New Orleans is one of the oldest and most revered dining cities in the country, and the city has a deep love for the restaurants that earned it that designation. Don’t overlook the cuisine’s ability to evolve over time and with new influences, though:
Many of NOLA’s classic restaurants reflect that malleability, while others excel at cooking the canon.
Here are 22 places essential to the storied history of New Orleans dining, including legendary Creole stalwarts in the French Quarter, rough-and-tumble po’ boy joints, and hidden gems in quiet neighborhoods, all of which are quintessentially New Orleans.
New Orleans has so many classic restaurants worth frequenting that it’s impossible to cover all of the city’s classics, or to capture the extent of its dining landscape and heritage, in one guide, so let this be a starting point.
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