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ELLE Gourmet City Guide: 14 Restaurants & Culinary Experiences To Bookmark In New Orleans

From extravagant tasting menus to immersive and intimate dinners, each experience is a presentation of the ever-expanding culinary excellence and celebration throughout the city of New Orleans.

| Team ELLE Gourmet
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New Orleans’ culinary landscape is a rich fusion of traditional techniques, global influences, culinary innovation, and local produce, creating unique flavours and dining experiences around the city. From extravagant tasting menus to immersive and intimate dinners, each experience is a presentation of the ever-expanding culinary excellence and celebration throughout the city of New Orleans.

1. Dakar NOLA

Dakar NOLA, a 2024 James Beard ‘Best New Restaurant’ awardee, is a modern Senegalese restaurant offering a pescatarian tasting menu by Chef Serigne Mbaye. Like the cuisines of the two coastal cities from which it takes its name, Dakar NOLA highlights seafood from local waters and produce from farmers in South Louisiana, blending two cultures into one unique dining experience.

2. Mosquito Supper Club

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Mosquito Supper Club is a culinary hidden gem offering an immersive Cajun dining experience that prides itself on its use of locally sourced seafood and celebrates Gulf shrimpers, fishermen, crabbers, and farmers. They offer an intimate and specially curated meal from Thursday to Saturday for two evening seatings as well as an option to only visit the bar to try out a wide selection of wines and cocktails or shucked oysters.

3. Saint-Germain

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Saint-Germain is a Bywater-based bistro and wine bar serving Parisian fare and specialities through a ten-course tasting menu. Creating an experience of intimate hospitality, the food here is a complex display of aromas, flavours, and textures from dry-aged meats to freshly butchered seafood and washed rind cheeses.

4. Yo Nashi

This Japanese restaurant in downtown New Orleans, from Chef Mackenzie Broquet, offers an omakase, multi-course dinner consisting of 8-10 dishes made with local and seasonal ingredients. The vibrant interior of the restaurant truly stands out as the perfect backdrop to the explosion of Japanese flavours and techniques.

5. Palm&Pine

A vibrant New Orleans restaurant in the French Quarter, Palm&Pine explores the food and drink of Louisiana, the Caribbean, Mexico, and Central America. From the Pine Bar, guests will find classic and original cocktails revolving around agave and cane spirits, new world wines, and regional beers.

6. Afrodisiac

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Chefs Kay and Shaka create a culinary blend of Louisiana and Jamaica at Afrodisiac, featuring small Caribbean appetisers, Creole, and Jamaican entrées along with sandwiches, soups and salads. The menu also includes beer, cocktails, soft drinks, spirits and originals, wine bottles and glasses.

7. Addis NOLA

Discover the rich flavours of Ethiopia at Addis NOLA, a Black women-owned and family-led gem on historic Bayou Road. Since 2019, Addis NOLA has been delighting guests with authentic Ethiopian cuisine, catering, and private events. Its spacious venue offers a vibrant dining experience for large groups, embracing the heart of Louisiana's culinary landscape.

8. I-Tal Garden

The family-owned and operated Ital Garden specialises in vegan cuisine, offering a plant-based alternative to the traditional flavours of New Orleans. Whether it is their Nacho Fries, Golden Ju-Ju Curry Veggie Bowl, or their BBQ Cauliflower, veggie lovers are sure to enjoy what Ital Garden has to offer.

9. Le Petit Chef At Criollo

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A unique dining experience at Hotel Monteleone’s Criollo restaurant, Le Petit Chef features a seasonal five-course dinner and the cinematic 3D storytelling of TableMation Studios™ for the perfect family-friendly New Orleans dinner.

10. Louisiana Department Of Wildlife And Fisheries Catch & Cook Program

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries (LADWF)’s Catch and Cook program allows local participating restaurants to prepare and cook fresh fish and alligators caught by licensed hunters and fishers that same day, combining two of Louisiana’s world-class attractions: sporting and cuisine. 

11. Tatlo

Discover the flavours of Southeast Asia in the heart of the French Quarter from Filipino chef Cristina Quackenbush. Blending Filipino cuisine with the old school charm of an absinthe house and New Orleans’s enchanting appeal, Tatlo invites the bewitched and hex-curious into an atmosphere that is both delicious and otherworldly.

12. Étoile

Chef Chris Dupont’s Étoile is a farm-to-table fine dining restaurant located on Magazine St in New Orleans' Garden District. The restaurant's tasting menu emphasises regional farms and food craft artisans, accented with French cooking techniques. 

13. Emeril’s

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Opened in 1990, Emeril’s is Chef Emeril Lagasse’s acclaimed flagship restaurant located in the Warehouse District of New Orleans. Helmed by Emeril’s son, Chef E.J. Lagasse, the newest iteration of Emeril’s is built on a refined and elegant approach to Louisiana cooking, rooted in Chef Emeril Lagasse’s signature bold flavours and drawing inspiration from the bounty of Louisiana produce. The Wine Bar at Emeril’s embodies the Lagasse's love of food, wine, music, and art and offers a distinctive wine cellar and signature small plates. Meril, named after Chef Emeril’s daughter, is a contemporary American restaurant showcasing some of Lagasse’s favourite dishes, featuring a varied wine selection and craft cocktails. 

14. Porgy’s

Porgy’s Seafood Market is a retail space and restaurant in Mid-City, New Orleans that showcases the diversity and abundance of the Gulf Coast with an emphasis on sustainable, wild-caught seafood. Buy raw from the case or order a cooked meal. To accompany, a robust and playful bar program features from-scratch frozen daiquiris and canned beverages. Grab-and-go items and proprietary spice blends round out the offerings, elevating Porgy’s as a one-stop location for thoughtfully sourced meals.

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