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Coop's Place
Coop's is a darkly lit cavern put together like a maze to befuddle inebriated patrons. But Coop's has acquired a well-worn appeal and a loyal clientele. The huge chalkboard menu includes jambalaya with rabbit meat (an authentic, rural touch), hot links over a mess of red beans and rice, and Louisiana nibbles like fried alligator bits.
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Court of Two Sisters
Brunch in the famous courtyard here is fine on a bright Sunday morning. It's a circus of Creole omelettes, Cajun pasta salads, grillades, grits, fresh fruits, carved meats and fruity cocktails. The al fresco ambience is wonderful, but when it rains, patrons are seated in one of several slightly faded (some actually drab) indoor dining rooms. The regrettably lackluster dinners cover all the traditional Creole standards. Ask for what's fresh and opt for the simplest preparation available.
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Crescent City Brewhouse
A micro-brewery that produces passable pilsners and wheat beers. The menu features Louisiana standards, with a seafood emphasis: redfish, softshell crabs, crabcakes, steaks and burgers. There's often live music. It's a lively, upbeat place that can take care of an entire family's needs.
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Croissant D'Or Patisserie
Newspaper-toting locals fill this simple bakery where you'll have trouble choosing amongst the myriad croissants and quiches. It's a welcome pit stop in a morning stroll through the quiet lower French Quarter.
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Cuvée
Cuvée is a high-class joint in a stylishly converted warehouse space. Its thoughtful, descriptive menu projects an understandable pride in fine ingredients and cooking methods. Influences range freely from Cajun, Creole and French cuisines for exotic originals that are to be admired and savored bite by bite. The dinner menu might include grilled redfish over andouille hash, mustard and herb-coated salmon and seared sea scallops with toasted pearl pasta and truffle shellfish fumet.
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Dick & Jenny's
Just up the street from Tipitina's, this quaint clapboard restaurant specializes in inventive, seasonal dishes like seared sea scallops and gulf shrimp with sun-dried tomato and goat-cheese polenta and saffron chardonnay butter - at a reasonable price. Though popular, no reservations are allowed, so be prepared to sip an excellent cocktail in the courtyard as you wait for your table. They always have a vegetarian option.
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Domilise's Po-Boys
On a quiet corner near the river, where scattered white shells stand in for sidewalks, this bustling little shack churns out some of the city's best-loved sandwiches. The huge fryer announces a readiness to dunk a basket of shrimp or catfish to order. Watch 'em sizzle, or turn around and, lo and behold, there's a little bar in the next room where a friendly old gent draws frosty mugs of draught Dixie. It's drinkable when served this cold. All in all, a most gratifying experience. Cash only.
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Elizabeth's
Bywater's hottest ticket is this welcoming spot facing the levee. It has been one of the city's favorite down-home lunch destinations since it opened in 1998, and regular customers still flock here for some of the the biggest po'boys around and for heaping plate lunches of barbecue beef and pork, meat loaf, baked chicken.
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Emeril's
Chef Emeril Lagasse's flagship restaurant lives up to all the hype. His protégés rustle up consistently scrumptious Bam!-worthy fare under the modern glass arch looking out on the main dining room, and an attentive staff sees to your every need.
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Fiorella's
A remnant of the old Sicilian community that used to populate the Quarter, Fiorella's has all the hallmarks of a neighborhood fixture. It is unpretentious with checkered tablecloths and candlit tables, and is seemingly oblivious to the tourism industry. Remarkably it continues to fit right in on evolving, hipsterized lower Decatur St.
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Frankie & Johnny's
Down by the river you'll find this friendly neighborhood bar and restaurant. The joint really drives home the fact that you're in southern Louisiana. Come with a large group and expect to enjoy yourselves. In the spring, when crawfish are in season, order a platter of the boiled critters and a round of beers for your party. You can also choose starters like alligator pie and turtle soup, and mains like fried fish.
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Gabrielle
At this writing, Gabrielle's original location on Esplanade Ave was closed after Hurricane Katrina, and owner-chef Greg Sonnier had announced plans to relocate to this historic social hall near Audubon Park. It's a relief to know one of the city's best restaurants hasn't become a Katrina casualty. Sonnier captures the attention of both locals and a national audience with his innovative Creole and Cajun dishes.
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Galatoire's
A revered institution where the regulars are treated regally and tourists are sometimes dished out surprisingly average food. Local devotees so love this New Orleans establishment that to die here over a plate of, say, grilled pompano with almonds is considered a belle mort, or good death. (Fortunately, this doesn't happen very often.) The building has housed a restaurant since 1830 (it was called Victor's before Jean Galatoire bought it in 1905), and history is palpable in the main dining room.
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Gumbo Shop
Despite its tourist trap status, the Gumbo Shop is a decent fall-back where you can order passable regional classics - seafood gumbo, jambalaya and the like. It's a nice, open room with elegant frescoes of old New Orleans scenes. Out-of-towners eat here in astonishing numbers, and most of them seem to be satisfied.
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Herbsaint
Chefs Donald Link's menu is an homage to traditional French bistro fare, but not without strong Louisianan inflections or subtle, contemporary innovations. Steak frites appears in the form of a grilled hanger steak with fries and a zesty pimento aioli, and frog legs in a light herbed batter are served on a starter plate. The dining room, understated and warmly lit by windows, is especially pleasant for lunch. Reservations are a good idea.
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Huey's 24/7 Diner
For top-notch breakfast chow anytime of day or night, Huey's your place. It's a tad fancier than a traditional diner, with a huge menu to match. If you aren't up for gut-busting omelette platters, you can drop in for a thick burger or a sandwich. Huey's strays from the concept by including a full bar that never closes, so if you came here to sober up, you can always decide to get drunk again. Not a bad deal.
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Irene's Cuisine
Irene's is small and romantic and calls very little attention to itself. Its cozy, dimly lit dining rooms are conducive to intimate conversation, and the food is hearty. The menu straddles the Italian-French border and includes offerings such as a finely seasoned rosemary chicken, seared chops and pan sautéed fish fillets. Sweet aromas waft from your plate before you take your first bite. Leave room for the decadent pecan praline bread pudding.
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Jacques-Imo's Cafe
Best taken on early, before the hordes descend on this funky bar/restaurant. Alligator cheesecake and ribald conversation vie for your attention, as do the hand-painted murals and eclectic crowd.
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Johnny's Po-Boys
Well-worn and often crowded, Johnny's delivers superb stuffed po'boys. The fried oyster number (lightly breaded in cornmeal) recruits devotees. No credit cards.
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Juan's Flying Burrito
Juan's is a hipster burrito hangout on a fun and busy block of Magazine St, in the Lower Garden District. Apart from a loud juke box, which rocks the joint day and night, the atmosphere here is strictly post-industrial-utilitarian. But the hefty burritos are good, with some interesting experimental verieties, such as a selection of fajita burritos, a tasty jerk chicken model and a fine little number called a 'veggie punk' burrito.
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K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen
Paul Prudhomme single-handedly popularized Cajun cooking in this welcoming bricked bistro. The chefs use the very best ingredients and a loving attention to detail in preparing quintessential dishes like jambalaya and blackened gulf fish, and the knowledgeable waiters bring it out with a smile.
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La Madeleine French Bakery & Café
A convenient stop on Jackson Square, with over-the-counter service and decent quiches, pastas and pizzas. An assortment of fresh-baked pastries and muffins makes this café equally popular for breakfast.
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La Peniché
In the lazy twilight hour, La Peniché qualifies as an unassuming corner restaurant, a few blocks from the Frenchmen St scene. But it's open 24 hours, and it tends to get interesting later on when nightowls, clubhoppers, drag queens and insomniacs file through its doors. Surly waiters serve seafood platters, fried chicken, steaks, chops and po'boys - none of it exceptional, all of it reasonably priced.
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Lemon Grass Cafe
In the International House Hotel, Lemon Grass is the chic culinary atelier of chef Minh Bui, whose highly original menu borrows freely from French cuisine as well as the cooking of his own native Vietnam. Main dishes change frequently, depending on what's locally fresh, but may include lacquered duck, smoked with five spices and served over black bean sticky rice, or Viet bird nest, which is a bed of crispy yellow noodles piled high with sautéd seafood and vegetables.
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Liborio Cuban Restaurant
Business lunchers crowd into this festive Warehouse District establishment for a taste of old Havana. Cuban pork sandwiches are ironed into a flat, melted, savory treat and served with plantains and black beans. You can also get ropa vieja ('old rope,' made with spicy shredded roast beef), roast pork and seafood paella, all excellent.
