New on Resy: Bar Marilou, Couvant Bar & Brasserie, Piece of Meat, and More

This voluptuous Warehouse District cocktail lounge is discreetly located next to the Maison de la Luz hotel, but the over-the-top interior — tiger-skin-patterned carpets and bar stools, red lacquered walls inset with well-stocked bookshelves, a tangerine-hued ceiling — is joyously bold. The cocktails are stellar, the bar food runs from deviled eggs to caviar, and guests at the hotel have access to a semi-secret private room.

This lively brasserie in the Eliza Jane hotel near Bourbon Street was dormant for two years after the pandemic shut down Louisiana restaurants — but now it’s back and going stronger than ever. The menu is French with New Orleans accents (or maybe vice versa) — not surprisingly, since chef Ryan Pearson is a veteran of Manhattan French standouts Bâtard and Restaurant Daniel.

Is this a butcher shop or a restaurant — or a happy mix of both? Piece of Meat built a reputation as one of the city’s top artisanal purveyors of animal protein, and still sells some meat products to go — but proprietors Leighann Smith and Daniel Jackson have repurposed it as a contemporary steakhouse with a rustic feeling, a serious bar, and a short food menu that runs from house-cured ham to prime rib eye.

The curtain has gone up at the reimagined Le Chat Noir — a beloved downtown cabaret and theatre for the first decade of the 21st century, but now a stylish restaurant from James Reuter (Bearcat Café) where the food takes center stage. Look for oysters from three coasts and a wide-ranging choice of big and small plates by chef Seth Temple.

One of the city’s hottest breakfast, brunch, and lunch spots since it opened in 2020, Melissa Araujo’s casual but creative Bywater restaurant, featuring dishes from her native Honduras, is now creating a buzz with its vividly flavorful dinner menu too. If you come during the day, though, don’t miss the brandy-spiked Adult French Toast.

“Espíritu” is Spanish for “spirit” and the spirit of choice at this jaunty Warehouse District Mexican restaurant is mezcal: More than a hundred mezcals (and Tequilas) are offered, and classic cocktails including the sazerac and the old fashioned are reformulated with mezcal. To eat? Ceviche, tacos, tortas — the real thing, Mexico City-style.

Make ordering easy at this ornately appointed decades-old Indian standby on Magazine Street: Bring a crowd so you can share some of almost everything — vegetarian and non-vegetarian appetizer assortments, biryani and tandoori dishes, seafood specialties, a whole bakery’s worth of Indian breads, and much more.

Now here’s a smart idea: When the well-loved little vegetable-forward daytime restaurant Sneaky Pickle moved to larger quarters in 2021, owners Ben Tabor and Olivia Clarkson doubled up by converting it to this dinner-only restaurant every evening. The lighting changes and a new menu comes on: Vegetables are still featured, but so is charcuterie, seafood, and red meat.

It’s all about the beef (USDA prime) at this upscale but unfussy steak emporium (think exposed brick, hardwood floors, and servers in butcher coats) from the team behind Atlanta stalwarts like Joey D’s and New York Prime — though the seafood and sides are first-rate, too. Pro tip: Save room for the gigantic chocolate cake, enough to serve a table of four or more.

You’ll want to become a regular at chef Clare Leavy’s laid-back neighborhood café for the festive all-day brunch (chow chow grilled cheese, sweet potato bacon Benedict), the comfort-food evening meals (shrimp and grits, Mama T’s chicken dinner), and — setting the mood for it all — non-stop live music from blues to Brazilian.

Forget the nearby tourist spots with their cookie-cutter menus. The debonair French Quarter original, with a kitchen led by longtime Bayona veteran Eason Barksdale, offers a deftly curated selection of internationally inspired dishes (think Italy, Thailand, France, and the U.S.A.), along with a smart and fairly priced wine list and a lineup of classic cocktails done right.