Best Food on Bourbon Street
Photo courtesey of Galatoire’s 33 Bar & Steak on Facebook
The 13-block strip of Bourbon Street is not all neon hustle and gigantic drinks in souvenir cups. It’s actually home to some of the most vibrant restaurants in the city — high and low, round-the-clock, world-famous — and just interesting. Here’s a quick rundown of the best food you could find on this most-visited street in the French Quarter, starting with Upper Bourbon on Canal Street and walking towards Esplanade Avenue.
Red Fish Grill 115 Bourbon Street
Ralph Brennan’s Red Fish Grill has been around for more than 20 years, offering a child-friendly respite in the middle of the Bourbon Street chaos. It’s known for its seafood-heavy menu and good happy hour deals on the drinks and the oysters. Try some of the signature dishes like BBQ oysters and double-chocolate bread pudding.
Bourbon House 144 Bourbon Street
An old-school seafood restaurant run by the Brennan family with a raw oyster bar and Creole fare like blackened Gulf fish and bourbon shrimp and grits. Bourbon House also lives up to its name with a selection of small-batch and single-barrel bourbons.
Galatoire’s 209 Bourbon Street
Galatoire’s should be on everyone’s New Orleans bucket list, and it’s likely to deliver a day-long eating and drinking extravaganza you won’t soon forget. Founded in 1905, the restaurant has become a fine dining institution beloved by the generations of New Orleanians. The decadent classics like crawfish maison, duck crepes, foie gras, and turtle soup have been served there for over a century. Jackets required.
Olde Nola Cookery 205 Bourbon Street
Colorful and friendly, this Bourbon Street spot is no tourist trap as its menu is full of reliably local, traditional Cajun and Creole fare like BBQ shrimp, gator tail bites, po-boys, gumbo, seafood platters, and more. A Taster of New Orleans sampler will get you gumbo, crawfish etouffee, and red beans and rice with smoked sausage. Two big advantages the restaurant got going is that it’s open till 1 a.m. nightly and has a balcony.
Galatoire’s 33 Bar & Steak 215 Bourbon Street
Galatoire’s added a steakhouse to its family of restaurants in 2013, right next door to the original. Galatoire’s 33 is named after a post marker found inside the historic building during the renovation. It serves traditional steakhouse fare.
Desire Oyster Bar 300 Bourbon Street
The elegant hotel restaurant has a Broadway-style marquis sign, huge windows, a tin ceiling, and black-and-white checkered floors. Besides oysters, the menu emphasizes Gulf seafood and features New Orleans favorites like gumbo, po-boys, biscuits and gravy, shrimp remoulade, and more.
Crescent City Pizza Works 407 Bourbon Street
A late-night pizzeria at Conti Street, with pies that have telling names like the Big Cheesy and Chicken Bacon Krunch. The BBQ pork pizza will chase your hangover away with pulled pork, two types of cheese, and a generous serving of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. The ever-popular Chizzaburger combines Angus beef, onions, mozzarella, pickles, ketchup, and mustard. The place is open till 2 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays and till 3 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Pier 424 Seafood Market Restaurant 424 Bourbon Street
A seafood-focused casual eatery with balcony dining and a large oyster bar. Try the sauteed crab claws or bayou frog legs (battered and served with buffalo sauce), or an alligator po-boy. The Taste of New Orleans platter is a local feast of crawfish etouffee, red beans and rice, chicken and Andouille jambalaya, and gumbo with chicken and Andouille (you can pick three out of four, or go for all four).
Le Bayou Restaurant & Oyster Bar 503 Bourbon Street
You might like this place for its high ceilings, marble-topped bar, and balcony seating. Housed in a historic building, Le Bayou serves casual Creole and Cajun staples like oysters, gumbo, Gulf seafood, and all kinds of traditional specialties. Open till 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Cornet 700 Bourbon Street
Cornet, on the corner of St. Peter and Bourbon, serves traditional Cajun and Creole dishes like shrimp Creole, fried gator, po-boys, seafood platters, pastas, and staples like crawfish etouffee. Try the Satchmo sampler, a local trifecta of gumbo, jambalaya, and red beans. Balcony seating is available – a big draw if you want to people-watch.
Clover Grill 900 Bourbon Street
A retro-classic, 24-hour diner in a city that sorely lacks them, Clover Grill “loves to fry and it shows” (as the menu states). The food is a reliable greasy-spoon fare, but you’ll be coming in at 4 a.m. as much for the scrambled eggs as the vibrant mix of its French Quarter crowd. The restaurant’s interesting existence is reflected in its no-nonsense menu, which is peppered with requests like: “We don’t eat in your bed, so please don’t sleep at our table” and “Dancing in the aisles only, please keep off the tables.”
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