Number Four
Drago's
Seafood.
CBD: 2 Poydras. 504-584-3911. Map.
Metairie: 3232 N Arnoult Rd, 504-888-9254. Map.
Lunch and dinner all day seven days, except Metairie closed SU
Casual
AE DC DS MC V
Website
Drago's permanent place in the annals of New Orleans cuisine is assured. Its char-broiled oysters are so exciting that the idea has been imitated in dozens of other restaurants. That achievement is already in a league with Manale's barbecue shrimp, K-Paul's blackened fish, and Antoine's oysters Rockefeller. Beyond its oyster grill, Drago's is a classic New Orleans seafood restaurant, nudge upscale just a touch. Beyond fried seafood platters and gumbo, it's the city's leading lobster restaurant. New dishes enter the menu regularly, and both locations remain very busy.
The oysters, raw or grilled, are reason enough to come here. They come from premium Louisiana sources and are hard to beat. Those who like lobster find very fresh ones here; they sell so many that none of the crustaceans hang around long enough to lose their fat. The rest of the menu starts where most casual seafood restaurants stop. Fried seafood platters are a footnote to a menu that offers many other delicious opportunities.
Drago Cvitanovich and his wife Klara--both of whom are still active in the restaurant--are Croatian immigrants who worked in the local seafood business for years before opening their own restaurant in the 1970s. One of the first businesses in Fat City, it was always good, but never was especially busy. Their son Tommy came along with some fresh ideas, and seemingly overnight Drago's became one of the busiest restaurants in town. Their second location, in the Riverfront Hilton, is the top-grossing restaurant in the entire Hilton chain in America.
BEST SEAFOOD DISHES
Crabmeat au gratin dip
Spinach dip
»Shrimp fondue
»Fleur de lis shrimp (peanuts, red pepper aioli)
»Shrimp Ruth (on parmesan-crusted tomatoes)Crab cake
Crabmeat and shrimp cake with crabmeat au gratin
Crab claws
Fried squid
»Mama Ruth’s seafood gumbo
»Shrimp and corn bisque
»Raw oysters on the half shell
»Oyster brochette
»Oysters acadiana Tasso cream sauce)
»»Drago’s original charbroiled oysters
Shrimp chopped salad
Lobster salad
»Crabmeat Mediterranean salad
Grilled shrimp salad
»Seared tuna and avocado salad
»Bbq drumfish, crabmeat and shrimp dressing
»Catch of the day, seafood sauce
Shrimp and eggplant stack
»Crescent city shrimp (like barbecue shrimp)
Grilled shrimp pasta
Seafood pasta (shrimp and crabmeat)
»Charbroiled mussels
»Herradura shrimp (oysters, tequila, grilled portobellas)
»Shrimp and grits with tasso
Shrimp and pasta florentine
»Oyster pasta
»Maine lobster
»Lobster Marco (stuffed with shrimp, mushrooms, cream sauce)
»Charbroiled Maine lobster
»Lobster Empire (oysters and mushrooms)
»Fried seafood platters
For a more detailed review of this restaurant, click here. To see the entire seafood Restaurant countdown so far, click here.
