Avoid These 14 Touristy Restaurants In New Orleans
As Mardi Gras season looms around the corner, folks are gearing up to take the trek to New Orleans — the country's most eclectic city. In addition to parades and festivities, there's so much to do as a tourist in the Crescent City; you can take a food tour, lounge in beautiful City Park, marvel at the picturesque architecture in the French Quarter, and check out some incredibly old, historic bars.
No matter where you're headed, no tourist wants to feel like they're experiencing a city only from the lens of an out-of-towner. They want the local experience, steeped in culture, history, and art, and there's plenty of all that in New Orleans. I'm an ex-New Orleans resident, but I love the city as if it were still my home, so you can always catch me down by the bayou once the festivities kick off. But, once upon a time, I was just a tourist in the Big Easy, and I definitely experienced my fair share of tourist traps before I decided to cement myself as a resident.
In this list, I'll point out restaurants that are designed to trick tourists, promising a local vibe when, in reality, no local would ever be caught dead inside. These gimmicky spots are overpriced, over-the-top, and just plain overrated, and they should be avoided at all costs.
Oceana Grill
Mention Oceana Grill to any New Orleans local, and I can assure you that the first thing out of their mouths will be long-winded trash-talk. Oceana Grill is the kind of restaurant that advertises all over every major hotel in order to stock the place solely with tourists who aren't familiar enough with a city's authentic cuisine to be able to discern that it's not a good restaurant — you know the type.
The massive, nautically-decorated restaurant claims to serve the best gumbo in all of New Orleans, but this is far from the truth. Oceana Grill is so bad, in fact, that Gorden Ramsey once tore the kitchen apart on his show "Kitchen Nightmares," although the episode has since been scrubbed from the show's catalog after the restaurant sued the famous chef.
There are quite a few red flags at this seafood restaurant, like the fact that a massive portion of the menu is fried. Oceana Grill offers something called a fried gator po'boy; something that may sound like a real dish to a non-Louisiana resident, but — I can assure you — it's an invention made to lure tourists. If you want to try a real Creole seafood restaurant with a wide variety of authentic options, try GW Fins, only a block away from Oceana. While much more upscale, this eatery is one of NOLA's best, with fresh-from-the-Gulf fish in unique takes on genuine Louisiana recipes.
Pat O'Brien's Courtyard Restaurant
Pat O'Brien's Courtyard Restaurant on Bourbon Street is a sister establishment of the flagship Pat O'Brien's on St. Peter Street, which is one of NOLA's most famous historic bars. The brand is known for inventing the Hurricane — the city's signature drink — and a lively dueling piano show at its St. Peter's location. Pat O's Bourbon location operates as a full-service eatery, while its more iconic spot is a bar only. Honestly, I think it should have stuck with serving strictly booze, because its food is a detriment to its otherwise shining reputation.
The food at Pat O'Brien's Courtyard Restaurant consists of standard bar fare-turned New Orleans. There are kitschy alligator bites and mediocre muffuletta alongside ridiculously overpriced gumbo. There's even a market-price po'boy, which is hilariously ironic. If you really want an authentic meal-and-drink experience in the French Quarter, grab a tall boy from one of the many corner stores and a sandwich from Killer PoBoys. Then, peruse the streets while enjoying the music of buskers and the tranquil yet exhilarating energy of the Quarter.
Meril
I grew up watching Emeril Lagasse's TV shows, so it pains me to admit that one of his New Orleans restaurants treads into mediocrity. Meril is a contemporary spot in the Warehouse District that acts as a more casual alternative to the famous chef's upscale eponymous restaurant. It offers modern dishes with international influence and a hint of Louisiana flair. While the food itself is innovative and tasty (albeit not the best from the renowned chef), it's a combination of other factors that make Meril's a spot to skip on your next trip to NOLA.
Diners at Meril often complain of slow, inattentive service and long waits for food to arrive. The restaurant is almost always packed, likely due to the owner's big name in the New Orleans food scene and not because it's a great place to eat. Drinks are marketed as being artisanal and made with fresh ingredients, but they're known to be disappointing and overly sugary. If you're looking to experience chef Lagasse's legendary cuisine, opt for his flagship restaurant Emeril's, just a couple blocks down on Tchoupitoulas Street, instead.
Bourbon House
Bourbon House is one of many ventures from the Brennan family — New Orleans' most notorious restaurant group — and is known to locals as one of the city's most prominent tourist traps. Its menu and location draw in visitors looking to experience the seafood that the city is famous for, but Bourbon House doesn't do NOLA's cuisine justice whatsoever.
A shrimp po'boy for $24 is egregious, especially in a city that's known for inexpensive, rustic cuisine. Charbroiled oysters are Bourbon House's claim to fame, but they're shriveled and flavorless and come drowned in a bland sauce. The wide selection of the restaurant's namesake liquor and cocktails doesn't come close to saving it from its low-quality, tourist-trap designation; drinks are overly sugary and weak, which is basically sacrilege in New Orleans.
For an alternative whiskey-and-oyster experience, take the streetcar to the Central Business District and enjoy a vast booze selection at The Rusty Nail — one of New Orleans' best dives. The bar shares a patio with Sidecar Oyster Bar, where you can get your seafood fix.
Port of Call
Port of Call proudly boasts that it serves the best burger in all of New Orleans, but just about every New Orleans resident would beg to differ. The burger joint — first established in 1963 — is located on Esplanade, just a block from tourist hot-spot Bourbon Street. Inside, it looks like any other divey NOLA bar-and-restaurant, but the branded take-out cups tend to give away its tourist-trap status.
Burgers at Port of Call usually arrive either undercooked or overcooked, accompanied by subpar service. Port of Call — like a fair amount of other New Orleans burger joints — doesn't melt the shredded cheese that it uses on its burgers, and no one really knows why. Now, don't get me wrong; when the burger is cooked well (it usually takes coming in on a slow afternoon), they definitely hit the spot. But to call it "the best burger in New Orleans" is an egregious overstatement. For one of the (actual) best burgers in town, head over to the Central Business District and stop into Cochon Butcher.
Willie's Chicken Shack
I'm surprised that anyone walks into Willie's Chicken Shack and doesn't immediately recognize it as a tourist trap. The restaurant is decked out with all the bells, whistles, and flashing lights of any subpar fast-food restaurant, complete with a kitschy chicken mascot. Its name appears to be an attempt to capitalize on the famous fried chicken made by esteemed New Orleans chef Willie Mae Seaton, although the chain never mentions her specifically anywhere in its branding, so it's hard to say.
Willie's caught a lot of flack for disregarding Covid regulations during the pandemic, smearing its own reputation in the process. The corny restaurant also found itself in the throes of a lawsuit when the creator of the Hand Grenade — New Orleans' most famous drink after the Hurricane — claimed copyright infringement, saying that Willie's drinks looked suspiciously similar to the original.
Willie's has a whopping three locations on Bourbon Street alone, even though fast-food restaurants are technically banned throughout the French Quarter. Needless to say, this place maxes out the sketchy meter and should be avoided at all costs. Do you want to try the fried chicken that locals love? Head over to Hank's Bar on North Robertson Street for one of the strongest frozen daiquiris of your life, tender, juicy fried chicken, and the bar's locally famous seafood potato.
Quarter View
Quarter View Restaurant tends to attract visitors with its grandiose size and claims of traditional, authentic cuisine. One indication of a bad restaurant is an enormous menu, and this faux pas definitely befalls Quarter View, which offers just about every Cajun and Creole dish you could think of, plus a slew of items that sound specific to Louisiana but aren't. An excessively long menu usually means that food isn't prepared particularly fresh, and this seems to be true with Quarter View, considering an astonishing amount of the items it serves are fried.
The dining environment at Quarter View is made to vaguely resemble the French Quarter, but it gives off an awkward, uncanny vibe. The large, open room with too-close tables is usually packed with tourists who don't know that they can get a much better meal if they take a short trek down by the river. Seither's Seafood also offers a diverse menu loaded with all the classics, albeit served fresh-as-can-be, in a cozy, casual environment.
Café Beignet
Café Beignet is an iconic New Orleans chain with over 30 years in the game and four locations in the French Quarter. The restaurants are decked out to make you feel like you're lounging in a posh French bistro, but crowds and noise tend to ruin the illusion. Chicory coffee and fluffy beignets are always a hit at Café Beignet (albeit far from the best in NOLA), but there's something else to be said for the food.
The breakfast and lunch fare at Café Beignet is blatantly not fresh or crafted with any level of expertise, especially at the Bourbon Street location. Waffles are obviously previously frozen, omelets are thrown together hastily, and fried fish is assuredly not fresh from the Gulf. To make matters worse, everything is wildly expensive and portions are mediocre. For a memorable brunch in New Orleans with tasty options and fair prices, stop by chic and casual Elizabeth's in Bywater instead.
Voodoo Chicken and Daiquiris
Voodoo Chicken and Daiquiris — much like Willie's Chicken Shack — is a boisterous fast-food restaurant offering low-quality chicken and sugary frozen drinks in a tacky atmosphere. The small chain, which first opened in 2022, has two locations, one on Canal and one on — you guessed it — Bourbon. It consistently pumps out loud electronic music to lure folks in, and then keeps them around with a vast selection of flavored frozen daiquiris behind the counter. Those visiting for the first time may feel like they found the holy grail of frozen drink options, but the truth is that this daiquiri setup is ubiquitous in this city; you'll find dozens of daiquiri choices at nearly every gas station and fast-casual eatery around.
The offensively decorated restaurant may be tempting, with flashing lights and cheesy novelty cups and trinkets, but its corniness should immediately give away that it's a tourist trap. If you're dead set on staying on Bourbon and grabbing some frosty drinks, head over to Fat Tuesday instead for a better vibe, better music, and better booze and grub.
Gumbo Shop
If you're visiting New Orleans for the first time, the first thing you'll probably want to try is one of New Orleans' most iconic dishes: gumbo. Gumbo Shop is a French Quarter staple, and it isn't completely undeserving of that designation. In truth, the gumbo at Gumbo Shop is respectable, and it's actually not a bad choice if you're looking for a particularly wide variety of different gumbo and other Creole and Cajun options. That being said, the restaurant is designed to cater to tourists, and that always entails inflated prices.
New Orleans locals like to hold their mama's gumbo in the highest esteem, but there are plenty of restaurant gumbos that will knock your socks off and won't charge you an arm and a leg. Pascale's Manale's take on the classic Creole comfort food is legendary, or just pop into the nearest gas station or corner store and see what they've got simmering in the back; chances are it'll be just as good as Gumbo Shop's and a fraction of the price.
Hard Rock Café
It seems almost every tourist-friendly city is home to a Hard Rock Café or two, so it comes as no surprise that a city famous for its music would be home to a branch of the kitschy chain on its most famous street. The rock-and-roll-themed chain is absolutely massive, with locations in over 74 countries and dozens in the U.S. alone. And, as is the case with any restaurant that gets too big for its own good, quality gets put on the back burner. Food at the Hard Rock on Bourbon is far from fresh and local. Mass-produced bar food and cheesy decor don't come close to the authentic experience that every tourist wants.
For a French Quarter experience that incorporates everything the Big Easy is famous for, check out Crescent City Brewhouse on Decatur. As The Quarter's only microbrewery, it offers unique drink options to pair with traditional Louisiana cuisine, all topped off with a live jazz performance that gives tourists a taste of the essence of New Orleans.
Café Du Monde
Having been around since the mid-19th century, Café Du Monde is one of the most iconic dessert-focused eateries in the country, so it's a spot that's often the number one thing to see on every New Orleans visitor's checklist. While I concede that it's absolutely worth a visit just to lay your eyes on a legendary piece of NOLA history, there's one thing that always disappoints (though probably doesn't surprise) all first-time visitors: the lines. No matter the time of day, the line for Café Du Monde is ludicrously long, and if you're visiting the French Quarter during Mardi Gras season, forget it.
The beignets and coffee at Café Du Monde are tasty, but most locals will divulge that they aren't worth the wait because there are plenty of good New Orleans-style beignets and chicory coffee elsewhere in the Quarter. I suggest heading inside the French Market and snagging your treats from Loretta's Pralines instead. Snap a photo outside Café Du Monde on your way out of the market, and bam! You've just hacked the system.
Mother's
Mother's has been a New Orleans institution for nearly 100 years. It's known for dishing out all the Southern classics, but it's most famous for inventing the roast beef debris po'boy. The NOLA icon was once a champion in down-home Creole and Cajun fare served in an ultra-casual setting, but locals agree that the changing times haven't been good to Mother's.
The deli-style eatery — located on the corner of Poydras and Tchoupitoulas Street in the Central Business District — sees a lot of tourist traffic thanks to the hotel and casino across the street and its proximity to the French Quarter. But it's evident that the restaurant is always packed with tourists due to its long standing reputation and convent location, because the food has been noticeably lackluster in recent years. If you find yourself in the area, take a stroll past Mother's to catch a glimpse of the famous eatery, and then take the streetcar to grab an authentic Southern lunch of soul food and Louisiana classics from Heard Dat Kitchen on the outskirts of the Quarter.
NOLA Poboys
The inside of NOLA Poboys looks like an attempt at a quintessential New Orleans eatery, but without any of the charm. A handwritten menu behind the counter and late-night hours almost give off the impression that the restaurant is as authentic as they come. If you've never experienced New Orleans, you might be fooled into thinking NOLA Poboys offers a traditional experience with some of the best po'boys in town, but that's just what they want you to think.
Like Gumbo Shop, NOLA Poboys isn't a bad choice if you're looking for a plethora of sandwich options. It offers every classic under the sun, from fried fish to roast beef, and even a few veggie options. But, in the most touristy part of the city, expect to pay inflated prices for a nothing-special po'boy. If you're in the French Quarter and craving the city's most legendary sandwich, look no further than Verti Marti — over on Royal Street — for one of the best po'boys in all of New Orleans. It doesn't offer seating inside, but taking your po'boy to the streets is part of the genuine New Orleans experience, after all.
Methodology
Every city has its tourist-traps, but it can be hard to discern which places offer an authentic experience and which you should steer clear of (although some make it pretty obvious, thankfully). Once you live in a city, it becomes more apparent, so I've used my experience as a past resident of NOLA to list the eateries that all locals know are a no-go. I've personally experienced many of the establishments listed, but for those that I haven't been to, I used online reviews and well-known local lore to point out gimmicky spots. I listed places that either serve low-quality food, claim traditional authenticity but don't use genuine New Orleans recipes, or offer decent food but inflated prices due to their tourist-heavy location.
Be on the lookout for obvious tells, like branded merchandise and flashy environments, and know that the most authentic NOLA experience is usually found outside the French Quarter. Make a point to explore the whole city and experience the diverse cultures of New Orleans on your next visit to limit the chances that you'll wind up at one of these corny cash grabs.