Harahan

Harahan and River Ridge have a restaurant community all of a sudden. It was a long time coming, after decades of having fewer places to eat out than you have fingers on a hand, and the nearest restaurants rather far away. Some of the new Harahan-River Ridge places are actually innovative, perhaps even unique. At the same time, the nature of the town is that it's a great place to raise children. The new Harahan restaurants catered to that clientele with what seem like straightforward local dishes, but which often turn out to be quite original.

Covington

Mandeville

For at least two generations of New Orleanians, the joys of restaurant dining were introduced in restaurants a lot like Mandina's. Or at Mandina's itself. Until the gourmet bistro era began in the 1980s, restaurants like this were in every New Orleans neighborhood. By then Mandina's had become not only a rarity but seemed to be every Orleanian's idea of what a neighborhood restaurant should be. Then Katrina came though and reminded us how important restaurants like this are to our cherished dining practices. The North Shore franchise of Mandina's doesn't have the pulse of the original, but it comes close to duplicating the food.