Have a Feast During Restaurant Week New Orleans
Photo courtesy of Antoine’s Restaurant on Facebook
Not that we need any encouragement to eat — and eat well, in this city — but the dining deals don’t start and end with COOLinary. New Orleans is heading into Restaurant Week, with 81 restaurants listed as participants this year.
Between Monday, June 17, and Sunday, June 23, 2024, local restaurants will be dishing out prix fixe lunches, brunches and dinners. Some menus offer two-course meals, others are three-course: typically a choice of an appetizer, a choice of an entree, and a choice of dessert. (Prices are per person and do not include beverages, tax or gratuity.)
Just like COOLinary, which runs for the whole month of August, Restaurant Week is a citywide promotion designed to lure diners, both local and those visiting, to increase patronage at restaurants across the city. As a result, there’s no better time to try out a new restaurant or revisit an old favorite. It’s also a chance to cross an iconic white-tablecloth establishment off your bucket list.
Restaurant Week New Orleans is sponsored by the Louisiana Restaurant Association’s Greater New Orleans Chapter and New Orleans & Company. And, just like COOLinary, its popularity is steady. Participating restaurants are spread all over the city, including the Marigny, Tremé, CBD, Uptown, Mid-City, the French Quarter, and Metairie, and run the gamut from iconic fine dining to neighborhood bistros.
This includes the famous Commander’s Palace, Galatoire’s, Muriel’s Jackson Square, Tujague’s, and Restaurant R’evolution. Some more casual participants include Katie’s Restaurant & Bar and Boswell’s Jamaican Grill in Mid-City, and Mother’s Restaurant and Will Jean in CBD.
Mouth-watering concoctions on the menus across the city this June include the French Quarter’s grand dames and longtime COOLinary and Restaurant Week participants Antoine’s and Arnaud’s. Sampling their sophisticated French Creole prix fixe menus would be a gift to a visitor or a local alike.
Antoine’s, being in business for close to 200 years, knows how to do oysters — raw, charbroiled, Bienville, Rockefeller, or Thermidor — serving them alongside such local classics as soft shell crab. Antoine’s Restaurant Week weekend two-course brunch will set you back $40, and the weekday three-course lunch is only $25. Both feature several bottomless drink options like mimosas for an additional price.
There are many highlights to choose from the high-end, iconic local establishments like Galatoire’s ($45 lunch and $59 dinner), Cafe Degas ($25 two-course lunch, or three-course each $35 brunch and $42 dinner), Ralph’s on the Park ($25 two-course lunch and $55 three-course dinner), and Restaurant R’evolution ($75 dinner).
For more casual fare, try the $30 lunch at Pizza Domenica or Willa Jean. Also, Lucy’s Retired Surfers Bar & Restaurant‘s three-course meal is only $23.95. You can view all Restaurant Week menus and make reservations on the event’s website.
So, visit your old favorites, discover new ones — and enjoy some of the best, most refined cuisine this city has to offer — at a bargain price! Bon appetit!
Find a great French Quarter hotel and book your stay for Restaurant Week at www.frenchquarter.com/hotels/.
