3 Best Restaurants in New Orleans, Louisiana

Chef-owned restaurants are common in New Orleans, but this one builds on owner Donald Link's family heritage as he, working with co-owner Stephen Stryjewski (who received a James Beard Award for his work here), prepares Cajun dishes he learned to cook at his grandfather's knee. The interior may be a bit too hip and noisy for some patrons, but the food makes up for it. The fried boudin with pickled peppers is a must—trust us on this one—then move on to the rabbit and dumplings, and a hearty Louisiana cochon (pork) with turnips, cracklings, and cabbage. Despite the pork-centric reputation, all the vegetable sides, especially the braised collard greens, are excellent.

Bon Ton's opening in 1953 marked the first appearance of a significant Cajun restaurant in New Orleans, and the now-famed crawfish dishes, gumbo, jambalaya, and oyster omelet continue to draw fans. The bustle in the dining room peaks at lunchtime on weekdays, when businesspeople from nearby offices come in droves for turtle soup, eggplant with a shrimp-and-crab étouffée, and warm, sugary bread pudding with whiskey sauce (it packs a serious punch). If you can sacrifice the afternoon for pleasure, try a Rum Ramsey cocktail. The veteran servers are knowledgeable and fleet-footed.

As the restaurant's name might hint, on the menu here you'll find meat, meat, and more meat, from foie gras and charcuterie to a lamb neck with black-eyed-pea salad and tri-tip steak with Bordelaise sauce (even the grilled veggies come with a bacon vinaigrette). Chef Isaac Toups, a Top Chef contestant and crowd favorite, is hardly the only young American chef obsessed with animal flesh, but at this intimate spot with DIY elegance, he adds a Louisiana edge with items like boudin, cracklings, or sides of dirty rice. And not everything coming out of the kitchen is meat: they make their own pickles. A second location (Toup's South), with a more modern ambience but the same quality Louisiana cooking, has opened in the Southern Food and Beverage Museum (1504 Oretha Castle Blvd., Central City).