Harahan

The fact that the parking lot is surfaced with oyster shells should tell you something. It's the first of many impressions that this is an old-style, close-to-the-water combination seafood market and cafe. It's like the joints and the people you see after driving a hundred miles into the Louisiana wetlands, except that it's in Harahan, which is only slightly remote from the city. All the freshness and sense of place that this implies are indeed borne out in the cooking.

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.

French Quarter