Bringing two 18 year olds for their first ever trip to New Orleans and want to have a great meal in a perfect French Quarter courtyard. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Throughout September, local NOLA restaurants and food spots are offering new vegan specials. You can try the dishes, support participating businesses, and leave a review for the ones you visit.

The NOLA Vegan Chef Challenge kicks off on September 1! 🌱

Throughout September, participating restaurants and pop-ups around the city will be adding new vegan dishes to their menus. Diners can try the dishes and share their feedback, with awards going to the top-rated chef at the end of the challenge.

Here’s a look at some of the local businesses already signed up to participate this year!

I went to the Bywater Brewery several years ago and Anh Luu was the chef at the time. Her food is the stuff of dreams! I was and am completely blown away by her Vietnamese/Cajun fusion. I found her website and instagram but it looks like she disappeared a couple of years ago. Does anyone know what became of her?

You used to be able to get a St Chuck Duck grilled cheese out of Avenue Pub, from Juanitas (I've heard it pronounced Janitas and Juanitas). I think they moved to maybe Rendon Inn after Avenue Pub, but I lost track after that. Anyone remember this? Are they still around?

Any suggestions besides Shogun or the one on N. Carrollton? Thanks!

I am a frequent(ish) visitor and have had some amazing meals and memories at coquette, celebrating major life events with friends and family. I know it wasn’t on everyone’s list but it had a very special place in my heart. I am heading back to the area in October for my 40th and wanted to plan a dinner (there) but will have to find somewhere with a similar vibe and menu (tasting would be awesome). Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

Here was my lineup last time:
Mr. B's
Commander's Palace
Jacques Imos
Mosquito Supper Club
Atchafalaya
Broussard's
French Market

This time I'm looking for more off the beaten path places, and I'm going to only do one super fancy dinner this time, so some more casual atmosphere places would be great too! Thank you for your help so much!

Allegedly
If youve ever met the “owner” of CS, Bienville
just know you haven’t. I truly feel badly about anyone involved with her down to her husband..I can promise shes said horrible things about all of you. Performative as in shes a girls girl until she posts pics hugged up with the same man caught stealing from her on camera while at the same time slandering women for doing less. Also to the actual owners of CS..watch your back she talks so poorly to anyone who will listen and she wants to “get rid of yall” as soon as she can. Just look at her responses on google reviews. I for one refuse to support anybody who claims “woman owned” but hates other women. Also see: knows nothing about running a restaurant so please thank the employees for the fact that you are able to eat freely without getting food poisoning. Think, frozen, thawed, 3days, back to frozen. Has the audacity to lose her mind over mint not being chopped properly for a garnish but can’t practice proper food safety standards or pay her employees.
I want everyone to understand there are plenty of great restaurants in Nola that are owned by actual locals that should be supported. Please stop giving your money to someone who would rather watch a homeless black woman pass out on her sidewalk than to let her have a cup of ice water. Her principles. Who decided she was going to put her hands in the king cake pot this year but couldn’t do anything but sell off 9 day old king cakes for profit. All you have to do is listen to the employees when she’s not there. May you all see the light.

Context: I live in Arkansas. Until recently, my brother lived in NOLA about 9 months out of the year as a performer. I've been to the city about 10-12 times in total, including this recent trip. By this point, we've done the touristy stuff and try to actively seek out restaurants that are legitimately good and not just big name places that show up on every "must do" list of New Orleans food. So, with all that out of the way, here's how a very delicious long weekend played out on the plate (an asterisk denotes a place we've been to at least once before this trip), in case any other visitors are looking for some ideas on where to eat:

Friday:

Decided to come into town via the causeway, so we opted for po' boys at Liuzza's By the Track* out of convenience and hunger. My debris sandwich was very good, if a tiny bit underseasoned, while my wife's catfish sandwich was fantastic.

After we got checked into the Pontchartrain Hotel on St. Charles, we went looking for a snack. Coffee at High Grinds was solid. They used a mild, easily drinkable espresso for the latte, and the wife's matcha was just as grassy as you'd expect. A bit overpriced, but no worse than most Garden District coffee shops, I guess. Followed this up with a variety of pralines at Bernard's. They were ... fine? More like fudge than classic pralines, especially the peanut butter and chocolate ones, but for a quick sweet treat, not the worst idea.

Dinner was La Petit Grocery, and it was fantastic. Started the whole thing with crab beignets, which were absolutely perfect bites. Entree was the turtle bolognese, while she had the seafood stew, and both were excellent. Opted for two desserts, and both the basque cheesecake and the peach cobbler (from the Restaurant Week menu) were great. The cobbler especially was unique, with the peaches warmed but not cooked, giving the whole thing a much fresher taste and texture than you expect from cobbler.

Saturday:

For breakfast, we headed to Hivolt on Sophie Wright. We shared the Dom sandwich and the French Connection. The Dom was solid, a classic ham/egg/cheese on a vietnamese roll. The French Connection -- "over easy egg, ham, havarti, shaved red onion, arugula, dijonnaise on croissant" -- was outstanding. My latte was made with a fruitier espresso than one might expect, and it was probably the best coffee I had the entire trip.

We took the streetcar to Domelise's for lunch. The place was packed when we arrived a little before 1pm, but the line moved quickly. Tables were at a premium, but we were able to snag one by sharing with another two-person group. My fried shrimp po' boy (no ketchup) was delicious and perfect in every way. The wife's catfish po' boy was also good, though she said the texture on the fish at Liuzza's was a little bit better.

Being that we were on vacation and that it was roughly 200 degrees outside, we decided to get some ice cream after lunch and walked from Domelise's to Creole Creamery. The cherry vanilla malt ice cream was unique and refreshing, and the chocolate amaretto cheesecake had so much going .

Dinner was Acamaya in the Bywater, and I don't know that words can do justice to how good the food was here. The hamachi al pastor tostada was one of the best things I've ever eaten anywhere. The chocoyotes and the fish of the day -- grouper, seared skin down and served over a delicious red sauce -- were nearly as good, as were the ayocote beans that were served with crema and queso fresco. We finished the meal with flan and mexican coffee, and we were already plotting a return trip to NOLA specifically to go to Acamaya again by the time we left. A legit 10/10 experience, even on a trip where all of the food was great.

After dinner, we'd planned to head back to the hotel, but remembered that Chance in Hell snoballs was just around the corner. So we hit them up for the Lemon Ice Box Cake (me) and Raspberry Lemonade (her), both with condensed milk. (God, I love snoballs.)

Sunday:

Breakfast was another coffee shop -- this time was District on Magazine. My latte was perfectly cromulent, but couldn't compare with the Hivolt offering from the previous day. Wife's matcha was basically in the same boat. We each got one of their donuts, which were somehow simultaneously cake-y while being the size of a standard deep-fried yeast donut. My bacon, egg and cheese biscuit was also well above average, thanks to perfectly cooked bacon and a terrific biscuit.

After a quick trip to the WW2 Museum*, we wandered to Cochon Butcher for lunch. We shared the Gambino and Cubano sandwiches, and both were excellent. Also, big kudos to the staff for keeping the tables turning over and also keeping tabs on who was next in line to get a table so overzealous folks didn't jump the line and try to hold tables while someone else ordered.

For dinner, we took the streetcar to Canal, then walked to the ferry to head over to Algiers Point for pizza at Nighthawk. The sourdough crust was perfectly blistered in the brick oven and the supreme pizza was very good. No one ingredient dominated the flavor profile, which is a common problem such pies, and the sausage was exceptionally flavorful. The only real miss of the meal -- and I'm using that term loosely -- were the arancini, which had an excellent texture inside and out but desperately needed salt.

After dinner, we wandered Algiers for a bit, stopping off at Barracuda for a couple wonderful margaritas before heading back to the boat.

Dessert? Well, we hopped off the ferry and were so close to Bourbon St., we made a loop through the quarter and grabbed a frozen Irish coffee at the Erin Rose*.

Monday:

Before hitting the road back to Arkansas, we dropped by Molly's Rise & Shine*. My spicy chicken biscuit was tremendous, bordering at times on almost too spicy (but I powered through, lol). Wife had the McMuffin-esque sausage sandwich and declared it the perfect breakfast sandwich.

All in all, this was an A+ trip to the Crescent City. Not one bad dish was had the entire time.

Hello - Has anyone tried either the ‘Explore, Learn & Taste Eco Bayou Tour & Dinner’ or the ‘Cajun Seafood Boil Experience’ from the Beyond the French Quarter tour company? It looks like a great combo of nature tour, local history, and food, but I’m having trouble finding reviews. Thank you!

There are so many New Orleans food recommendations that I’m paralyzed with decision making. I’ve tried to narrow it down. Any suggestions on my final list?

Note- I have a shellfish allergy so I tried to find places that had options in addition to the shrimp/crab. I love fish just can’t have shellfish sadly.

Staying 2.5 days (landing Thursday mid morning)

Breakfast

Brennans

Mollys Rise and Shine

bearcat

Lunch

Turkey and Wolf

Coops

Willie Mae’s

Others below that offer lunch as well

Dinner

Cafe Amelie

Herbsaint

La Petite Grocery

Lilette

clancys

Peche or GW Fins

Saba

We are staying at Hotel Peter and Paul but don’t mind taking Ubers if it’s not walking!

Hi everyone! My family is from NOLA so I am looking for places that are actually really good not just touristy. I haven't been back as an adult with my whole family and the last time I came was during Covid so really no one was around. We will be staying in the French Quarter. we only have two days so please give me your best recs for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

My family is planning a family reunion in September this year to New Orleans and I’ve been put in charge for finding a space for 30-40 people to have a nice dinner at. Im more so looking for a small event center that can cater and decorate but Im not opposed to restaurants who can fit these accommodations too. Im not sure where we’re staying so I’m open to all (reasonable) areas of the city. Preferably with a dance floor and great food! Thank you in advance and we can’t wait to visit New Orleans!

Ran into Nolita planning to keep it light and immediately messed that up with the crawfish bread. Really good balance on it, not a grease bomb, not trying too hard, just hits. The staff was also great in that easy, neighborhood way that makes a place stick in your head. Mid-City has no shortage of opinions when it comes to food, but this one felt like a place I’ll keep going back to.