Food · New Orleans · United States
What to eat in New Orleans
The dishes, drinks and food experiences that define New Orleans, and where locals actually eat them.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: George Bannister, CC BY 2.0
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Quick answer
Start with Beignets, Gumbo and Jambalaya. A weekend brunch with a strolling jazz trio is a local institution; Commander's Palace in the Garden District is the classic choice and needs booking well ahead. Sales tax of nearly 10% is added to restaurant bills, and a tip of 18–20% is expected on top.
Key facts
- Signature dish
- Beignets
- Vegetarian-friendly picks
- 5
- Tipping
- Tip 18–20% at sit-down restaurants, $1–$2 per drink at bars, 15–20% for taxis and…
- Food experiences
- 5
12 foods to try
Snack · Vegetarian
1.Beignets
Square pillows of fried dough buried under powdered sugar, eaten hot with café au lait made from coffee blended with roasted chicory root.
Where: Café du Monde at the French Market, serving them since 1862, and Café Beignet on Royal and Bourbon streets.
Dish
2.Gumbo
A thick stew built on a dark roux and the 'holy trinity' of onion, celery and green pepper, thickened with okra or ground sassafras (filé) and made with chicken and andouille sausage or seafood, served over rice.
Where: Almost every Creole restaurant; Dooky Chase's in Tremé is known for its gumbo z'herbes, a green gumbo served on Holy Thursday.
Dish
3.Jambalaya
Rice cooked with sausage, chicken or shrimp; the Creole city version is red with tomatoes, while the Cajun country version is brown and made without tomato.
Where: Creole and Cajun restaurants across the city, and food stalls at Jazz Fest and French Quarter Festival.
Street food
4.Po'boy
A sandwich on light, crackly New Orleans French bread, filled with fried shrimp or oysters or slow-cooked roast beef in gravy, and ordered 'dressed' with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise.
Where: Parkway Bakery & Tavern in Mid-City, Domilise's Uptown and Johnny's Po-Boys in the French Quarter.
Dish
5.Muffuletta
A round Sicilian sesame loaf layered with salami, ham, mortadella, provolone and chopped olive salad, created by Italian immigrants in the French Quarter in the early 1900s. A quarter is a meal; a whole one feeds four.
Where: First made at Central Grocery on Decatur Street; Napoleon House on Chartres Street serves a warm version, and delis across the city sell it by the half or quarter.
Dish
6.Red beans and rice
Kidney beans slow-cooked with ham hock or sausage until creamy and served over rice; traditionally a Monday meal, when the pot simmered all day while the household did the washing.
Where: Monday specials at neighbourhood restaurants across the city; many Creole restaurants serve it every day.
Dish
7.Crawfish boil
Live crawfish boiled with cayenne, corn, potatoes and garlic and tipped onto newspaper-covered tables, where you twist off the tails and suck the heads. The season usually runs from about January to June and peaks in spring.
Where: Seafood joints and bars that put up 'boiled crawfish' signs in season, selling them by the pound.
Dish
8.Chargrilled oysters
Oysters on the half shell grilled over open flames with garlic butter, Parmesan and herbs until bubbling, served with French bread for the butter. Drago's restaurant claims to have created them in 1993.
Where: Drago's in Metairie and at the Hilton Riverside, and oyster bars such as Acme and Felix's on Iberville Street in the French Quarter.
Dessert · Vegetarian
9.Bananas Foster
Bananas cooked in butter, brown sugar and cinnamon, flambéed with rum at the table and spooned over vanilla ice cream; created at Brennan's in 1951.
Where: Brennan's on Royal Street, where it was invented, and other classic Creole restaurants.
Drink · Vegetarian
10.Sazerac
Rye whiskey, sugar and Peychaud's bitters stirred in a glass rinsed with absinthe or Herbsaint and finished with a lemon twist; designated the official cocktail of New Orleans.
Where: The Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel and cocktail bars across the French Quarter; the Sazerac House on Canal Street covers its history.
Dessert · Vegetarian
11.King cake
A ring of sweet, brioche-like dough twisted with cinnamon, glazed and coated in purple, green and gold sugar, with a small plastic baby hidden inside; whoever finds it buys the next cake. It is sold during Carnival season, from 6 January until Mardi Gras.
Where: Bakeries across the city in season, from traditional versions to cakes filled with cream cheese or praline.
Dessert · Vegetarian
12.Snoball
Finely shaved ice, much fluffier than a snow cone, soaked in flavoured syrups such as nectar cream or wedding cake; a summer ritual.
Where: Hansen's Sno-Bliz on Tchoupitoulas Street Uptown, open since 1939, and neighbourhood stands that open from spring to autumn.
Food experiences
Jazz brunch
A weekend brunch with a strolling jazz trio is a local institution; Commander's Palace in the Garden District is the classic choice and needs booking well ahead.
Old-line Creole dining
Antoine's (founded in 1840), Galatoire's and Arnaud's in the French Quarter serve classic Creole dishes such as oysters Rockefeller and shrimp rémoulade in grand, old-fashioned dining rooms.
Cooking class
Demonstration and hands-on classes in the French Quarter, such as at the New Orleans School of Cooking, teach gumbo, jambalaya and pralines, with lunch included.
Spring crawfish boil
From late winter to early summer, join locals at a bar or seafood joint for boiled crawfish by the pound, eaten with your hands at shared tables.
Réveillon dinners
Through December, many restaurants offer Réveillon menus, multi-course Creole Christmas dinners revived from a 19th-century tradition.
Quick bites and street food
- Beignets — Café du Monde at the French Market, serving them since 1862, and Café Beignet on Royal and Bourbon streets.
- Po'boy — Parkway Bakery & Tavern in Mid-City, Domilise's Uptown and Johnny's Po-Boys in the French Quarter.
Vegetarian options
Of the 12 foods in this guide, 5 are usually vegetarian: Beignets, Bananas Foster, Sazerac, King cake and Snoball. Check preparation with staff, as stocks and fats vary.
Eating out: tips and etiquette
- Sales tax of nearly 10% is added to restaurant bills, and a tip of 18–20% is expected on top.
- Some old-line restaurants expect smart dress, and men may need a jacket at dinner; check before you go.
- Book Commander's Palace and other famous restaurants weeks ahead, especially during Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and big conventions.
- You can ask for a 'go-cup' to take a drink out of a bar; drinking on the street is legal in plastic cups but not in glass.
- Many restaurants close one or two days a week, often early in the week; check before planning a special meal.
Tipping
Tip 18–20% at sit-down restaurants, $1–$2 per drink at bars, 15–20% for taxis and ride-hailing, and a few dollars to musicians you stop to listen to.
| Phrase | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Where y'at? | How are you? |
| Lagniappe | A little something extra, given for free |
| Making groceries | Doing the grocery shopping |
| Neutral ground | The grassy median strip of a street |
| Dressed | A po'boy with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mayonnaise |
| Laissez les bons temps rouler | Let the good times roll |
Questions travellers ask
+What food is New Orleans famous for?
Beignets, Gumbo, Jambalaya and Po'boy. Square pillows of fried dough buried under powdered sugar, eaten hot with café au lait made from coffee blended with roasted chicory root.
+Is New Orleans good for vegetarians?
Several local staples are meat-free, including Beignets, Bananas Foster and Sazerac.
+Do you tip in restaurants in New Orleans?
Tip 18–20% at sit-down restaurants, $1–$2 per drink at bars, 15–20% for taxis and ride-hailing, and a few dollars to musicians you stop to listen to.