Now on Resy: Saint-Germain, Dahla, Hungry Eyes, and More Local Favorites

Warakorn “Tom” Intavichai and his family (whose Thai Ocha was a hidden treasure in Metairie) run this delicious restaurant, where colorful chandeliers and floral murals provide the setting for traditional Thai food with a twist or two.

Here’s a place to come for both the sizzle and the steak: a Colombian-style churrasquería, courtesy of Antonio Mata and chef Edgar Caro of Basin Seafood & Spirits fame, with steaks (plus a whole fish and a half-chicken) cooked perfectly on a wood-burning grill alongside five kinds of potatoes that’ll make you want to toss your low-carb diet on the fire.

This one’s worth a toast: Effervescence boasts 200 labels of bubbly wines, ranging from affordable fizz to top-of-the-line Champagne, all of which are best sipped with something from their small bites menu — think Gulf oysters and crispy crawfish crêpes — caviar service included.

In a dining room defined by tropical foliage, brick walls, and ornate chandeliers, this easy-going breakfast and lunch offshoot of the Chartres Street original serves everything from omelets and Benedicts to shrimp and grits and crawfish étouffée, plus a Bourbon Street Breakfast (banana pecan cakes and candied bacon) that comes with a shot of, yes, Bourbon.

Part jam shop (where co-owner Sara Levasseur makes her Jamboree Jams), part wine bar, this tiny but alluring Marigny favorite offers an array of snacks from kale salad to dill meatballs, serious weekend brunches, and homemade soft-serve ice cream. Potable essential: the martini with fig-leaf-infused vermouth and anchovy-stuffed olives.

Take a deep dive into Southern Louisiana culture and cuisine at the Boutté family’s “original Cajun restaurant,” where there’s music every night (with dancing practically obligatory) and the menu lets the good food roll, with hand-me-down-recipe crawfish pie, jambalaya, étouffée, and all the other irresistible specialties of the Cajun kitchen.

Dr. Biruk Alemayehu and her family beguiled New Orleans with their authentic family-style Ethiopian cuisine when they opened the original Addis in 2019, and the magic lives on at this larger Bayou Road follow-up. Be sure to order the Ethiopian coffee: The beans are pan-roasted and ground before your very eyes.  

A go-to New Orleans classic since 1992 (transplanted to a new location after Hurricane Katrina), Gabrielle lets chefs Mary and Greg Sonnier interpret Cajun food with wit and originality. If it’s on the menu when you go (and go you should), don’t miss the smoked gumbo with hen meat and chicken-mango sausage.

This elegant contemporary Creole bistro, in a historic turn-of-the-century warehouse (in the Warehouse District, of course), hits all the bases with its gloriously tempting menu, spotlighting everything from fried oysters with spinach and triple cream Brie to veal Annunciation — a creation involving crawfish, shrimp, and green and yellow squash.

Here’s a contrast to the lavish baroque specialties that define NOLA’s Creole cuisine: Just three main choices — wild-caught Gulf drum, fried boneless chicken, or housemade chickpea tenders — on a plate or in a sandwich, coming out fast and delicious, in a bright, low-key room. Don’t miss the sweet potato biscuits or the side of flash-fried bok choy.

Bring a crowd to this clubby-looking Lakeview venue from the team behind Wrong Iron and Velvet Cactus, and dig into the menu of shareable plates (don’t miss the muffuletta eggrolls) and the let’s-have-everything roster of entrées. For a knock-out finale, order The Celebration, an indulgent fantasy of cotton candy, ice cream, cake, and berries.

Don’t miss this brick-lined Decatur Street mecca for classic Cajun fare and genre-defining cocktails (the Sazerac is epic). Gulf oysters are a specialty, and one preparation — chargrilled, with herb-butter sauce and cheese — is an absolute essential.

The dining room adjunct to the Hotel Monteleone’s legendary Carousel Bar, Criollo blends traditional Creole dishes with urbane international fare in an elegant atmosphere of dark wood, limestone flooring, and warm lighting. Pro tip: Save room for the signature butterscotch bread pudding with sea salt gelato.