15 Best New Restaurants in New Orleans for 2024
With hundreds of restaurants in the French Quarter alone, you might not think there’s room for new restaurants in New Orleans. But, alas, the lingering effects of the pandemic continue and sadly many eateries have closed over the past few years. The loss of iconic establishments like K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen, neighborhood hotspots like Meauxbar and once-successful chains like Semolina sent shock waves through a community that identifies with its local food like no other city.
But as is the cycle of life, sometimes something must die in order for new life to be born. And New Orleans is a city that knows what it means to be reborn. A new generation of Big Easy restaurants is slowly but steadily building momentum in and around the Crescent City, and many are also breathing new life into the spaces they occupy. After all, eating is one of the best things to do in New Orleans.
So where are the newest restaurants in New Orleans that are already open? And what’s on the horizon? The most exciting thing about new restaurants in New Orleans is the diversity of the cuisine that they’ll be serving. Be prepared to see less Cajun and more curry, less po' boy and more pork belly. But don’t worry, there’s still plenty of gumbo to go around.
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Find the Best Restaurants in New Orleans
If you’ve visited New Orleans a hundred times, you probably have your go-to favorites when it comes to restaurants. But what happens when you discover that some of your stand-bys have gone bye-bye? You get the opportunity to discover the best new restaurants in New Orleans instead!
Get a fresh perspective on the dining options with food tours in New Orleans. The city may be steeped in history, but that doesn’t mean the food has to be. New Orleans restaurant openings are happening all around the city, so open your mind and your mouth to something new.
Top 15 New Restaurants in New Orleans
1. Namaste Nola
The increasing Indian population in Louisiana means many of the best new restaurants in New Orleans are serving curry instead of crawfish. Namaste Nola is a new restaurant in New Orleans that has got all the essentials covered: dal, biryani, tandoori and masala. Namaste NOLA is also a great destination for a date with your favorite vegetarian.
The Vibe
You’re going to be obsessed with this new restaurant in New Orleans as soon as you walk in. The vibrancy of the bright and colorful décor instantly puts you in a better mood, as if the promise of fresh naan and palak paneer wasn’t enough to lift your spirits. This new Indian restaurant in New Orleans is clean and modern, and a far cry from your beloved but dark Indian buffet in the local strip mall.
What to Order
Go ahead and order a couple of your must-haves. But don’t miss the chance to try something different because this new restaurant in New Orleans specializes in Southern Indian cuisine. Their sukha menu includes a blackened goat with coconut and stuffed eggplant. Cheese lovers will want to indulge in the richness of the navrathan korma, which features vegetables and Indian cottage cheese in a cashew and coconut-based curry sauce. Gulab jamun for the finish.
Namaste Nola | 201 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA 70112 | $$
2. Emeril’s
One of the most anticipated New Orleans restaurant openings this year was the re-opening of Emeril’s. Chef Emeril Lagasse, while not a native New Orleanian, is about as iconic and old-school N’awlins as it gets when it comes to classic New Orleans cuisine. But now it’s time for a new generation of food that shouts BAM! After a three-month closure for extensive renovations, Emeril’s twenty-year-old son, E.J. Lagasse, takes over as captain of the ship.
The Vibe
Emeril Lagasse is known for his bold personality, yet his dining is always fine. E.J. Lagasse is taking that tradition a step further at his new restaurant in New Orleans by reducing the number of tables for a more intimate dining experience. A glass wall was also constructed so that guests can still see the hustle and bustle in the kitchen, but they don’t have to listen to it. The dress code is definitely formal and reservations are a must.
What to Order
Don’t let his age fool you. E.J. has trained in multiple Michelin-starred restaurants around the world, so this is not a case of a spoiled celebrity kid getting set up by daddy. Emeril’s new restaurant in New Orleans will feature two different tasting menus.
The first pays homage to Emeril’s most beloved dishes like smoked salmon cheesecake with caviar, barbecued Maine lobster gumbo and oyster stew. The second option features dishes with much more modern preparations like farm quail with risotto, Georgia rabbit with Grand Isle shrimp, and scorpion fish with corn and collard greens. Going with a date and ordering one of each is definitely one of the best things to do in New Orleans.
Emeril’s | 800 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130 | $$$$
3. Tana
There’s good news for cult followers of Michael Gulotta’s Maypop. His next restaurant, Tana, is another new restaurant in New Orleans that opens this month in Old Metairie. Tana will feature Italian cuisine (though knowing Gulotta it will almost certainly be a more exotic fusion menu than your standard chicken Parmesan and meatball joint). This is one of the most anticipated new restaurants in New Orleans this year, and the opening is so close you can almost taste it.
The Vibe
Tana will be an upscale Italian restaurant with both table and bar seating. Sneak peaks of bright blue walls, painted mosaic tile and red velvet booths can be seen on some of the Facebook and Instagram images for this new restaurant in New Orleans.
What to Order
Maypop regulars got a sneak peek at the dishes planned for this new restaurant in New Orleans during a two-week preview event at the flagship restaurant. Reviewers were raving about the cheesy focaccia with a muffaletta filling, tagliatelle with clams and hot sausage, plus both chicken and veal Parmesan options. With dishes like that, Tana may turn out to be the best new restaurant in New Orleans this year.
Tana | 2919 Metairie Road, Metairie, LA 70001 | $$$
4. Osteria Lupo
Historically, New Orleans tends to have a smaller percentage of Italian restaurants compared to other major cities. But what they lack in numbers, they make up for in quality. Staples like Italian Barrel and Irene’s deliver the classics, but new restaurants in New Orleans are more modern and lean either Northern or regional in their menus.
Osteria Lupo is the latest new restaurant in New Orleans to feature Italian food. Chef partners Brian Burns and Reno De Ranieiri (Costera) are channeling the flavors of Liguria and Northern Italy for your dining pleasure on Magazine Street.
The Vibe
This new restaurant in New Orleans is classy and trendy. It looks like you would want your own kitchen and dining room to look. The mosaic-tiled wood-fired oven will speak to you. The best food in New Orleans needs the vibe to match, and Osteria Lupo is dressed to impress.
What to Order
The menu will rotate seasonally, as you’d expect. Start with a nod to a traditional NOLA favorite with their garlic and rosemary wood-fired oysters. The seared scallops with spring vegetable panzanella is a fresh take on your favorite mollusk.
The radiatori (the adorable pasta that your mom used for summer picnic salads) with Louisiana blue crab and Parmesan is another way to savor local flavor. The grilled lamb rack and grilled hanger steak at this new restaurant in New Orleans are not only photogenic but also delicious.
Osteria Lupo | 4609 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70115 | $$$
5. Pigeon and Whale
Tired of the standard fish choices that come from warm Gulf waters? Longing for some cold water catch? Head down to Pigeon and Whale, a new restaurant in New Orleans and a true departure from the typical Southern seafood spot. This newcomer to Uptown serves “cocktails, oysters and polite provisions” that can cure the homesick New England raw oyster enthusiast as well as the California caviar snob.
The Vibe
The inside of Pigeon and Whale feels more like the dining room of an upscale cruise ship than a new restaurant in New Orleans, complete with plenty of navy blue and wood accents and a few portholes. The tilework behind the bar is a gorgeous nod to fish scaling. You’ll even find gold mermaids and octopuses hiding around every corner. The décor of this new restaurant in New Orleans is classy but playful.
What to Order
The “opportunities” menu includes a traditional New England lobster roll on a toasted split top bun, though purists may balk at the use of tarragon and the fact that the side of Old Bay fries are steak fries and not shoestrings. Your best bet here is to go raw or go home.
You’ll also want to take advantage of the adorable dessert “bathtub dreams,” a chocolate mousse with hazelnut ganache topped with charred marshmallows and a whale’s tail shortbread cookie. This is currently the best new restaurant in New Orleans for Instagrammable desserts.
Pigeon and Whale | 4525 Freret St., New Orleans, LA 70115 | $$
6. Beggars Banquet
Food tastes better at restaurants that start with great stories. Beggars Banquet is a new restaurant in New Orleans operated by the Dilonno family, who have roots in Philadelphia and New Jersey. As the story goes, Chef Mike Dilonno agreed to buy a failing New Jersey soda shop (called Beggars Banquet) for $500 when he was 19.
He didn’t actually have the $500, so he ended up trading a drum set for what would become his first of six successful restaurant ventures. He’s also got a win on “Chopped.” This new restaurant in New Orleans’s LGD serves lunch, weekend brunch and dinner and now includes Chef Mike’s daughter, Kat, at the helm.
The Vibe
The vibe is laid back and comfortable but casual, with dark wood and mauve velvet accents. Not fancy but very friendly. Diners say that they like Beggars Banquet because it isn’t too loud, so this new restaurant in New Orleans is a great place to catch up with a friend.
What to Order
The menu at this new restaurant in New Orleans is roughly the same between lunch and dinner, so you can take advantage of the firecracker calamari regardless of the time you visit. The fried green tomatoes with burrata are also a good starter, especially if you pair it with the slow-braised jerk seasoned pork belly.
Duck confit seems to be the go-to for dinner entrées. Brunch items like grilled banana bread with maple butter, French toast with ricotta and fresh peaches and the “Get Shorty” short rib Benny will make you look forward to Sunday mornings at this new restaurant in New Orleans.
Beggars Banquet | 1330 Prytania St., New Orleans, LA 70130 | $$
7. Dakar NOLA
One of the best new restaurants in New Orleans this year is Dakar NOLA. The Magazine Street venue was one of only two New Orleans restaurant openings featured on Esquire’s "Best New Restaurants in America" list. Chef Serigne Mbaye invites his diners to explore the fusion of New Orleans seafood and the West African flavors that he learned while cooking “at his mother’s knees” in his native Senegal.
The Vibe
This intimate tasting menu experience is served in the front portion of a shotgun house, making it cozy and one of the best date ideas in New Orleans. It’s not super formal, but you’ll want to put on something other than jeans for sure at this new restaurant in New Orleans.
What to Order
The tasting menu at this new restaurant in New Orleans changes nightly. Examples of dishes include a fonio salad (a West African grain like millet) with citrus, beet, smoked trout roe and lemon vinaigrette, black-eyed pea fritters with creole tomato sauce or a Gulf fish a la Sengalaise served with heirloom carrots and a domoda sauce (a rich sauce made from ground peanuts).
Dakar NOLA | 3814 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70115 | $$$
8. Hungry Eyes
It’s the soundtrack to one of your all-time favorite movies, and now it’s a place you can satisfy your nostalgic hunger. Hungry Eyes, located just steps from iconic Shaya on Magazine Street, is a new restaurant in New Orleans from the team who brought Turkey and the Wolf to life a few years ago. It’s a full-service restaurant but translates more like an upscale cure for the munchies.
The Vibe
This new restaurant in New Orleans is not much to look at on the outside, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts, right? Hungry Eyes is a cool casual dining space that feels almost like you’ve walked into a 1980s vintage home goods shop. It’s a little cheesy, just like the decade it evokes, which means it’s just perfect!
What to Order
The menu items at this new restaurant in New Orleans will shift, but you’re guaranteed to find something craveable. Soon-to-be cult favorites are the smoked eggplant dip, the roasted artichokes on the half shell (a baked, stuffed artichoke served up by the half dozen in ceramic oyster shell dishes) and the prime hanger steak that is literally covered in baked blue cheese.
Hungry Eyes knows you’re going to be thirsty too; their house cocktail menu is a lot fancier than you might expect at a place that delivers more of a guilty-pleasure comfort food than trendy Instagrammable plates. Their happy hour and Winemania Sunday deals are a great way to enjoy New Orleans drinks without breaking the bank.
Hungry Eyes | 4206 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70115 | $$
9. Lufu Nola
What started as a periodic pop-up in one of the city’s popular food halls has now become a full-service new restaurant in New Orleans. Lufu Nola (Let Us Feed U) specializes in modern South Indian cuisine but also includes a curated cocktail menu, which is unusual for an Indian restaurant.
The Vibe
Lufu Nola adopts the locally recognizable black and gold theme with black-painted brick walls and ceilings adorned with gold-accented mirrors and statement artichoke-shaped light fixtures. There are also Bollywood-vibed murals throughout, which give this new restaurant in New Orleans a fun flair. They are open for both lunch and dinner.
What to Order
For lunch, you can choose from a variety of naanwiches or chaats (a catch-all term for Indian street food). If you go to this new restaurant in New Orleans for dinner, you’re probably going to have to do some covert Googling to translate the menu.
Don’t miss out on unfamiliar dishes like laal mas (stewed goat with chilis and mustard oil), aritakula chapa (whole fish cooked with tamarind and curry leaf) or paneer bhurji (scrambled paneer cheese). If you don’t want to work that hard to pick a dish at this new restaurant in New Orleans, there are familiar tandoori and dal dishes too.
Lufu Nola | 301 St Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130 | $$
10. Sun Chong
For those who are familiar with the French Quarter, you may be surprised on your next visit to notice a distinct Asian flair that has begun to permeate the historically Cajun Creole neighborhood. Sun Chong is a stylish new restaurant in New Orleans, the third from Larry Morrow of Morrow’s and Monday Restaurant. Named after his beloved grandmother who also runs the kitchen, Sun Chong serves up Korean-inspired dishes.
The Vibe
Other than perhaps intuiting this from the name, nothing about the outside of this new restaurant in New Orleans’s French Quarter would lead you to believe it’s Korean. Once inside, though, you’ll find a clean, casual but modern space with light wood walls, floral accents and just enough Asian touches to set the tone.
What to Order
In addition to must-haves like crab rangoon dip, kimchi dumplings and either a shrimp or pork bao, you can keep the local vibe alive by ordering the bulgogi or crawfish po' boy at this new restaurant in New Orleans.
Sun Chong | 240 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA 70130 | $$
11. Mister Oso
A popular Denver brand is now a new restaurant in New Orleans’s CBD. Mister Oso, a food-forward taco spot, is a departure from the typical Mexican cantina, having earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand earlier this year.
The Vibe
The name of this new restaurant in New Orleans also defies the vibe. Mister Oso’s dining space looks more Tommy Bahama than Jose Cuervo, with a definitively tropical theme. There’s just enough neon to make it lively. Jeans are perfectly acceptable.
What to Order
The food at Mister Oso is a refined version of your trusted taco. Most are served “deconstructed,” meaning that the components arrive next to your tortilla so you can build it the way you like it.
Start with an agua chile verde for palate cleansing purposes. The quesabirria tacos with Muenster and Jack cheese are listed first on the taco menu for a reason. Pair that with the cauliflower al pastor, which includes charred pineapple and avocado salsa, to round out your meal at this new restaurant in New Orleans.
Mister Oso | 601 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130 | $$
12. Gaia Steakhouse
Steak lovers rejoice! Gaia Steakhouse is a new restaurant in New Orleans’ Lower Garden District (LGD) that promises over-the-top Flintstone-sized cuts of beef. Just watch out for the prices that come with them. This new restaurant in New Orleans also wants you to jump straight from savory to sweet. They hope to impress you with their “out of the box” pastry program.
The Vibe
Dark and broody but fancy. Exactly what a steakhouse should be. You’ll be mesmerized by the massive cuts of beef behind glass panels that are used as part of the décor at this new restaurant in New Orleans.
What to Order
While there are a few non-beef options on the menu, isn’t beef what you came for? Start with the steak tartare served with a quail egg, caviar, shallots and capers. Consider an indulgent but palate-cleansing burrata salad as an intermezzo at this new restaurant in New Orleans.
From there, it’s a matter of what you’re willing to spend. The ultimate splurge is the Japanese A5 wagyu tenderloin priced at almost $300, and that’s before you upgrade to the 14-karat gold leaf topping.
Gaia Steakhouse | 1820 St Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70130 | $$$$
13. Plates
One of the best neighborhoods for new restaurants in New Orleans is the Warehouse District, which sits just outside the CBD and French Quarter (a short Uber ride for tourists). Plates recently took over the space formerly occupied by Sac a Lait and serves up an incredibly diverse tapas-style menu.
Looking for a new restaurant in New Orleans that isn’t straightforward in its cuisine? Plates offers dishes with influences from Vietnam, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Middle East, so you can have your patatas bravas as a starter for your coq a vin before finishing with a Basque cheesecake.
The Vibe
As you might expect, this Warehouse District space is rustic with exposed brick walls and wood beams. Friday night casual is the outfit of the day for this new restaurant in New Orleans.
What to Order
“After the Boil” is a very local dish made from Gulf shrimp that have been poached with Cajun boil spices. It’s paired with German potato salad. For the foodies, start with the carrot and goat cheese pasta followed by duck confit and a Spanish almond cake with hibiscus and honey ice cream. The family-style meal is a great way to try several different entrées if you can’t make a decision.
Plates | 1051 Annunciation St., New Orleans, LA 70130 | $$$
14. Chapter IV
One of the most iconic restaurants in New Orleans is Dooky Chase, which has been in business since 1941. Now there’s a new restaurant in New Orleans from the same family. Edgar “Dook” Chase (grandson of Leah Chase) has opened Chapter IV, a Creole breakfast and lunch spot Downtown.
The Vibe
Chapter IV is designed to showcase African-American art in addition to Creole cuisine, so the space is clean and crisp with white walls and minimalist furniture. This new restaurant in New Orleans is fast casual as you’d expect for a Downtown eatery that caters to the daytime crowd.
What to Order
You’ll have plenty of opportunity to get your fried on at Chapter IV, so start with the sweet chili wings and ribs or some barbecue shrimp (in case you aren’t familiar with barbecue shrimp in NOLA, they aren’t actually barbecued but simmered in a buttery Worcestershire sauce and are absolutely delicious). From there, it’s the diner’s choice of fried this or that with grits followed by decadent desserts.
Chapter IV | 1301 Gravier St., New Orleans, LA 70112 | $$
15. Garrison Kitchen & Cocktails
While outside dining weather is hit or miss in New Orleans, it’s good to know where to go when the opportunity arises. Garrison Kitchen & Cocktails is a new restaurant in New Orleans’ suburban neighborhood of Metairie.
The Vibe
Garrison’s offers outdoor private gazebo dining when weather permits, but otherwise, they have plenty of space for you in their hundred-year-old cottage. It’s a neighborhood place, so the dress code isn’t strict.
What to Order
Shrimp toast is a classic New Orleans starter. Redfish with a peanut and poblano romesco puts a new spin on the local catch. Not in the mood for Southern cooking? Get the homemade bratwurst with salt pork and apple braised cabbage or scarlet rice with duck confit.
Garrison’s Kitchen & Cocktails | 2918 Metairie Rd., Metairie, LA 70001 | $$
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New Orleans is a city where you'll never go hungry. It offers foodies an incredibly diverse selection of options; you can literally lose hours menu shopping before you commit to sit. Luckily, there are dozens of iconic classics to depend on, plus exciting new restaurants in New Orleans to tempt your taste buds.
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