Don't leave without these.

At twenty-two, E.J. Lagasse rebuilt his father's flagship into a tasting menu and became the youngest chef ever to hold two stars — the only two-star kitchen in the entire American South. The New York Times gave it three stars a month before Michelin did. Creole classics, taken apart and put back together with real technique.

OrderThe tasting. The barbecue-shrimp tart, the gumbo and the cornbread with French butter are the courses Michelin named; the trout amandine is the one you'll remember.

Serigne Mbaye's seven-course Senegalese dinner in an Uptown shotgun house won the Beard award for Best New Restaurant, placed sixth in North America's 50 Best, and draws the line from Dakar to the Creole table more clearly than any restaurant in the city.

OrderThe tasting — one seating, communal. The jollof rice with the house Dakar spice is the course; ask for more of the spice.

Donald Link and Ryan Prewitt's wood-fired seafood house won the Beard award for Best New Restaurant and the plates haven't slipped since: whole Gulf fish over the coals, smoked tuna dip, oysters roasted in their shells. Loud, fast and the most reliable great meal in the city.

OrderThe whole grilled fish for the table, the smoked tuna dip, wood-fired oysters, and the shrimp toast. Resy, 30 days out.

Ana Castro's Bywater mariscos room — a Bib on Michelin's first pass and a Beard finalist for Best Chef: South — cooks Mexico City seafood with Gulf fish and no distractions. Small, spare and the best new restaurant in the city.

OrderThe scallop crudo, the aguachile, the whole grilled fish, and whatever masa dish is on that night. The mezcal list is the right pairing.

Mason Hereford's sandwich shop was named the best new restaurant in America by Bon Appétit in 2017, and in 2025 Michelin gave a Bib to a place with a fried-bologna sandwich on the menu. Nostalgia rewired with a serious kitchen behind it.

OrderThe collard-green melt, the fried bologna sandwich, and the wedge with everything-bagel crunch. Lunch only; the line moves.

The Seaton family's fried chicken — wet-battered, shattering, seasoned all the way through — has held a Beard America's Classic since 2005 and now a Bib. Tremé is the original; the Uptown room has the same recipe and a shorter line.

OrderThe fried chicken, three pieces, with butter beans and the mac and cheese. Sweet tea. Nothing else on the menu needs your attention.

A corner barroom Uptown that has fried shrimp and oysters onto Leidenheimer bread since 1918 and hasn't changed the recipe, the counter or the family. Michelin found it; the neighborhood always knew.

OrderA fried shrimp po'boy, dressed, and half an oyster one to share. A Barq's from the cooler. Cash.

The roast-beef debris po'boy — slow-cooked beef collapsing into its own gravy on crackly bread — is the city's other sandwich, and this Mid-City tavern by the bayou has made the standard version since 1911. A Bib, a patio and a line that feels like a block party.

OrderRoast beef, dressed, with gravy; the fried shrimp if you have a second person. Eat on the patio.

The muffuletta was invented at this Sicilian grocery in 1906 — cured meats, provolone and a marinated olive salad on a round sesame loaf — and a quarter of one is still the best three dollars a person can spend in the Quarter. Rebuilt after Ida, same recipe.

OrderA half muffuletta to share, wrapped to go; eat it on the levee. It's better an hour later, when the olive oil has soaked in.

Ernest Hansen built the ice-shaving machine in 1939 and his granddaughter still runs it: feathery ice, house syrups, a line down Tchoupitoulas from March to Labor Day. A Beard America's Classic, and the reason every other sno-ball stand exists.

OrderCream of nectar, or satsuma if it's on, with a squirt of condensed milk. Cash; closed in winter.