Vote For New Orleans’ Biggest Comeback of the Year

Welcome to day five (the final day) of the 8th annual Eater Awards, honoring the most esteemed restaurants, bars, chefs, and more in cities across the world. Here’s how the Eater Awards work: All 24 Eater cities and the national site will award prizes in multiple categories, including but not limited to Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, and Design of the Year. Eater NOLA is also awarding prizes for Bar of the Year and Biggest Comeback of the Year. In each category, editors will choose an editor’s choice winner and readers will vote for a reader’s choice winner — all to be announced on December 5, 2017. Editor’s choice winners will receive an illustrious tomato can trophy, as is the tradition around here. Eater will also further the fanfare, running a splashy feature about every editor’s choice winner throughout the course of the coming year.

This year has been a big year for restaurant, chef, and product comebacks. Two restaurants made their long-awaited (in the sense that some thought it would never come), post-Katrina comebacks. Gabrielle had a few misses over the 12 years as it struggled to fine a new permanent home. This year, it finally happened. Another post-Katrina comeback — Dunbar’s, which moonlighted at the Loyola University cafeteria for a while — finally returned to a brick-and-mortar spot we can all enjoy. Both restaurants even returned with their original chefs — Greg Sonnier as chef and owner at Gabrielle and Frank Jones at Dunbar’s.

Meanwhile, Ted Brennan’s Decatur opened after a rocky road. From part of the Brennan’s family that lost Brennan’s (renovated and re-opened under Ralph Brennan Restaurant Group), Ted Brennan planned to make a comeback with Ted Brennan’s Decatur in early 2015. He died before the project was completed. At long last, Ted Brennan’s Decatur swung open its doors this year with scents of oysters Rockefeller and warm French bread filling the air. Lazone Randolph, who helmed the kitchen when that side of the Brennan’s family helmed Brennan’s, returned as the chef.

Meanwhile, The Country Club in the Bywater was closed for a year before staging a comeback this year, complete with a renovation, a ban on the infamous nude swimming, and Commander’s Palace alum Chris Barbato in charge of the kitchen.

Lastly, Dixie Beer made a big comeback -- with Tom Benson taking ownership, reviving the original recipe, expanding distribution, and returning production to New Orleans.

Now, without any further ado, it’s time to vote for the reader’s choice winner in the Comeback of the Year category. Polls will be open for 24 hours and will be strictly policed for funny business. Choose wisely: