Five NOLA Restaurants Appear on Eater’s Southern 38

Eater critic Bill Addison has published the inaugural edition of the The South’s 38 Essential Restaurants, which represents standout restaurants across the southern region. Dooky Chase, Herbsaint, La Petite Grocery, Galatoire’s, and Parkway Tavern were chosen from New Orleans, while Hawk’s Restaurant in Rayne, Louisiana, also made the list. On the heals of an impressive James Beard showing, it’s worth noting that New Orleans had more spots than any other city on this regional list.

“So many options in New Orleans! It was ridiculously difficult to narrow down our choices; we could have included an entirely different roster of names. But in thinking it through, the writers and I kept coming back to the word essential: which places best frame NOLA’s culinary culture in its truest breadth and glory? Herbsaint and La Petite Grocery automatically made the cut because they’re both on this year’s edition of our annual list of the Best Restaurants in America,” Addison said. “Plenty of newer restaurants are nudging the city’s dining scene forward (like many food lovers, I’m obsessed with Shaya). In the end we decided to go classic with Dooky Chase, Galatoire’s, and Parkway Tavern, because New Orleans is the rare town where the longstanding restaurants remain so thrillingly relevant.”

The states North Carolina and Georgia both had impressive showings on the list, while West Virginia failed to make the list at all. Taken as a whole, the list represents a incredible snapshot of the restaurants that define and invigorate the southern region. As with all Eater 38 lists, this is a living document and an “an invitation to debate, savor, and celebrate.” Clearly, it’s also an invitation to hop in the car and hit the road.