New Orleans · for a first-time visitor
Just follow this.
Three ready-made food itineraries — one, three and five days — built only from places on the list, so you can eat well without doing the research. Every place links back to the guide.
Itinerary
One day
French Quarter to Bywater, on foot and by streetcar. Beignets at dawn, a two-star at eight.
One day, walkable in the Quarter and the Marigny; the streetcar for Uptown. Book one dinner. Book one thing: dinner at Emeril's (Tock) — or Pêche (Resy) if it's gone.
The day
- 7:30Café du Monde (Decatur)Beignets and a café au lait before the line forms. Walk-in, cash, 24 hours; the powdered sugar is the point.
- 9:00The French Quarter on footRoyal Street's galleries and Jackson Square, then Central Grocery for a quarter muffuletta to carry.
- 11:30Acme or Felix's (Iberville St)A dozen raw and a dozen charbroiled. Felix's has no line and the same oysters.
- 1:30Frenchmen Street by dayWalk the Marigny; Baldwin & Co. for a coffee among the books, Loretta's for a praline beignet.
- 3:30Bacchanal (Bywater)Pick a bottle inside, take it to the yard, order the cheese plate. Live music starts around four; Crescent Park's river view is five minutes away.
- 5:30Jewel of the South (French Quarter)Chris Hannah's bar — a Brandy Crusta where it was invented. Then Napoleon House for a Pimm's Cup if there's time.
- 8:00Emeril's (Warehouse District) or PêcheE.J. Lagasse's two-star tasting, or Link's wood-fired whole fish. Both walkable from the Quarter.
- 10:30The Spotted Cat or d.b.a. (Frenchmen)Traditional jazz in a room the size of a living room; no cover, one-drink minimum. The Maple Leaf if it's a Tuesday.
Itinerary
Three days
The Quarter, then Uptown by streetcar, then the Bywater and Tremé. Six meals that explain the city.
Three days, one neighborhood a day. Book two dinners and one lunch. Book: Emeril's or Saint-Germain (Tock), Dakar NOLA (Tock), and Commander's Palace for the Friday or Saturday lunch (OpenTable).
Day 1 — The Quarter and the Warehouse District
- 8:00Café du MondeBeignets at the source; walk them off along the Moonwalk.
- 10:00Sazerac House (Canal St)The free museum with a free drink at the end — the Sazerac, the Ramos, the Crusta explained.
- 12:30Cochon Butcher (Warehouse District)Le Pig Mac and a muffuletta from the Bib-Gourmand butcher counter.
- 3:00Napoleon House, then the Carousel BarA Pimm's Cup in the courtyard, then one rotation of the Monteleone's bar.
- 6:00Cane & TableRum drinks in the courtyard before dinner.
- 8:00Emeril's or Saint-GermainThe two-star Creole tasting, or the one-star tasting in a Bywater house.
- 10:30Preservation Hall (St. Peter St)The last set; 45 minutes, wooden benches, no drinks. Buy tickets ahead.
Day 2 — Uptown, by streetcar
- 9:00The St. Charles streetcarRide it from Canal to Audubon Park; get off for Domilise's at Bellecastle.
- 11:00Domilise's Po-Boy & BarFried shrimp, dressed, on Leidenheimer bread, since 1918. A Bib in a barroom.
- 1:00Hansen's Sno-Bliz (Tchoupitoulas)Cream of nectar on the 1939 machine. Cash; a James Beard America's Classic.
- 3:00Magazine StreetWalk from Napoleon toward Jackson: Sucré, Bar Pomona, the shops.
- 5:30Cure (Freret St)The bar that started the city's cocktail revival in 2009; happy hour until seven.
- 8:00Dakar NOLASerigne Mbaye's Senegalese tasting — №6 in North America's 50 Best, a Beard finalist. Tock.
- 10:30Tipitina's or Le Bon Temps RouléWhoever's playing; the Soul Rebels on Thursdays at Le Bon Temps.
Day 3 — Tremé, Mid-City and the Bywater
- 9:00Willie Mae's (Tremé) or Lil' Dizzy'sFried chicken for breakfast is legal here; Willie Mae's opens at eleven, so Lil' Dizzy's for the early start.
- 11:30Parkway Bakery & Tavern (Mid-City)Roast beef debris po'boy on the patio by the bayou. Since 1911, a Bib.
- 1:00Angelo Brocato's (Carrollton Ave)Spumoni and a cannoli, since 1905.
- 2:30Commander's Palace (Garden District)The 25-cent martini lunch, if it's a weekday; jazz brunch on the weekend. Jackets for men.
- 5:30Bar Redux or Vaughan's (Bywater)A neighborhood bar by the levee; Vaughan's on a Thursday for the brass band.
- 8:00Acamaya (Bywater)Ana Castro's Mexican mariscos — a Bib and a Beard finalist. Resy.
- 10:00Bullet's Sports Bar (Seventh Ward)Kermit Ruffins if it's Tuesday; a local room any night.
Itinerary
Five days
The three-day plan, plus a day across the river and out of town, and a day for the institutions.
Five days: three neighborhoods, one drive, one day of old New Orleans. Book three dinners. Add to the three-day bookings: Galatoire's Friday lunch (OpenTable, or the line at 8am), Mosquito Supper Club (Tock).
Days 1–3
- —The three-day planAs above.
Day 4 — The drive
- 9:00Dong Phuong (New Orleans East)Bánh mì and, in season, the king cake with the longest line in the city. A Beard America's Classic.
- 12:00Mosca's (Westwego) or Middendorf's (Manchac)Oysters Mosca in a roadhouse since 1946, or thin-fried catfish over the swamp. Cash at Mosca's.
- 3:00Algiers PointThe ferry back across the river; Congregation Coffee on the Point.
- 6:00Bar Tonique (Rampart St)The neighborhood cocktail bar; the daily special is always the order.
- 8:00Mosquito Supper Club (Uptown)Melissa Martin's communal Cajun table; one seating, family style. Tock, weeks out.
Day 5 — The institutions
- 8:00Brennan's (Royal St)Breakfast: eggs Hussarde, bananas Foster set alight at the table.
- 11:30Galatoire's (Bourbon St)Friday lunch — the line, the jackets, the soufflé potatoes, the crabmeat maison. Stay until four.
- 5:00Arnaud's French 75 BarThe bar where Chris Hannah made his name; a French 75 in the room it was named for.
- 7:30Antoine'sFourteen dining rooms since 1840; oysters Rockefeller invented here, baked Alaska to finish.
- 10:00Lafitte's Blacksmith ShopCandlelight in the oldest bar in the country, then the walk back down Bourbon.
Gotchas & reminders
Before you go.
The things New Yorkers know and visitors learn the expensive way.
Emeril's, Saint-Germain, Dakar NOLA, Mosquito Supper Club and the Kingsway sell tickets on Tock, often weeks out. Link, Shaya and the new guard run on Resy, 30 days out. Commander's, Galatoire's, Antoine's, Arnaud's and Brennan's are OpenTable — book Galatoire's Friday lunch or join the line on Bourbon Street at 8am.
Galatoire's after five and all day Sunday, Commander's at dinner, Arnaud's and Antoine's at night: jackets for men, no shorts anywhere. Lunch is more relaxed.
Domilise's, Hansen's, Mosca's, Coop's, Verti Marte, the sno-ball stands and most of the Tremé bars are cash-first. Carry $60 on the po'boy day.
St. Charles for Uptown, Canal for Mid-City and the cemeteries, the Riverfront line along the Quarter. $1.25 a ride, exact change or the Le Pass app; it's slow and that's the point.
Crawfish from February to June; oysters best in the cold months; Casamento's closes for summer; king cake only from Twelfth Night to Mardi Gras. Late summer is hot enough that half the city's chefs go on vacation.
Bourbon Street is for one drink and a look. The music is on Frenchmen Street — no cover, one-drink minimums, tip the band — and in the neighborhood bars: Maple Leaf on Tuesdays, Vaughan's and Le Bon Temps on Thursdays, Bullet's on Tuesdays.
Twenty percent is the floor; many rooms add a service charge now, so read the check. You can carry a drink out of any bar in a plastic cup — but not a glass one.
Resy runs the Platinum dining credit; Pêche, Herbsaint, Cochon, Saba, Acamaya and the Compère Lapin family all book through it. Tock and OpenTable rooms don't count.