The Resy Hit List: Where In New Orleans You’ll Want to Eat Right Now
There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
We’ve designed it to be your essential resource for dining in New Orleans: a monthly-updated (and expanded!) guide to the restaurants that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Four Things In New Orleans Not to Miss This Month
- Brunch it Up: Chef Todd Pulsinelli recently launched a new brunch menu at perennial favorite Sylvain. Look for shakshuka with sourdough toast; Benedict made with buttermilk biscuits, Chisesi ham, and Creole hollandaise; stacks of blueberry pancakes; and chicken grillades with cheddar jalapeño grits.
- Now Open: After lengthy stints in Central America and Europe, jet-setter chef Adolfo Garcia has returned home to NOLA and recently opened Chi Chi’s Chicken and Beer on Freret Street. His new menu is as varied as his travels: Korean fried chicken, fried chicken sandwiches, onigirazu (sushi sandwiches), and kakigōri (Japanese shaved ice). And of course check New on Resy for the latest on more openings.
- Réveillon Menu at Osteria Lupo: Through New Year’s Eve, Uptown’s Northern Italian destination will offer a four-course, family-style Réveillon tasting menu for $65 per person. Dishes include antipasti options; pizza and pasta, secondi and contorni, and dessert. And check Resy Events for more great special offerings.
- Aguasanta Arrives: Luis Nava of La Tia Cantina in Metairie has partnered with Leo Vasquez and Ulysses Campos to open a new spot for bold flavors and arty cocktails inspired by world travels. The raw bar menu mixes Mexican, Italian, and Japanese flavors with octopus carpaccio, pineapple aguachile, and salmon tartare. There’s also brisket bao, crab arancini, bruschetta, birria-style lamb, and Cantonese fried rice.
New to the Hit List (Dec. 2024)
The Chloe, Del Porto Ristorante, Jacques Imo’s, The Wine Bar at Emeril’s.
1. Acamaya Bywater
James Beard Award-nominated chef Ana Castro opened this Mexico City-style restaurant with her sister in early July. The hot and cold seafood-centric menu celebrates the sisters’ native culture through foods both comforting and complex, as does the design by Farouki Farouki. Pro tip: For an offbeat experience, try the bass ceviche with cherries, jicama, and unsweetened chamoy. The most personal dish on the menu is the earthy arroz negro, which is jammed with mussels, squid, and huitlacoche, a fungus grown among corn crops (known also as “corn smut” or Mexican truffle). So central is it to her style that Castro has the highly regional, highly perishable ingredient overnighted from a purveyor on the West Coast. All the serveware and fixtures were collected from Mexico City, creating a transformative experience.
2. St. Pizza Lower Garden District
A hit when it opened in the spring, St. Pizza has blown it off the charts since The New York Times named its pies among the top 22 in the nation just a few weeks ago. Executive chef Crystal Lachney’s style is restrained, with a crisp crust and spare applications of top-notch ingredients like house-made fennel sausage, garlic confit, sweet ricotta, and a finish of fennel pollen. A tight selection of entrees includes excellent renditions of meatballs and spaghetti, and chicken parmesan. The pies are sold through a walk-up window either whole in two sizes, by the slice, or at the tavern where guests enjoy well-crafted cocktails and low-intervention wines.
No reservations. Find more info here.
3. Pêche Downtown
Donald Link, Stephen Stryjewski, Ryan Prewitt and now Nicole Cabrera Mills — recently named one of Food & Wine’s 2024 Best New Chefs — can probably take the credit for re-popularizing the trend of whole fish at the table that returned with staying power ten years ago. People here stare as the fish, often with their heads and tails flopping off opposite ends of the oblong plates upon which they rest, are paraded through the dining room. Preparations and combinations are numerous: baked drum with corn, squash, coconut and cashews; grilled tuna with okra, chile, garlic, and tamarind; whole roasted flounder with lemon-caper beurre blanc; grilled mangrove snapper with Louisiana shallots and criolla sella vinaigrette; roasted redfish with salsa verde. You can’t go wrong.
4. The Wine Bar at Emeril’s Warehouse District
Emeril Lagasse and his son, E.J. Lagasse, have partnered to create a wine bar accessible through the Julia Street entrance of Emeril’s flagship restaurant. It offers a casual vibe with an impressive wine cellar, music, art, and a selection of small plates, including caviar service. The duo enjoys experimenting with unique ingredients from various purveyors, with recent offerings like foie gras and satsuma tart, shrimp toast with lemon aioli, and duck confit bao buns. Their cocktail program features both classic and seasonal drinks, including the intriguing reserve martini made with Zapp’s potato chip-washed vodka and caper-infused gin.
5. Clancy’s Audubon
The recent death of longtime owner Brad Hollingsworth brought heartache to this unpretentious spot, which holds fond memories for generations. But the pleasure lives on, with a quadfecta of an unpretentious dining room, a resistance to change, a killer wine list, and a seasonally driven menu. The linens are white. The prices are reasonable. The lack of foolishness is comforting. Fried Gulf oysters might show up with roasted delicata squash, blue cheese, and a red wine gastrique. The unorthodox combination remains within the confines that allow the 38-year-old restaurant to remain true to itself. Pro tip: Get a pile of jumbo lump crabmeat dumped on top.
6. Del Porto Ristorante Covington
Chefs David and Torre Solazzo, three-time James Beard award finalists, have been turning out rustic Italian fare and handmade pasta here since 2014. It’s hard to go wrong on the menu, which currently oozes comforting warmth during the region’s brief “winter.” Still, the promise, or fantasy, of cooler weather brings cravings for the duck leg lasagnette, a personal-sized portion of something you do not want to share, anyway. Housemade pappardelle is served with red wine-braised rabbit ragu. Kick things off with creamy, earthy local chicken liver pâté with fresh fruit marmeletta. Pro tip: Check out the sensational happy hour daily from 5-6 p.m.
7. Dakar NOLA Uptown
Chef Serigne Mbaye’s tribute to the culinary contributions enslaved Africans made to the foodways of the American South was named Best New Restaurant by the Beard Foundation. Mbaye’s ever-changing seven-course pescatarian tasting menu explores the intersection of his native Senegambian cuisine of West Africa with that of his adopted New Orleans. Each dish arrives with a explanation of its evolution from Africa, through the slave-run kitchens of the South, to modern day. Though the subject matter is heavy, the menu of carefully sourced Gulf seafood is not. Mbaye brings levity and warmth by serving most dishes family-style. Consider it part dinner party, part history lesson — and substance for both body and soul.
8. Smoke & Honey Mid-City
From a long-time pop-up to a recent brick-and-mortar, Vassiliki Ellwood Yiagazis’s Greek and Jewish “soul fool” spot is now a fully-fledged café serving breakfast gyros, bagels, and boreka while steadily adding more dinner dishes to the mix, like the cinnamon-spiced pastitsio, a Greek-style lasagna. Not to miss are the flambeaux (a po’boy-style sandwich of slow-braised lamb leg, whipped feta, onion, and garlic jam) and a soup made with a deeply satisfying chicken bone broth bobbing with matzo balls made with bacon fat. (No kosher here!)
9. Palm & Pine French Quarter
The fierce sense of community that chef-owners Jordan and Amarys Herndon share with other members of the industry first developed when they worked as sous chefs in different restaurants. (After hours they hosted a pop-up, the Old Portage, in the Black Penny bar.) Soon they’ll turn the corner on Palm & Pine’s fifth anniversary. Check out the Soiled Dove pop-up lesbian bar every 3rd Thursday at 10 p.m. And pro tip: Don’t leave without trying the country ham with melon, black garlic Dijon, chow chow, marañones, and smoked cashews. Sounds like overkill but it’s perfection. Ditto the Parisa: Texas-style steak tartare with fermented serranos, Havarti, and egg jam served with potato chips.
10. Compère Lapin Warehouse District
Chef Nina Compton’s long-standing but never-boring flagship merges her Caribbean upbringing and European culinary training. Named after a folk figure from her native island, Compère Lapin is lauded for its complex, yet approachable flavors. In 2018 she won a Beard Award for Best Chef: South, and last year was a semifinalist for Outstanding Chef. Compton’s husband and business partner, Larry Miller, maps each day’s success by the number of goats coming in the back door and leaving curried. Tender chunks of flavorful goat are stewed down in a curry kissed with cinnamon and then ladled atop soft, rich pillows of sweet potato gnocchi with cashews. Pro tip: Get the goat, but start with the unctuous house-made scialatielli with shrimp and rundown sauce.
11. Tatlo French Quarter
Part speakeasy, part Filipino witch bar, and part absinthe den, chef Cristina Quackenbush and her coven hope to create a place for locals to get in touch with their inner divinity. In September, Quackenbush merged her decades-long witchcraft practice with her lifelong immersion in Southeast Asian cuisine. The food menu is a nurturing, modern celebration of the Filipino flavors Quackenbush is known for, paired with a drink menu that channels astrology and uses medicinal ingredients. To wit: the Triquetra is three pork ribs with a sticky lemongrass barbecue sauce arranged in the shape of a trinity knot and served with red cabbage, candied mango, and herbs.
Find more info here.
12. Mosquito Supper Club Uptown New Orleans
At MSC, most guests are seated communally, and throughout the evening, a deeply personal bounty pours forth from the kitchen, with most items arriving family-style on platters over five courses. The dinners that chef Melissa Martin hosts are about telling the story of the shrimpers, oyster fishermen, crabbers, and farmers that define her native Cajun cuisine and the life she lived growing up on Bayou Petite Calliou in Chauvin, a place that will soon disappear due to coastal erosion. The seafood-centric menu changes weekly. If fortune has you in her favor, every 20 minutes or so, someone may arrive from the kitchen bearing a platter of enormous, fried soft-shelled shrimp, a delicacy rarely seen in a restaurant setting.
13. Jacques-Imo’s Carrolton
Jacques-Imo’s opened in 1996, on a funky stretch of Oak Street next to a music club popular for poetry readings and impromptu chess tournaments. The quirky mural-covered spot has been a destination for singular Creole cuisine ever since. The shrimp and alligator cheesecake is a house specialty, and don’t forget an order of Austin Leslie-style fried chicken for the table to share. Pro tip: Go with people you find amusing, as you will wait up to two hours for a table. Just deal with it. If you’re dining with only one other person, ask for the table in the back of the pickup truck parked out front — because when else will that be an option?
Call 504-861-0886 for reservations, which are granted only to parties of five or more.
14. The Chloe Uptown
The Chloe is a stylish hotel on St. Charles Avenue that blends historical charm with contemporary design, creating intimate gathering spaces throughout its property. Culinary and cocktail services are offered in all communal areas, making the whole hotel a dining experience. After serving as sous chef, Ben Triola has debuted a contemporary Creole menu with standout dishes like braised lamb shoulder and mushroom risotto — both recommended for sharing. Don’t miss the brown butter ice cream sandwich for dessert.
15. Vyoone’s Warehouse District
When business at the sprawling, charmless convention center beckons, nearby Vyoone’s offers tranquility from the masses and the madness. Cozy and bright, yet serene, this seated spot serves high-end French fare with an Afro-Creole overlay. By night, the tropical courtyard is lit with masses of twinkling lights, creating a romantic air. Solid starters are the escargots in a white wine beurre blanc served with oven-roasted bone marrow and the onion soup gratinee never disappoints. Most entrees are a study of classics: duck a l’orange, grilled lamb chops, and Coquille St. Jacques. The ubiquitous steak and potatoes keeps it local, topping a six-ounce filet with buttery NOLA-style barbeque shrimp.
16. Restaurant R’evolution French Quarter
Drama ensues as guests enter Restaurant Revolution through a long lantern-lit bar, followed by a tour through a succession of dining rooms that set the stage. The showpiece: a live-fire exposition kitchen in the main dining room. Last year’s multi-million dollar renovation and the quiet dissolution of his 10-year partnership with chef Rick Tramonto freed chef John Folse to return to his roots. Now, the menu includes the famed Death by Gumbo, as well as caviar service. And try the redfish Bienville, a throwback from Folse’s erstwhile Lafitte’s Landing — served with a charred lemon beurre blanc and roasted root vegetables.
17. Cane & Table French Quarter
If Hemingway were to visit the city, we would find him at Neal Bodenheimer (CureCo) and chef-partner Alfredo “Fredo” Nogueira’s moodily lit, atmospheric Cuban tavern. Nogueria showcases culinary traditions authentic to his family’s Caribbean roots. Grilled octopus is served with kalamata aioli and sweet pepper slaw. The chupe de mariscos brims with mussels, shrimp, and fish, and the Fish Rundown features fried drum and gobs of crabmeat swimming in an unctuous coconut curry. And don’t forget the drinks: weekday happy hour from 5-7 p.m. offers frozen piña coladas, classic daiquiris, and Argentinian and Mexican white and red wines by the glass.
18. Hot Stuff University Area/Uptown
Chef Mason Hereford, New Orleans’ oddball culinary kingmaker, has done it again with Hot Stuff, a Southern meat and three lunch spot on Maple Street. In opening the venture, he partnered with long-time Turkey and the Wolf kitchen employee Nate Barfield, whom he put at the helm. Guests visit a central steam table with cafeteria trays to select from changing daily offerings that may include hamburger steak au poivre, fried chicken or catfish, marinated cucumbers fired up with chili crisp, red beans and rice, miso-enlivened green beans, and a cheese spread made with minced pickles and served with saltines. Pro tip: Arrive early to secure a Mountain Dew cake finished with lemon and lime — they sell out fast. Need a cocktail? They will pour your choice of liquor into a paper cup, and you finish it off from the self-serve soda fountain.
No reservations. Find more info here.
19. LUVI Uptown
Somehow the energy, passion, and pure thrift that brought together this cozy, Technicolor space renders it perfect, only acceptable backdrop for Chef Hao Gong’s exotic, playful Asian hybrid cuisine. Gong’s cooking draws on elements of his Shanghai upbringing, his stints at restaurants around the U.S., and his decade-long career as the head sushi chef at Sake Cafe. Some dishes, such as spicy Sichuan dan dan noodles and Mala Holla (razor thin slices of beef shank in ghost-chile oil) hearken to Asian traditions. Others, like the Monkey Snack—raw salmon, sesame-crusted banana and a spicy-sweet sauce—are his own creations. A new monthly supper club provides all you need for a dinner party at home.
20. Bar Pomona Marigny
If plates of crunchy crudites with fine cheese and the soft layers of mortadella flecked with pistachio are enough to get you there, this small, perfect, oh-so-Frenchified neighborhood restaurant and bar with a great wine list is your place. A small spot with low ceilings, the bar takes up most of the room, and details both epicurean and adorable fill the rest. The menu is a short roster that splits the difference between snacks and a proper supper. The wine list is imposing for its size, selection, and value, with most bottles under $50. For brunch, spiced garlic yogurt is topped with two poached eggs, then hit with dukkah, chili crisp, and fresh dill, and served with Sara’s peerless focaccia. Bliss.
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