17 Best Restaurants In New Orleans For Authentic NOLA Cuisine

New Orleans is, perhaps, the United States' preeminent foodie destination. The city is steeped in culture, and the melting pot of history and heritage that makes up its population shines through in the local cuisine. Food and drink play an integral role for the people of the Big Easy. Locals live for springtime crawfish boils, flock to food festivals like Oak Street Po-Boy Preservation Festival and Tales of the Cocktail, and eat steaming pots of red beans and rice for dinner every Monday. Recipes for gumbo and jambalaya are handed down from generation to generation, and everyone swears theirs is the best.

You'll find restaurants of all types in the Crescent City, from Vietnamese spots to barbeque joints and even a handful of vegan restaurants. That said, New Orleans' greatest claim to culinary fame lies in its rich history of Creole and Cajun food. Many of the city's best eateries have been family-owned for over a century, and recipes have been preserved through generations of owners who revere their ancestors' dedication to quality comfort food. Honestly, you can walk through the door of nearly any New Orleans restaurant and have the best meal of your life — but if you're looking for the absolute best authentic New Orleans food, here are our top spots.

It's hard to miss Commander's Palace if you're strolling around New Orleans' Garden District. The palatial, turquoise-and-white restaurant has been a NOLA institution since opening its doors in 1893 and has been operated by the Brennan family — local legends in the culinary community — since 1974. A long line of decorated chefs, including Emeril Lagasse, Tory McPhail, and current executive chef Meg Bickford, have contributed to this landmark's reputation for excellence over the years, and the restaurant has won an impressive seven James Beard awards to date.

With Southern dishes like crawfish strudel, turtle soup, and pecan-crusted gulf fish, Commander's is an exemplary spot for anyone looking for a true taste of NOLA. The restaurant adheres to a "dirt to plate within 100 miles" policy and tries to source at least 90% of its ingredients from local farms, fisheries, and other vendors. For an unbeatable deal in an age when cocktails often ring in at upwards of $15 apiece, visit the hot spot for weekday lunch and nab a 25-cent martini with the purchase of an entrée. Keep in mind the restaurant's strict dress code. 

We can't discuss NOLA food without mentioning the "Queen of Creole Cuisine": the inimitable Leah Chase. Chase was a titan of industry in the New Orleans culinary community, but her legacy extends far beyond the Crescent City. Throughout her career, she earned multiple awards, authored "The Dooky Chase Cookbook," and inspired the character of Princess Tiana in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog." Chase opened the doors of Dooky Chase's in 1941, and the restaurant remains stellar today even after 80+ years of operation.

Since the 1940s, Dooky Chase's has had the pleasure of serving notable politicians, famous musicians, well-known authors, and other celebrities. The menu is an absolute goldmine: Whether you're popping in for the lunch buffet or making reservations for an anniversary dinner on Saturday night, you'll find treasures like Creole gumbo, fried chicken, Louisiana redfish, and chicken Creole lovingly prepared with the original recipes that put Leah Chase and her restaurant on the map.

Perhaps the most exclusive restaurant in New Orleans, Galatoire's is also one of the most traditional. Owned and operated by the fifth generation descendants of its founder, the Bourbon Street establishment has served the upper echelons of NOLA society and its visitors for well over a century. To this day, the restaurant maintains unmatched service, outstanding food, and a fairly strict dress code; and hopeful diners must make reservations far in advance in order to guarantee a coveted spot.

Unlike the majority of Bourbon Street haunts, Galatoire's maintains a quiet façade. It's a frequent destination for theatergoers given that the historic Saenger Theater is only half a mile away, and even serves a special three-course pre-theater menu with classics like turtle soup, shrimp Creole, and banana praline bread pudding. The standard menu features French-Creole fare such as shrimp étouffée, fresh local fish, and oysters Rockefeller as well as impeccably prepared cuts of steak. Be sure to whet your appetite with a classic cocktail, such as a French 75 or Galatoire's brandy milk punch.

Ample access to the Gulf of Mexico makes New Orleans a haven for seafood lovers. While fine dining restaurants offer the most contemporary takes on seafood at a hefty price, it's often the hole-in-the-wall joints that hide the city's tastiest Protean treasures. Enter Clesi's. Seafood shops may be a dime a dozen in NOLA, but if you're in the city during crawfish season, Clesi's is the place to be.

This family-run mid-city gem is owned by a trio of siblings and welcomes its patrons with quintessential Southern hospitality. Clesi's offers boiled seafood by the pound as well as many other specials: traditional jambalaya, boudin bites, and a crawfish mac & cheese burger, to name a few. Seafood boils, however, are where the restaurant really shines. Whether you're looking for a business to cater your Mardi Gras crawfish boil or just want to go to a restaurant where boiled shrimp is hot and ready, Clesi's is a neighborhood-friendly favorite that's sure to hit the spot.

Chef Isaac Toups of "Top Chef" fame comes from a long line of Cajuns who've called Louisiana home for over 300 years. He grew up eating fish and game snared during hunting and fishing trips. It was this background, combined with years of training under Emeril Lagasse, that inspired Chef Toups and his wife to open Toups Meatery right off the famous Mid-City streetcar line in 2012.

The menu at Toups' is fairly small, but it's evident that the restaurant's focus is on quality over quantity. For brunch, enjoy small plates like foie gras torchon or a boudin breakfast burrito. Lunch is the perfect time to experience the "meatery board" (a selection of both fresh and house-cured meats served with homemade condiments), or order an LA jumbo lump crab salad if you're feeling peckish. On the dinner menu, crispy turkey necks with pepper jelly and boiled peanuts are not to be missed, while a mustard-crusted rack of elk with horseradish cream and mint jelly is sure to hit the spot if you've worked up an appetite.

Donald Link and business partner Stephen Stryjewski make a formidable team. The two James Beard award-winning chefs banded together to form Link Restaurant Group in 2009, and as of today, the group operates seven impressive restaurants. One of their best, Cochon, is situated in a renovated warehouse on the Mississippi-adjacent Tchoupitoulas Street. Though it isn't exactly the setting you'd expect to find at a fine dining establishment, the restaurant has a surprisingly upscale ambiance and serves up some of the best Cajun food New Orleans has to offer.

"Cochon" is the French word for pig, but in New Orleans, it often refers to cochon de lait, or a suckling pig that's been slow-roasted and thinly sliced. The restaurant offers excellent appetizers, such as crawfish pies, fried alligator, and fried bBussels sprouts; but entrees are where the restaurant really shines. A wood-burning oven churns out mouthwatering dishes like rabbit and dumplings, catfish courtbouillon, and of course, Louisiana cochon with dirty rice, collard greens, and onion gravy. Those who want to prepare similar dishes at home are sure to love Cochon Butcher, an artisan butcher and charcuterie shop that doubles as a casual dining venue located right next door to the restaurant.

Situated in a modest, mellow yellow house, Domilise's humble exterior belies a legacy that may seem unbelievable to an outsider. Since 1918,  the sandwich icon has provided some of New Orleans' best-loved po'boys to everyone, from local passers-by to hungry tourists to notable politicians and celebrities. The restaurant cultivates a family-friendly environment and reflects such values itself: Many of its staff members have worked at Domilise's for decades, and while the years have flown by, the recipes behind the simple menu remain largely unchanged.

Unlike other po'boy shops, Domilise's focus is strictly on po'boys – aside from the bar, that's all they do, and they do it well. It's a great spot if you're looking for an affordable and filling lunch.

Many of New Orleans' restaurants pride themselves on being family-run for decades, and such is the case with Magazine Street's Casamento's. The restaurant was established in 1919 by Joe Casamento, an Italian immigrant, and is still operated by his descendants over a century later. Aside from a handful of dishes like the fried chicken tenders, spaghetti and meatballs (an homage to Casamento's Italian founder), a grilled cheese, and a handful of other dishes, you won't find a lot besides seafood here – what you will find is local seafood prepared using fresh ingredients and recipes handed down for generations.

Casamento's is known for serving up some of the best oysters in the US, served raw, charbroiled, or in the famous oyster loaf. The restaurant's seafood gumbo is well-loved, and it's also a hotspot for soft-shell crab. It's easy to underestimate Casamento's from the outside, but the longstanding restaurant is easily one of the greatest hidden gems the city has to offer.