Mark Twain once said, “New Orleans food is as delicious as the less criminal forms of sin.” We think he’d approve of Restaurant Week New Orleans from June 8-14. Restaurants all over town are offering special menus during this celebration sponsored by the Louisiana Restaurant Association Greater New Orleans Chapter. This is your chance to find out what everyone is raving about for less. Here are our picks. Click on the restaurant name to make reservations.

Byblos Mediterranean Grill — Metairie Road & Elmwood

A neighborhood favorite for decades, Byblos serves Mediterranean classics with the kind of consistency that keeps locals coming back again and again. From fresh seafood to famous hummus, every dish feels like comfort food with a global passport.

ANNUNCIATION Restaurant

Spend at least one meal during Restaurant Week at ANNUNCIATION Restaurant. Not only is the food rave-worthy, but the entire staff gives new meaning to the words “Southern hospitality.” We can’t say enough nice things about this place.

Commander’s Palace

This celebrated restaurant in the Garden District is adored by locals, visitors and food critics who always list it among, if not at the top, of their best restaurants in the South lists. This is New Orleans at her best.

Crescent City Brewhouse

The French Quarter’s only microbrewery is just a loved for its food as it is for its beer. They offer free live music nightly, a fabulous oyster bar, and a menu TDF. It’s no wonder locals love it as well as visitors.

Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar – French Quarter
An institution in the French Quarter, Felix’s has been shucking oysters and serving seafood classics since 1945. Pull up a seat, order a dozen chargrilled oysters and discover why this Bourbon Street favorite never goes out of style.

Felix’s Restaurant & Oyster Bar – Lakeshore Drive
Felix’s on Lakeshore pairs lakefront views with the seafood dishes locals crave. Whether you come for the oysters, po-boys or seafood platters, this laid-back spot makes every meal feel like a mini vacation.

The Pelican Club
Hidden away in the French Quarter, The Pelican Club has long been one of the city’s best-kept dining secrets. Romantic, refined and consistently delicious, it’s the kind of place that turns a simple dinner into an occasion.

Tujague’s Restaurant

Tujague’s may be the second-oldest restaurant in the city but it’s first with its loyal fans. Brunch was invented here. It’s a must for Restaurant Week or any week.

Visit Event Website

ANNUNCIATION Restaurant

This Warehouse District favorite offers a Filet Special that changes weekly, typically featuring seasonal vegetables, fresh Louisiana seafood, and house-made sauces. Read our review. You really can’t go wrong here.

Commander’s Palace

Dad will love Commander’s Palace, named the “South’s Best Restaurant” by Southern Living. Steak-wise, Chef Meg is offering Tournedos of Black Angus Beef, a chargrilled beef tenderloin over garlic & herb roasted mushrooms, whiskey smoked onions, Creole smashed new potatoes, and Marchand de vin.

Yum! Reserve now.

Oceana Grill

If you can stop yourself from ordering any of the fabulous seafood dishes on the Oceana Grill menu, you’ll discover that the Blackened Ribeye Steak is 10 ounces of wonderful. Make reservations.

Pelican Club

This lovely restaurant on Exchange Alley offers a Center Cut, Eight-Ounce Filet Mignon with mushroom demi-glace, blue cheese, broccolini, sour cream and green onion smashed potatoes. OMG! Reserve your table in your favorite dining room now.

Rizzuto’s Ristorante & Chop House

Gentlemen, choose your weapons! Rizzuto’s serves only USDA Certified Prime Black Angus Beef. There are five steak options on their dinner menu. We recommend the 10-ounce Spinalis Ribeye, the smallest, most flavorful, most marbled, and tenderest part of the ribeye. Make sure Dad saves room for dessert. The gelato is amazing there. Reserve a table.

Tujague’s

Why has Tujague’s been around for 160 years? Here’s why. Tujague’s Filet Mignon is a 6-ounce filet of beef, served with fried fingerling potatoes, vegetable of the day, Worcestershire & roasted garlic butter sauce. It’s a rare treat, no matter how you order it cooked. Click here for reservations.

Hard Rock Cafe

Father’s Day is a great excuse to take Dad to the French Quarter for some fun at Hard Rock Cafe. Immerse him in the music he grew with, delicious yet unpretentious food like their Legendary® Steak Burgers, and great libations. Your Dad will receive rock star treatment at Hard Rock Cafe. Reserve a table.

The Carriage House Restaurant at Houmas House

Head to Great River Road this year for a meal at The Carriage House Restaurant at Houmas House, an elegant eatery fit for a sugar baron or the king of your house. On the menu there you’ll find Steak Carriage House, an A9 Wagyu Filet Mignon served with roasted fingerling potatoes, blistered tomatoes and broccolini. Dad will be so happy, he’ll want to come back next year. For reservations, call 225-473-9380.

Acme Oyster House

While there is no steak per se on the Acme Menu, their 10-Napkin Roast Beef Po-Boy will satisfy Dad’s primal cravings. It’s so good, Dad won’t know whether to wipe his chin or do a second line. No reservations required.

Read Father’s Day in New Orleans

There are approximately 700,000 restaurants in the United States. After just one spoonful of gumbo, you’ll understand why Conde Naste Traveler named the Pelican Club in the New Orleans French Quarter one of “America’s Top 250 Restaurants.” Celebrities like Paul McCartney and Taylor Swift have dined here. You should, too. If you’re coming this month for the Super Bowl, you better make that reservation fast!

Unlike chefs or groups who own many restaurants, Chef Richard Hughes and his architect/business manager wife Jeanne have poured their hearts into this one restaurant, located in a 250-year-old building on charming Exchange Place. Like all French Quarter buildings, the Pelican Club is reputed to be haunted. Chances are, you’ll be too busy admiring the local artwork on the walls to worry about ghosts.

The Hughes’ dedication to making their restaurant a French Quarter stand-out shows. Chef Hughes was born and raised in South Louisiana, but trained both here and in New York. If you only have only so many nights in New Orleans, you’ll want to spend one of them with Chef Hughes. Park your car at the Monteleone – the restaurant validates – and prepare to be impressed.

There are so many great choices on the menu – where do you start? With a drink, of course. The Pelican Club offers an imaginative and reasonably priced wine list and a fun assortment of hand-crafted cocktails. The Espresso Martini does not disappoint.

Like we said, if you’re a connoisseur of gumbo, ordering a cup of the Shrimp, Chicken & Andouille Gumbo here should be your next move. The flavor is magnificently rich and there’s no skimping on the good stuff either.

The appetizer offerings are all so enticing you’ll just want to throw up your hands and ask the waiter to choose for you. The Pelican Club Baked Oysters and the Seafood Ravigote are both amazing, but you can’t go wrong with the New Orleans Style BBQ Shrimp either.

The entrée list, too, will make you want to close your eyes and just randomly point to a winner. The Panéed Gulf Fish with Crabmeat is truly sumptuous as are the Whole Crispy Fish and the Half Roast Duck. When asked which entrees are ordered the most, our waiter was at a loss. “I wish I could narrow it down for you, but honestly they are all so popular,” he said.

And when it comes to dessert, don’t order one and share. Oh, the servings are big enough for more than one person but it would be cruel to have to choose between Warm White Chocolate Bread Pudding and the Grand Marnier Crème Brûlée so order both and share. You can work it off with a stroll through the Quarter afterwards. 

At last count, there were more than 1,500 restaurants in New Orleans. We feel confident when we say that Suis Generis (pronounced: soo-ee jen-er-is) in the Bywater is like no other. But, more than that, it’s not even the same restaurant this week that it was last. 

The menu at Suis Generis changes every week, inspired by whatever’s ready to pick at Tiki Farm in Pearlington, Mississippi, located just 40 minutes from New Orleans. Here the staff personally plants, tends and harvests their own exotic fruits, vegetables, herbs and edible flowers. They even keep bees to make their own honey and grow six kinds of sugar cane. What’s more, they’re one of only a handful of restaurants in the world who make their miso from scratch. They’ve taken farm to table to a whole new level.

Most restauranteurs will tell you that it’s crazy to change the menu up every week but owner chef Ernie Foundas and his partner Adrienne Bell who runs the front of the house think doing the same thing over and over again is even crazier–not to mention boring. A constantly evolving menu also keeps their neighbors in the Bywater coming back week after week. 

To keep things even more interesting, Suis Generis also has theme weeks. After Foundas acquired some “purple rain spinach,” the menu became Prince-themed with items such as “When Quail Fly.” During “Jurassic Week,” they served “Deviled Dinosaur Eggs.” They’ve also had an “Invasive Species Week,” and, working with a staffer at the Audubon Insectarium, one Halloween they had bugs like mealworms, dragon flies and water bugs on the menu. According to Foundas, ants, a garnish, have a lemony flavor.

Like their neighbors in the artsy Bywater neighborhood, for the team at Suis Generis, it’s always about creating something new and delicious from scratch. They even make their own dirt here through composting. Their goal is to create very little waste.

The restaurant opened in 2012 and they opened the Food Lab at Tiki Farm early in 2023. The Food Lab is a playground for both Suis Generis chefs and for special guest chefs. It features cooking classes as well as multi-course tasting menus in an intimate setting. Guests can tour the farm with the chef who will then cook a meal for them on site. The whole idea is to see where your food comes from so that you feel connected to it and to each other. See the Fall 2024 event lineup at the Food Lab.

Book your  Tiki Farm Fall Food Lab Experience

Read about Suis Generis Ice & Fire Menus

Learn more about Suis Generis in our Best of Guide: Cocktails and Best of Guide: Brunches.

As we learn about more Mother’s Day menus, we’ll share them here.

Go to our Best of the Brunches Guide

True: The New Orleans area is filled with world-famous restaurants. Also true: some of the best restaurants are located outside the French Quarter, and they serve the kind of food locals enjoy most because the menu includes iconic Louisiana dishes “just like my mama used to make.”

Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop is an establishment that falls into the latter category. Located 16 minutes from the Vieux Carré on the service road just off Causeway Boulevard in Metairie, the Gumbo Stop’s walls are lined with culinary awards, original artwork, and dollar bills from almost every state in the union. The art, like the ingredients in Chef Ron’s award-winning gumbo, is all locally sourced but, we know it’s hard to believe, Chef Ron is not locally sourced himself. He grew up in Rhode Island where he knew from an early age that he wanted to be a chef.

“I’d start out helping my dad with a project, but I wasn’t the handiest guy with a toolbox,” he said with a laugh. “Turns out, I made a lousy assistant, so he’d always end up sending me back to help my mother in the kitchen where I’d watch her make, among other things, her pepper biscuits.”

Chef Ron went on to graduate with a culinary degree from Johnson and Wales University. He was introduced to Louisiana cooking at the Rhode Island’s Cajun Acadia Festival as a young man. Then, while working as an executive chef in a hotel in Tallahassee, Florida, he was offered a position in a major hotel in New Orleans.

“What chef would not jump at the chance to work in New Orleans, the cradle of Creole cooking?” Chef Ron wants to know. The rest is culinary history.

In 2010, Chef Ron was named Chef of the Year by his peers at the American Culinary Federation, New Orleans Chapter. He also came in first at Louisiana’s 2010 Gumbo Cook Off. Then, in 2012, his dream of opening his own restaurant came true. Instead of being just one great restaurant surrounded by many, he chose to open his doors in Metairie, in a location surrounded by five hotels and lots of neighborhoods with hungry families. It was the right call. One year later, he was named one of the 25 Best Chefs of Louisiana by a selection committee that included — get this – legends Paul Prudhomme, Frank Brigtsen, Susan Spicer and Tory McPhail.

Today Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop is famous for inventing the Stuffed Gumbo (as far as he knows, it all started here). The “Original Stuffed Gumbo” is Chef’s Mumbo Gumbo (a filé gumbo with chicken, shrimp, crabmeat, crawfish, sausage, okra and tomato), topped with Fried Catfish. But you can also order versions topped with fried shrimp or fried oysters (pictured above) or shrimp, oysters, and catfish! We highly recommend the Gumbo Monceaux, the Mumbo Gumbo with poached egg served over potato salad. TDF. Chef Ron’s customers are also crazy about his Boudin Balls.

And they rave about his Jefferson Sauce, served in many ways, including over Fried Green Tomatoes (pictured below). Yummmm.

“What’s better than cream and garlic?” Chef Ron asked.

Chef Ron’s Italian roots have also found their way onto his menu. We’re convinced his Spaghetti and Meatballs is the best this side of Palermo, and his Shrimp Scampi is a popular favorite as well.

Chef Ron has been quoted as saying, “You don’t make a gumbo, you build a gumbo.” When asked for clarification he said, “When you make something, you just mix all the ingredients together. When you build something, you put them together at just the right time, until they come together perfectly to create your final product.”

When asked how long it takes to make his gumbo, he answered, “I have a low-and-go gumbo and then I have a hurry-up-and-go gumbo. Both are delicious but the hurry-up-and-go gumbo doesn’t require hanging over the pot. It frees you up to do other things in the kitchen.”

So how much gumbo does Chef Ron serve in a year? we asked. While he couldn’t give us a definitive number of cups, he could tell us that last Christmas during the pandemic, they sold 100 gallons of gumbo.

Guess that’s the Louisiana version of chicken soup. In a hard time, gumbo makes everything better. Especially when it’s from Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop.

Other Stuff We Thought You’d Like to Know:

• Chef Ron is a member of the Krewe of King Arthur, a co-ed Mardi Gras krewe in New Orleans. (No, he doesn’t recommend eating his gumbo out of a hand-decorated grail.)
• The best compliment Chef Ron gets is, “It tastes just like my mama’s.”
• For the record, Chef Ron isn’t one of those guys who is happy in the kitchen. He likes to come out and meet his guests in person. “I like to know who I’m cooking for,” he said.
• According to Chef Ron, there is no “Gumbo Season,” any more than there’s a spaghetti and meatball season. “We eat warm foods year-round and that includes gumbo,” he said.
• Chef Ron is a big believer in supporting the community, but he does it on the downlow. “I don’t need a camera in my face,” he said.
• The Gumbo Stop is not open on Sundays and Mondays, but they serve a mean Red Beans and Rice so many just wait until Tuesday for their fix.
• Catering weddings and other events is a huge part of Chef Ron’s business as is private parties. Their new back patio is the perfect place to host a bachelor/bachelorette party, shower, team outing, family reunion, or business event. You can even have a crawfish boil there. Call 504.232.4195 for details.
• You can get home delivery from Chef Ron’s through an arrangement with Metry Cab. Just call 504.835.2022 and they’ll get it to you hot.
• Don’t pass up a chance to order his Bread Pudding. Just sayin’.

Carnivore Carnival

Every Thursday night, Chef Ron offers a special pre-Lent menu. Choose from a Thick-cut Pork Chop with Grilled Shrimp and a Center-cut Ribeye with Chef’s Choice of Potato. They’re also offering a half-off Happy Hour Thursdays between 4 and 8 p.m. The good times roll at Chef Ron’s G

View Chef Ron’s Gumbo Stop Menu

When you think “festival food,” hamburgers, hotdogs, funnel cakes, deep-fried Oreos and maybe a few slices of pizza come to mind. But here in the New Orleans French Quarter we’ve kicked it up a notch, as NOLA chef Emeril Lagasse likes to say. The vendors of this year’s French Quarter Festival (April 16 -19, 2026) have made festival food an art form.

Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya, Beignets, Bananas Foster, Crawfish Bread and more will be available for feasting upon this April. Plus, you can enjoy this sumptuous cuisine with a side of sweet jazz, funk, classical, Cajun, zydeco, brass bands and gospel.

Check out what some of our favorite restaurants will be serving at French Quarter Festival 2026 – and don’t forget to pack your stretchy pants!

Cafe Beignet

• 3 Traditional Beignets 

Landry’s Seafood House

• Crab Cake w/ Lemon Butter Shrimp, Crab, and Lobster Bisque Combo Bowl

New Orleans School of Cooking

• Bananas Foster with Vanilla Ice Cream
• Pasta William (Penne Pasta & Cajun Cream Sauce with Shrimp and Sausage
• Crawfish Bread

Tujague’s

• Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya
• Shrimp Remoulade
• Marinated Crab Claws
• Shrimp Stuffed Mirliton
• Strawberry or Chocolate Handle

Oceana Grill

• Blackened Shrimp Po-Boy dressed with Coleslaw & Remoulade Sauce
• Mardi Gras Pasta – Gulf Shrimp, Crawfish Tails, Bell Peppers & Onions in a Creamy Alfredo Sauce
• Soft Pretzel served with Crawfish Mushroom Cream Sauce or Queso

<<View the French Quarter Fest 2024 Musical Lineup>>

<<F<find a Hotel in the French Quarter>>

It’s About the Culture.

“The difference between Cajun and Creole? Cajuns use one pot where Creoles use several.”
— Harriet Robin, instructor/chef 

In July, Tripadvisor named the New Orleans School of Cooking in the French Quarter the #1 “Best of the Best Things to Do” in the U.S. and ranked them #12 in the world. After attending one of their classes this week, they’ve got our vote as well. Whether you’re part of the group or by yourself, whether you’ve come to learn or just to eat, whether you’re a local or from out of town, they’ve nailed the recipe for a good time. 

The New Orleans School of Cooking offers two kinds of classes – demonstration classes where you watch and hands-on classes where you actually do the cooking. We took a demonstration class led by Chef Harriet Robin who, we believe, should have her own TV show. 

Along with learning how to cook up New Orleans dishes like Crawfish Étouffée, Shrimp and Artichoke Soup, White Chocolate Bread Pudding and Pralines, we sipped ice tea and locally made Abita Beer and learned what it was like to grow up in New Orleans, one of the most colorful cities in the country. The food was absolutely delicious (and they offer you seconds!) and the commentary both charming and hilarious. You see, Harriet and the 11 other instructors at the school or more than chefs – they are entertainers. But, most importantly, they’re real people. Harriet gave us some good advice at the start of the class as she was melting butter for a roux. She said, “If you have bloodwork scheduled for when you get back home, you might want to put it off a month.” 

“We love our butter and lard is alive and well in the city of New Orleans.”
— Harriet Robin

She truly is a New Orleans gem. At the end of the class, when Harriet asked if anyone had any questions, a 20-something at our table asked, “Can we give you a hug?” It’s that kind of one-of-a-kind experience. 

You leave the class with recipes for all the dishes you’ve tasted that day along with a promise that, if you try one at home and send them a pic, they’ll send you a diploma from the New Orleans School of Cooking. How cool is that? 

If you only have a short time in New Orleans, these 2 1/2 hours cover at least three experiences on your list…Food, Fun and Folklore! And, along with classes, the school runs a wonderful little General Store where you can buy fresh pralines and all sorts of fun gifts and souvenirs, such as onion-chopping goggles to keep the tears away during prep. It was summertime but we couldn’t resist picking up some stocking stuffers. So much fun. They also sell cookbooks, of course, including their own. Check out their online store.

“If the doorbell rings when you’re making a roux, take the pan with you.” 
— Harriet Robin

This Easter, do more than bite the ears off a chocolate bunny for breakfast. Check out this list of great New Orleans restaurants that are open for Sunday brunch on April 5th (some are even saving a seat for the Easter bunny). Hop on down the list and make your reservations now. 

Houmas House

This jewel on the Great River Road will be serving their Annual Easter Buffet in your choice of the Pavilion Courtyard or the Pavilion Ballroom between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. View 2026 menu and make reservations, call 225-473-9380. .

Pelican Club

The Pelican Club in the French Quarter will be taking reservations on Easter Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. CityBusiness called this restaurant “the hidden gem of the New Orleans dining scene.” We’re sure you’ll agree. Call 504-523-1504 to reserve your spot.

Commander’s Palace

This Garden District favorite is at the top of our list for Easter. Put on your Easter finery and make Sunday a celebration your family will remember forever at Commander’s. Make reservations.

Court of Two Sisters

Follow the second line to the Court of Two Sisters this Easter and ask for a seat in the courtyard. It doesn’t get any more New Orleans. While they are sold out for brunch, they are serving their regular dinner menu from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Make Make reservations. 

Hard Rock Cafe 

Hop over to Hard Rock for Lunch with the Bunny from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Reserve a special VIP table and enjoy a Fab Four Appetizer Platter(R) as well as Spring swag, special surprises and a visit from the Easter Bunny himself. Learn more.

Messina’s Runway Cafe

Messina’s never disappoints, and their Easter offerings are always something to celebrate. View their 2026 Easter menu and call 504-241-5300 to reserve your seating at 11 a.m. or 1:45 p.m. 

Steamboat Natchez

A highlight of Easter every year is Easter Bunny Jazz Brunch Cruise on the Steamboat Natchez and the Riverboat City of New Orleans. The rascally rabbit himself will be there along with a live jazz band. Learn more and make reservations at steamboatnatchez.com. 

Rizzuto’s Ristorante & Chop House

Celebrate Easter with your friends and family in Lakeview at Rizzuto’s. They’ll be serving a festive feast between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. View 2026 Easter Menu.  Make reservations. 

Tujague’s

Tujague’s always outdoes itself ever year with a fabulous three-course Easter menu. They’re celebrating their 170th anniversary this year. Why not head over before or after Easter Mass at the Cathedral? Make reservations. 

Mambo’s 

Mambo’s will be serving Easter guests from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Easter. Hop onto their rooftop and enjoy some authentic New Orleans cuisine. Their BBQ Shrimp & Grits are TDF or, heck, go for the Ribeye! Lent is over after all!

Oceana Grill 

This popular restaurant on Conti Street is open this Easter from 8 a.m. to 1 a.m. There breakfast menu is beloved by locals and visitors alike (after all, who doesn’t like Bananas Foster French Toast?). And their regular menu is always spectacular. We love the “Knife and Fork” B.B.Q. Ribs.

Olde NOLA Cookery

If you’re down in the French Quarter for one of the Easter parades, stop at Olde NOLA Cookery, open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Easter Sunday. Start with some Gator Tail Bites and then try the Blackened Bayou Duck (much more satisfying than the marshmallow kind).

Bobby Hebert’s Cajun Cannon 

This popular Metairie restaurant will be serving the Easter crowd between 11 a.m. and 10 p.m. They have lots of wonderful salads on their menu if you want rabbit food this Easter or go for one of the delicious seafood or pasta dishes. There’s so much to love here!

Hard Rock Café

If you were thinking about just picking up a bag of chips and dip at the convenience store, we hope this event at Hard Rock Cafe changes your mind. Reserve your table in advance and watch the Big Game on the Big Screen on Bourbon Street! Enjoy Touchdowns and Tunes, Game Day Specials and their Legendary Menu in the VIP Voodoo Room. All ages are welcome. Book now.

4141

This legendary bar on the St. Charles streetcar line is an ideal gameday choice. They’ve got tons of flat screens and you can order from their great menu or choose something from the connected New Orleans Hamburger & Seafood Company menu. Check out their cocktail menu, too!

Acme Oyster House

It’s always “half time” at Acme Oyster House. Grab half a shrimp, oyster or “10-Napkin Roast Beef Po-boy” and pull up a seat close to one of the TVs. No matter who’s leading, you’ll have a great time. Book now

Bobby Hebert’s Cajun Cannon

Former Saints’ quarterback Bobby Hebert is a legend in this town and his Metairie restaurant, filled with fascinating memorabilia, is the perfect place to watch the game. You’ll love the food, too. We can vouch for the Cam Cam Bam Bam Buffalo Wings, the Who Dat! Crab Cakes, and Buddy D’s Red Beans and Rice.

Loft18

Come watch the game and maybe toss around the ball at Loft18 on Metairie Road. They have screens galore and great football watching food (we love their Korean wings!)

Felix’s Seafood & Oyster Bar

Whether you’re in the Quarter or at the Lakefront, it’s game on at Felix’s! Down a freshly shucked oyster every time your team scores.