New Orleans East

French Quarter

In 1979, the Brennans revolutionized the the New Orleans dining scene around by opening Mr. B'sthis, the archetype of the casual, contemporary Creole bistro. Now restaurants like Mr. B's dominate the scene. Its kitchen creates innovative and excellent Creole dishes from top-rung fresh ingredients, but serves them in an easy, informal way. Hickory-grilled fish, now common, was pioneered here; so was pasta as a non-Italian main course. Although a scan of the menu suggests that red meats are the main specialty, the seafood dishes are almost without exception the best versions anywhere of numerous contemporary Creole classic dishes.

Warehouse District & Center City

New Orleans differs from most other great restaurant cities in that its menus are dominated by seafood. Even in grand old restaurants in which beef and lamb are prime, it's the allure of the fish and shellfish that sets them apart. ¶ Part of this can be explained by the difficulty of buying good seafood. Although that's easier here than in most places, it still requires spending lots of time on the phone tracking down the good stuff. ¶ With a long history of great food and service and a chef who came from Galatoire's, Tommy's seafood side is very strong. You could eat here ten times without ever leaving the fish, oysters, shrimp, crawfish, soft-shells, and especially the crabmeat.