Eater Nola’s Top Posts of 2016

As 2016 comes to a close, let’s take a look back at some of the best posts of the year. There were openings galore, some controversial stories involving alleged discrimination and also a crooked New Orleans restaurateur . Guess New Orleans knows its priorities.

In terms of maps, the popular content included destinations for all of your favorite dining occasions, including where to eat crawfish, where to dine outdoors, along with iconic New Orleans restaurants and the Eater 38 and dining Heatmap. Helpful guides for airport dining and anticipated openings were also pretty big with readers this year.

Here now, Eater Nola has pulled aside some of the top posts for you to peruse over the holidays. Some of these maps and guides will continue to serve you well in the coming days, especially if you have family and friends in town.

Did you have a favorite dining moment this year? Send Eater a tip and let us know.

The Brunch Heatmap

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The often updated Brunch Heatmap boasts the new brunches that everybody's talking about. Newest spots on the map: Seaworthy, Toups South and Rosedale.

Happy Hour Heatmap

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There are a ton of new spots out there doing happy hour, and this map keeps you up to date on the newest of the bunch including Cavan, Part & Parcel and Vessel.

#closedforessence

Photo by Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for 2016 Essence Festival

A surprising number of restaurants closed for July 4, but with Essence Fest taking place over the same weekend, many people took to social media to call out particular restaurants who they believed were #closedforessence and thus discriminating against African Americans.

Bayou Wine Garden Opening

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The team behind beloved Mid City hangout Bayou Beer Garden made a big splash in early 2016 with a cool new wine bar and courtyard, which features wines on tap inside and outside, small plates, and a great oyster happy hour.

Nola’s Best King Cakes

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Seeing as Carnival kicks off in just a few weeks, you might want to peruse this extensive list of New Orleans’ top king cake bakeries. On the map, you’ll find traditional brioche king cake, Galettes des rois, and even some crazy stuffed variations (boudin and bacon filling, ya heard?).

Anticipated Openings, Fall 2016

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What a fall it was. New Orleans ushered in numerous big name openings including Meril, Toups South and Rosedale. Some anticipated new spots including microdistillery/restaurant Lula and coffee shop/bakery Station 6 are still on the way in early 2017.

Nola Chefs’ Favorite Breakfasts

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In honor of Breakfast Week (back in February), some of New Orleans best chefs shared their favorite breakfasts with Eater Nola. Alon Shaya totally loves the salmon toast with capers at Pagoda Cafe and pastry chef Lisa White hits up Horn’s for legit breakfast cocktails.

Essential Breakfasts

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Speaking of breakfast... well, honestly, New Orleans is just a town that has an incredible amount of a.m. dining hotspots. These 18 restaurants, including Elizabeth’s, Surrey’s and Slim Goodies are the city’s breakfast essentials.

Anticipated Food Fests

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New Orleans loves a great food festival. From Hogs For The Cause to Greek Fest, these ten festivals that will be rocking your 2017 schedule as well.

Crooked Restaurateur Jason Doyle Sentenced To Prison

From 2011 to 2014, Huey’s 23/7 and franchise mogul Jason Doyle racked up multiple seven-figure judgments across with over $15 million owed to people in 9 states, and faced felony charges in NC for worthless check writing. In February, he was sentenced by a federal judge to 30 months in prison for wire fraud and failure to pay taxes, and must pay $993,960.34 in restitution to victims.