Senegalese · Uptown · North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (#4); James Beard Best New Restaurant 2024
Chef Serigne Mbaye runs a Senegalese tasting menu out of an Uptown cottage on Leonidas, threading his Dakar childhood through Gulf seafood and Louisiana produce. The pescatarian courses move from blac...
96
2
Emeril's
Contemporary Louisiana · Warehouse District · North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (#20); Two MICHELIN Stars
The 1990 flagship that built the Emeril Lagasse empire, now run by his son E.J., who reworks the elder's Louisiana canon into Classic, Seasonal, and Vegetarian tastings. The BBQ shrimp tarts and gumbo...
95
3
Commander's Palace
Creole · Garden District · James Beard Foundation Awards (multiple)
The turquoise Victorian at Washington and Coliseum has anchored the Garden District since 1893, dealing in New Haute Creole and full-tilt Louisiana hospitality. Order the turtle soup, the pecan-cruste...
95
4
Acamaya
Mexican Seafood · Bywater · North America's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 (#30); MICHELIN Bib Gourmand
Sisters Ana and Lydia Castro give Gulf seafood the Mexico City treatment in a Bywater room, pulling from childhood trips to the capital's mariscos markets. The mostly-pescatarian menu runs hamachi tos...
91
5
Compere Lapin
Caribbean-Creole · Warehouse District
Nina Compton's St. Lucia upbringing meets French-Italian technique and Gulf ingredients inside the Old No. 77 Hotel. The name comes from a Creole folktale rabbit, and the curried goat over sweet-potat...
91
6
Cochon
Cajun · Warehouse District
Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski's love letter to southwest-Louisiana Cajun cooking, in a converted Warehouse District warehouse since 2006. The namesake cochon comes crisped with cracklins; the fri...
90
7
Jewel of the South
Cocktail Bar · French Quarter · North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 (#6); World's 50 Best Bars 2025 (#44); James Beard Award winner
A restored 1830s Creole cottage with a courtyard in the French Quarter, run by Southern cocktail pioneer Chris Hannah and built around reviving 19th-century New Orleans drinking. The Brandy Crusta — c...
88
8
Cure
Cocktail Bar · Freret · North America's 50 Best Bars 2026 (#21)
Cure took over a converted Freret Street firehouse in 2009 and is widely credited with kicking off New Orleans' craft cocktail movement. Neal Bodenheimer's room keeps its original brick under a wood-p...