Restaurants of the French Quarter – Volume 3

New Orleans is often regarded as one of the top culinary cities in the world with millions of visitors flocking to the city and its infamous French Quarter on an annual basis. While the local cajun and creole dishes tend to be what gets the most recognition, the French Quarter has increasingly become a more and more diverse tapestry of cuisines to experience with new culinary stylings appearing within the area yearly. This week, I would like to showcase this plethora of meals to try for anyone visiting New Orleans.  

Galliers

The first restaurant I would like to showcase does offer Cajun cuisine, but it is best known for its selection of oysters. Located one block away from the French Quarter itself, this restaurant can be found within the city’s central business district and those visitors riding the St. Charles streetcar line from Uptown will go right by the restaurant before it reaches its final stop in front of Bourbon Street. Their oyster platter shows a selection of their flavorful oyster options of raw, Rockefeller, char broiled, and creole oysters. The creole oysters were our favorite from the group as they packed a nice combo of flavor and spice in addition to being a more unique flavor that isn't found as commonly as the other options. Their Rockefeller oysters also stood out for their use of fresh layers of spinach and cheese rather than a puree blend that is often found in other restaurants around the area, giving a different flavor profile and texture to a local staple. On top of that, the restaurant’s location allowed us to watch the streetcars go by as we enjoyed our meal, adding a nice local ambiance along with the meal.

Coop’s Place

The next restaurant on the list sticks with Cajun cuisine but is instead known for its fried chicken and local rabbit jambalaya, offering a terrestrial menu rather than Gallier’s more seafood centered options. Coop’s Place is located within the French Quarter itself, near the middle of the neighborhood, a few blocks past the French Market. Much like many of the businesses within the neighborhood, this restaurant was a former residential property that had been repurposed for business during the neighborhood’s history and as a result, offers a very homey environment. While well known among locals, this restaurant’s location a bit further away from the French Quarter’s more popular tourist attractions usually mean that this restaurant is not as packed or busy as the city’s more famous restaurants. This New Orleans culinary staple was first opened in the French Quarter in 1983 and has been a popular place for locals to enjoy lunch or a few drinks at. For my first adventure here, I made sure to try out the Cajun fried chicken with rabbit and sausage jambalaya that Coop’s Place is best known for. It was a very enjoyable meal with the jambalaya in particular packing some great spice. The atmosphere was very laid back and provided a more laid back ambiance and opportunity to escape from the loud and busy place that is prevalent throughout many other sections of the French Quarter.

Domenica

The next restaurant brings us back to the Central Business District, right out of the French Quarter this time we are going to explore a great Italian restaurant that is located within the Roosevelt Hotel. I often talk about this hotel within my Christmas articles of New Orleans as they go through great lengths to create an exceptional Winter Wonderland setting within their hotel lobby. The restaurant’s lobby also includes a fun café to enjoy a coffee and some beignets as well as this amazing Italian restaurant. The restaurant provided great ambiance and service and quickly became one of my favorite Italian restaurants within New Orleans so far. For my first visit, I tried their squid ink pasta with blue crab along with their Margherita pizza. The pizza here was the highlight of the restaurant and had become popular enough that the owner’s opened a second location on Magazine Street in Uptown that purely centered around this pizza. The pizza was created within a wood oven and used the cooking  techniques that reminded me a lot of the pizza I had enjoy on my trip through Rome last year. Whether it’s pizza or their pasta, the restaurant’s choice to create both the pasta and pizza crust in-house from scratch creates a flavorful experience that separates itself from many other pizzerias within the country that rely on pre-prepped ingredients.

Thaihey NOLA

This restaurant is the newest restaurant within on the French Quarter on this list, opening right after the end of the pandemic. Thaihey is in the French Quarter, a few blocks from the Mississippi River on Decatur Street. Rarely crowded, Thaihey offers a diverse menu that features many staple menu items associated with Thailand such as Pad Thai and Curry as well as some less well-known options and a few fusion dishes. This is a great restaurant to visit that adds to the growing diversity of culinary experiences that can be found within the French Quarter. Both the food and service here were top notch. On my first visit to this restaurant, I enjoyed a bowl of shrimp pad Thai, show casing a fusion of traditional pad Thai cooking technique mixed with local Louisiana gulf shrimp. In addition to the Pad Thai, I tried out some thai tea, which offered a complete explosion of taste. Thaihey has one of the largest menus of the restaurants on this list which provides plenty of incentive to revisit the restaurant many more times in the coming years.

Cane and Table

Located right next to Coop’s Place, Cane and Table offer’s visitors a taste of traditional Cuban cuisine within the French Quarter. For my first visit there, I tried out their sweet roasted plantains and their pork ribeye with yucca mash and avocados. All the food here was great, as was the service and ambiance of the restaurant. The mood set by the restaurant’s ambiance was very notable as the dining room was a formerly large residential dining room and all the lights were set at low, creating a rustic homey feeling. This was further accentuated by the home-cooked feel of the food that was prepared here. This hidden gem doesn’t get too much press release but is included within several culinary tours of the French Quarter due to the restaurant’s unique character, history, ambiance, and its status as a unique hidden gem within the city.

Bésame

Located within the Central Business District, one block from the French Quarter; Bésame offer’s a Latin fusion culinary experience for its visitors as it combines the food of several South American countries such as Colombia and Peru; along with a mix of local New Orleans tastes. During our first time trying out this restaurant, we started off with the crispy cauliflower tempura before moving on to their steak mofongo (sautéed beef served in a plantain cake) and churrasco (marinated steak served with potato and a fried egg). All dishes were incredible, and this is a hidden gem restaurant I would recommend for anyone who wants to try something different in New Orleans.

Tableau

The final restaurant I would like to showcase for this article returns to Cajun and Creole cuisine but the location and experience that patrons of this restaurant enjoy allowing it to set itself apart from its competition. What makes this restaurant so memorable is that we were able to get a balcony table overlooking Jackson Square that let us enjoy the views and music of the St. Louis Cathedral in front of us. Jackson Square is always filled with musicians and other street performers and enjoying a meal at Tableau offers an incredible vantage point to see this aspect of New Orleans culture while also enjoying a terrific meal with the show. The food itself is also top notch; during our first meal there, we started off with their blue crab fondue before moving onto their fried oyster salad and shrimp & grits. I recommend anyone visiting New Orleans to get this balcony experience. If the balcony is full, then their outdoor courtyard dining is a great alternative.

This collection of restaurants, as well as the hundreds of other culinary delights within the French Quarter and other neighborhoods of the city are the reasons so many foodies flock to this city each year. They all offer a rich tapestry of food to try in addition to the Cajun and Creole cooking that has exploded in popularity across the country. It is a goal of mine to continue to try as many of the restaurants around the city as I can. But that is a story for another day…