2013 the correct answer is yes.] Wash it down with a PBR and a bag of Zapp\u2019s chips.\u201d<\/p>\n Herbsaint<\/a> occupies a sweet spot between neighbourhood restaurant and destination dining. \u201cThe food is really high quality \u2013 interesting, modern takes on traditional New Orleans dishes \u2013 and the cocktail menu is excellent,\u201d says Megan. The menu changes regularly, which keeps it feeling current: you can get a bowl of gumbo, but you can also order rabbit leg schnitzel or bluefin tuna tartare. \u201cIt\u2019s the kind of place locals gravitate towards when they want something a cut above the everyday without committing to a full tasting-menu occasion.\u201d<\/p>\n Cochon<\/a> is best described as upscale BBQ: a restaurant that takes the type of food typically eaten from paper plates and elevates it into a proper dining room with real technique. \u201cThe chef is always doing interesting things with traditional, low-end food,\u201d says Megan. \u201cSomething inventive with a rack of ribs. Gourmet cracklin\u2019s. Things you didn\u2019t know could be elevated \u2013 but still in a relaxed, unpretentious setting.\u201d The kitchen has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, even if the spirit of the place remains firmly rooted in Southern BBQ tradition.<\/p>\n In the Bywater neighbourhood (a short bike or taxi ride away from Downtown), Elizabeth\u2019s<\/a> is Megan\u2019s brunch destination of choice. The menu is classic Southern brunch, but the standout is the praline bacon: candied bacon coated in praline, a traditional New Orleans sweet treat. \u201cI have it every time. If the duck waffle is on the menu, get that too \u2013 it\u2019s like chicken and waffles, but better.\u201d There are also biscuits and gravy, fried chicken livers with pepper jelly, fried green tomatoes, and shrimp and grits. A favourite with locals and tourists alike, and one of those places that repays the effort to get there.<\/p>\n Of course, Nola is not only about po\u2019boys and Southern BBQ. It\u2019s a cosmopolitan city with a burgeoning international cuisine scene, from Asian fusion to Middle Eastern. These are just a few of Megan\u2019s favourites.<\/p>\n \u201cI can guarantee you this one is not going to be on anybody else\u2019s list,\u201d says Megan, \u201cand that\u2019s exactly why I love it.\u201d Luvi<\/a> is tiny: 15 tables at most, on a stretch of Tchoupitoulas Street well off the tourist circuit. The food is Asian fusion, drawing on Shanghai and Japanese influences, served as small, shareable dishes. \u201cThe chef walks around and talks to every table. The menu is compact, but literally everything on it is good. I was picking off everyone else\u2019s plates, including things I wouldn\u2019t normally eat.\u201d Highlights include the Dragon Boat (seared tuna with flying fish roe and smoked soy sauce) and the Monkey Snack (salmon with sesame-crusted banana in a sweet and spicy sauce).<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not Tex-Mex,\u201d Megan is keen to clarify. \u201cAcamaya<\/a> is contemporary Mexican seafood: creative, carefully executed, and currently one of the hottest tickets among New Orleans locals.\u201d Dishes include aguachile verde<\/em> (with Gulf shrimp and tomatillo) or arroz negro<\/em> (black rice with huitlacoche<\/em>, Bangs Island mussels and squid). It\u2019s a little further out of town than some of her other picks (in the Bywater), but the food justifies the journey.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first time I went to Saffron,\u201d says Megan, \u201cwas the first time in probably two years that I walked into a restaurant and thought: service and quality are back on the table. Like, actually<\/em> back.\u201d Saffron<\/a> is upscale Indian with strong Asian fusion leanings \u2013 think pani puri<\/em> filled with potato and garbanzo<\/em> \u2013 and the standard of service is the kind that used to be taken for granted in New Orleans but is now the exception. It\u2019s on the pricier side, but Megan is unequivocal: \u201cI want to send everyone I know to Saffron.\u201d<\/p>\n If you\u2019re heading uptown to Saffron, Saj<\/a> is right around the corner and could not be more different in terms of profile. \u201cNobody would think this place would end up on a New Orleans restaurant list,\u201d says Megan, \u201cbut once you\u2019ve been, you understand.\u201d It\u2019s a small, family-run Middle Eastern restaurant known for its saj<\/em> bread \u2013 a large, thin flatbread baked on a domed griddle \u2013 and salads so generously portioned that one is comfortably a meal for two. It\u2019s BYOB, which keeps the bill refreshingly low. \u201cTourists walk past it a thousand times a day without knowing what it is. But ask any local who\u2019s been, and they\u2019ll tell you it\u2019s one of the best things they\u2019ve eaten in the city.\u201d A genuine hidden gem.<\/p>\n Pomelo<\/a> is, in essence, a one-woman show. The chef and owner Aom Srisuk cooks on a domestic stove in a tiny kitchen, and the menu is a direct expression of Thai home cooking \u2013 featuring zippy Thai salads, aromatic herbal soups, street-style pok-pok<\/em> noodles and mii kiew<\/em> (dishes rarely found on menus outside of Thailand). \u201cShe markets herself almost entirely through social media, and anyone local who has been is evangelical about it,\u201d says Megan. \u201cI literally stopped her on the street one day to tell her I wanted her to succeed \u2013 the quality is just superb. She\u2019s doing it the right way.\u201d<\/p>\n Nola, Nawlins, the Big Easy \u2013 whatever you call New Orleans, here are a few trip essentials to get you started:<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/New-Orleans-impressions-2011.jpg\")
Classic New Orleans restaurants<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Commander\u2019s Palace<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Commanders-Palace-New-Orleans.jpg\")
GW Fins<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GW-Fins-New-Orleans-restaurant-Shrimp-and-Grits-1024x768.jpg\")
Antoine\u2019s<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Arnaud\u2019s \/ French 75 Bar<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Arnauds-French-75-Bar-New-Orleans-bites-1024x698.jpg\")
Galatoire\u2019s<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Galatoires-New-Orleans-band.jpg\")
Chapter IV<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Local neighbourhood restaurants in New Orleans<\/strong><\/h2>\n
La Petite Grocery<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/La-Petite-Grocery-New-Orleans-burger-1024x683.jpg\")
Domilise\u2019s<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Herbsaint<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Herbsaint-New-Orleans-exterior-1024x683.jpg\")
Cochon<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Cochon-New-Orleans-BBQ.jpg\")
Elizabeth\u2019s Nola<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
International restaurants in New Orleans<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Luvi<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Acamaya-New-Orleans-Aguachile-Verde-Photo-Credit-Chris-Harder-1024x683.jpg\")
Acamaya<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Saffron<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Saffron-Pani-Puri_Credit-Sam-Hanna.jpg\")
Saj<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Pomelo<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.amsterdamfoodie.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Pomelo-New-Orleans-Thai-restaurant_Hero_1_2880x2304-1024x819.jpg\")
Planning your trip to New Orleans<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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