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To keep track of all the new restaurants, bakeries, and bars in New Orleans, here is Eater’s ongoing roundup of 2023 openings diners need to know right now, arranged chronologically (mostly). This curated list of notable openings will continue to be updated, so if there’s something we’ve missed, send us an email. For Eater’s guide to the hottest new restaurants in New Orleans this month, see here.
October 2023
GAIA Steakhouse
1820 St Charles Avenue, LGD
This “new age” steakhouse from Murat Nalcioglu, a partner in Atlanta’s Steak Market and former manager for Nusret Gökçe’s (also known as Salt Bae) North American restaurants, caused quite a stir when news broke earlier this summer that it was coming to New Orleans. Gaia Steakhouse has since opened in a long-empty LGD restaurant space that was formerly home to The Melting Pot. In addition to the $400 gold-covered steaks most commonly found on menus in Las Vegas, Gaia’s menu has items like wagyu steak tartare, chargrilled octopus, a $26 “exotic salad,” a raw seafood feast, Alaskan king crab legs, rack of lamb, and Beijing duck. The restaurant promises “Instagram-worthy” cocktails, “world-class” DJs, custom neon light fixtures, fine leather, custom tables, “and bronze accents that have an aged authenticity in its soul.”
Ba Chi Kitchen + Bar
3547 18th Street, Metairie
Decade-old Maple Street Vietnamese staple Ba Chi Canteen has moved into a new location in Metairie, reopening as Ba Chi Kitchen & Bar in the address most recently home to YuYan Kitchen (and before that, Korea House). The revamped space is strikingly chic, a clean and modern look that includes a bar and lounge for the addition of cocktails. The menu adds permanent oyster dishes that were once specials, bò né, and eventually, Viet-Cajun-style boiled seafood, a genre growing in popularity nationally, in the spring. The restaurant’s specialty, bacos, remains.
Habanero’s
3413 Veterans Boulevard, Metairie
Habanero’s is the newest flashy, splashy Mexican restaurant to open in the area, following a similar aesthetic blueprint as Tacos del Cartel and the former Mucho Mas, which closed earlier this year. It’s the first area location of a popular Northshore brand, opening by Lakeside Shopping Center in Metairie. The extensive menu covers tacos (including birria), enchiladas, fajitas, platters, bowls, and more.
September 2023
Mister Oso
601 Tchoupitoulas Street, CBD/Warehouse District
Mister Oso is an import from Denver, a replica of a popular taco restaurant from a Colorado hospitality group called The Culinary Creative Group. That group has joined forces with local restaurateur Billy Blatty, and Mister Oso replaces his former entertainment spot, Barcadia. In Denver, the restaurant serving tacos, empanadas, ceviche, and aquachile has been recognized by Michelin with a Bib Gourmand, the Guide’s “value-for-money” award. It’s the first of several restaurants forthcoming from the group, which also includes a Japanese-inspired steakhouse and a “culinary park” set for Freret Street.
Plates
1051 Annunciation Street, Warehouse District
Plates opened in early September in the Warehouse District, an eclectic restaurant blending the flavors of Spain, Vietnam, Germany, New Orleans, and more on a menu of shareable dishes. Charred okra, patatas bravas, garlic shrimp, scallop maque choux, and mustard-braised rabbit with spaetzle are served alongside Spanish-inspired cocktails utilizing vermouth. The restaurant, set in the sprawling warehouse space formerly home to the Mill and Sac-a-Lait, is from Chalmette-born chef Farrell Harrison and partner Brian Weisnicht and also offers a weekend brunch and weekday happy hour.
Chinese Kitchen Club
1300 Magazine Street, LGD
Since Opening in early September, Chinese Kitchen Club has operated basically as a ghost kitchen — open for takeout and delivery only for the time being. It took over the space formerly home to the beloved Blue Giant, and its menu follows a strikingly similar convention of Chinese-American takeout favorites. It’s an intentional choice by owner Dan Palmioli, the proprietor of Fat Boy Pantry next door, who saw the void left by Blue Giant. Dishes like dry chili chicken, honey pecan shrimp, pork dan dan noodles, Chinese sausage lo mein, and salt and pepper catfish are available to-go Wednesday through Monday from 5 to 10 p.m., with plans to add full dinner service soon.
August 2023
Medium Rare
5538 Magazine Street, Uptown
Medium Rare is a D.C.-area mini-chain of steakhouses known for a straightforward menu geared towards budget-conscious diners (or at least, as budget-conscious as decent steakhouses can get). This is the first location outside of D.C., interestingly, located in the former Uptown Juan’s Flying Burrito next to Whole Foods. Medium Rare serves a three-course, $30 prix fixe meal, consisting of rustic bread, a mixed greens salad, and a Coulotte steak served with hand-cut fries. Two items of note: The steak is bathed in Medium Rare’s super-secret sauce, and midway through each meal, diners are offered seconds at no extra cost. It’s open for brunch on Saturday and Sunday and dinner daily.
Fives
529 St. Ann Street, French Quarter
This exciting new cocktail bar in the heart of the French Quarter quietly opened in August right on the edge of Jackson Square. Elegant and old-school, Fives specializes in oysters and other small plates like beef tartare and crab claws, aka excellent drinking food, but cocktails steal the show. A fully-stocked bar puts out classics, New Orleans cocktails, and specialty drinks including the Mama Don’t Smoke with aged rum, Amaro Ramazzotti, smoky Lapsang Souchong tea, and tobacco; the Gin Joint, with Chartreuse, celery, sage, and lemon; and the Columns Martini made with vodka, gin, dry vermouth, brine, and pickled vegetables. It’s from Sandstone, the team behind Columns and Drifter hotels.
July 2023
Beggars Banquet
1330 Prytania Street, LGD
This neighborhood charmer opened in late July in the space formerly home to Seed. It’s a family-run affair, from the front of the house to the kitchen, from the New Jersey-born Dilonno family. They’ve created a comforting, chic space featuring brass and neon light fixtures, small family antiques, and beautiful, big ’70s-inspired murals. Serving refined American fare for lunch, weekend brunch, and dinner, Beggars Banquet utilizes seafood uncommon to New Orleans menus, like calamari, scallops, swordfish, and mahi mahi, and has a strong cocktail and wine program. Closed Monday and Tuesday.
Garrison Kitchen + Cocktails
2928 Metairie Road, Old Metairie
This swanky new Metairie restaurant that took over a former home and garden store leans into its huge, country club-esque property with individual gazebo dining. Officially opened Wednesday, July 26, Garrison Kitchen + Cocktails taps two well-known local chefs: Jillian Duran, founder of hugely popular artisan ice cream retailer Rahm Haus as pastry chef, and John Sinclair, a former chef at Longway Tavern, as executive chef. The menu is upscale American, utilizing ingredients from its onsite herb and vegetable gardens as well as Wagyu beef from a local cattle farm, Gulf and East coast oysters, and some fittingly country club-style dishes like tuna niçoise and caviar artichoke dip. It’s open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
Showbird NOLA
930 Poydras Street, CBD
This all-day breakfast cafe from celebrity chef Aaron Sanchez opened next to his other restaurant, Johnny Sanchez, in late July. The fast-casual restaurant serves breakfast sandwiches on biscuits or brioche, fried chicken sandwiches, burgers, waffle fries, and soft serve ice cream. Meant to fill a void for quick, grab-and-go breakfasts and lunches geared towards office workers, downtown residents, and visitors staying in nearby hotels, it serves French Truck coffee and encourages online ordering. It’s open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.
Francolini’s
3987 Tchoupitlouas Street, Uptown
The glorious Italian deli sandwiches of Francolini’s landed on Tchoupitoulas Street in mid-July to the delight of the city. Choose from Jersey-style subs on Ayu Bakehouse sub rolls like the Gandolfini, made with hot soppressata, fresh mozzarella, spicy olive salad, arugula, and chili vinaigrette; a classic Italian with prosciutto cotto, Genoa salami, mortadella, hot capicola, provolone, pepperoncini, red onion, shredded lettuce, and house vinaigrette; the Smoltz, with thinly-sliced, rare roast beef, horseradish aioli, red onions, fontina cheese, and lettuce in a mustard vinaigrette; or a simple meatball sub. Then there are the sandwiches on focaccia, like owner Tara Francolini’s favorite, the Underdog: super thin-sliced mortadella with salsa verde, pickled garlic, broccoli rabe stems, sharp provolone, and mustard seed. Opening hours are still somewhat limited: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Thursday — and don’t forget to take a ticket, or no sandwich for you.
LUFU NOLA
301 St. Charles Avenue, CBD
This pop-up-turned-restaurant from chefs Sarthak Samantray and Aman Kota opened on Thursday, July 13, adding to an exciting slew of new Indian restaurants downtown. In a gorgeous, artsy atmosphere the pair serves an upscale menu of chaat, curry, and regional specialties like dahi ke kebab, a Mughlai dish of fried yogurt dumplings, mirchi bhajji, a South Indian street food of stuffed banana peppers; and Mumbai-style biryani. The restaurant features a small bar and cocktail menu of concoctions like a curry colada and masala martini, and desserts include Indian-style bread pudding, rasmalai, and malpua. It’s open for lunch and dinner Tuesday through Thursday.
Pigeon and Whale
4525 Freret Street, Suite 107, Uptown
Jeremy Latimer, the chef at Bucktown seafood destination Station 6, is working with a husband and wife team of owners at the newly-opened restaurant Pigeon and Whale: John Michael Rowland, the former general manager of Superior Seafood and a new partner in Station 6, and his pastry chef wife Winnie Rubin. Both menu and atmosphere bring a decidedly New England vibe to New Orleans, highlighting rarely-seen seafood like Maine lobster, PEI mussels, Atlantic clams, and more in a ship-like, themed-out setting on Freret Street. It’s a fun place to splurge on East and West coast oysters, caviar service, and four types of negronis.
June 2023
Justini’s
3162 Dauphine Street, Bywater
A new cocktail bar opened in a beautiful Bywater space at the beginning of June, marking the building’s first occupant since Oxalis closed in 2017. Justini’s is the brainchild of Jessica Robinson, who is honoring Black women with both menu items and in the space itself — there’s a brown sugar old fashioned named after local civil rights movement leader Oretha Castle Haley, and a lavender French 75 named after the late Dooky Chase chef and civil rights activist Leah Chase. Similarly, a huge mural in the enchanting courtyard depicts two local Black woman bar owners and legends: Bertha Bradley of Bertha’s Place Bar & Restaurant, and Cecile “Seal” Dalton, owner of Seal’s Class Act Lounge. The bar is already a hotspot; it’s open Tuesday through Thursday from noon to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday until midnight; and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed Mondays.
Red Bird
911 Harrison Avenue, Lakeview
There’s a new restaurant in Lakeview’s former Three B’s Burger & Wine Bar, reports the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate. It’s the second location of Red Bird, a fried chicken restaurant that first opened in Covington earlier this year. In a pared-down industrial space with neon wall sayings like “the bird is the word” and “bird bath” to mark a condiments corner, brothers Blake and Brandon Bennett and their cousin Jay Morris have created a counter-service operation with the option of self-serve kiosks and a dining room where patrons can eat their meals. Red Bird serves strips, wings, chicken sandwiches, and bone-in pieces of chicken; sides like slaw, mac and cheese, red beans and rice, and gumbo; and beer, hard seltzer, and daiquiris, with batched cocktails on the way.
May 2023
Big O’s Original Pops
3300 Royal Street, Bywater
For years, Big O’s has sold fresh fruit (think watermelon lemonade, spicy pineapple, and strawberry mango) and creamy (key lime pie, cheesecake, cookies and cream) popsicles from a sweet, colorful cart found in Markey Park in New Orleans’s Bywater neighborhood. Now it has its own shop, as part of the Krewe of Red Beans’s Beanlandia, the krewe’s headquarters and “cultural center.” The ever-changing popsicle flavors are delightful, a refreshing antidote to New Orleans summer heat, and the fresh fruit varieties make for a not-too-sweet alternative to a sno-ball. The shop is generally open from 3 to 8 p.m. daily, but check out the shop’s Instagram to double-check before heading over.
Wonderland & Sea
4842 Tchoupitoulas Street, Uptown
This fast-casual spot with a focus on fried fish, chicken, and frozen drinks opens Wednesday, May 10 after a few weeks of limited hours and items. Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (8 p.m. Friday and Saturday), Wonderland & Sea serves kale and cous cous salads; sides of flash-fried bok choy, rice fritters, and grilled collard greens; fried chicken and fish sandwiches; and fried chicken and fish platters served with a sweet potato biscuit, crunchy cabbage, and house pickles. There’s even a vegan crispy chickpea tender sandwich. Prices are extremely fair given the restaurant’s claim of antibiotic-free chicken and locally caught fish; everything except the fried fish platter is priced at $10 or less. A liquor permit is on its way.
Sun Chong
240 Decatur Street, French Quarter
Larry Morrow (Morrow’s, Monday) debuted his third restaurant, Sun Chong, in early May, a chic stunner with hand-painted hibiscus flowers and dragon silhouettes covering the walls and ceiling. It’s named after his grandmother, who also leads the kitchen along with Morrow’s mother Lenora Chong and chef Christian Green. In addition to Korean specialties like bulgogi and bibimbap, the menu features Asian American classics like fried rice (crawfish or vegetable), lettuce wraps, sweet and sour pork, bacos, and dumplings. Drinks, by Macy Ezidore, are head-turners, like the I Love You made with gin, lychee soju, and peach and served in a heart-shaped martini glass.
April 2023
The Post
3125 Esplanade Avenue, Bayou St. John
The Post Restaurant brings modern, family-friendly American food to a stretch of Esplanade Avenue known for its huge, tree-draped patio (formerly home to pizza restaurant Nonna Mia’s). Restaurateur Matthew Foody and local builder John Segura — both Bayou St. John residents — opened the restaurant with a limited menu at the end of April, serving dishes like calamari, lobster and goat cheese salad, burgers, and an Italian sandwich. Following Jazz Fest it’s open daily for lunch and dinner with brunch on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
Dahla
611 O’Keefe Avenue, CBD
The latest addition to the South Market development is Dahla, a stylish, contemporary Thai restaurant that shares a building with Tava. It’s from the owners behind former Metairie restaurant Thai Ocha, but Waraphon Chittrakul and family have kicked everything up a notch at the new spot downtown, from ambiance and cocktails to menu offerings like the extravagant crispy duck curry, seafood tom yum fried rice, and siam steak. It’s open Monday through Saturday for lunch and dinner.
Hungry Eyes
4206 Magazine Street, Uptown
This splashy, ’80s-themed dinner and drinks restaurant is from the team behind Turkey and the Wolf and Molly’s Rise and Shine, marking Mason Hereford’s first nighttime venture. A concise menu of “luxury drinking food” ranges from small bites to medium plates like artichokes on the half shell, fried sweetbreads, and seafood curry with calamari, catfish, and hearts of palm. Drinks play a starring role at Hungry Eyes, from classic martinis like cosmopolitans, espresso martinis, and apple martinis to not-so-classic cocktails, like a pandan old-fashioned made with rum and bourbon. Open Wednesday through Monday; no reservations.
Barrow’s
1200 Poydras Street Suite 102, CBD
Originally called Barrow’s Shady Inn, New Orleans’s favorite catfish restaurant Barrow’s opened a new location in the CBD at the beginning of April (next to Chick-fil-A). The third generation of the Barrow family reopened Barrow’s, which first opened in Hollygrove in the ’40s, for the first time since Hurricane Katrina in 2018 on Earhart Boulevard a few years back, but that address has been temporarily closed for some time now (recently, the family opened a location on the Westbank in Harvey). The fried catfish has been legendary here for decades — light, thin-cut, flaky, and crunchy — and Barrow’s is loved for its potato salad, gumbo, and po’ boys.
Junk Drawer
1042 Toledano Street, Irish Channel
A new coffee shop in New Orleans’s Irish Channel has debuted with a major selling point: It’s carrying breakfast pastries from Lagniappe Baking Co., Kaitlin Guerin’s remarkable bakery pop-up. It’s a quirky, stylish shop with a modern vibe from David Privat-Gilman and Andrew Stephens who share a “strong love” for medium and dark roasts. The shop is also selling bagels and other pastries, but on weekends look for sweet and savory rolls, coffee cakes, and cheesy chive biscuits by Guerin to accompany your coffee. Junk Drawer is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. every day but Tuesday.
Osteria Lupo
4609 Magazine Street, Uptown
For their second restaurant, Costera partners chef Brian Burns and Reno De Ranieiri found inspiration in northern Italy — the Piedmont, Liguria, and other regions. Osteria Lupo opened in early April with a menu of fresh pasta like blue crab radiatori, wood-fired pizza with clam and broccoli rabe, antipasti like red snapper crudo, and roasted meat and fish entrees, like rack of lamb with pistachio verde. A very blue, airy dining room centered around an open kitchen with an adjacent bar area is open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday from 4 to 9 p.m.
King Brasserie and Bar
521 Tchoupitoulas Street, CBD
King opened at the end of March in the Kimpton Hotel Fontenot as a sister restaurant to the vibrant Peacock Room. Chef Samuel Peery’s menu is a seafood splurge dream: There’s a stacked raw bar menu, spring pea gnocchi and pasta with uni and black truffle, lobster bouillabaisse, and a braised veal shank served with white mirepoix and mushroom. An exciting dessert menu involves many French techniques, with tarts and entremet complemented by fresh sorbet and ice cream.
Brewery Saint X
1188 Girod Street, Warehouse District
This D.C. hospitality group-backed brewery is connected to Devil Moon BBQ, a restaurant looking to define South Louisiana barbecue that opened a few weeks before it in early March. The two businesses share a Girod Street kitchen and a chef in Shannon Bingham, a New Orleans pop-up chef and pitmaster, though the focus of the brewery is of course, on drinks: Brewery Saint X has 15 taps of German and British styles, as well as traditional lagers, cask ale production, a large whiskey menu, natural wines, and cocktails — including frozens — served daily.
March 2023
Namaste Nola
201 Baronne Street, CBD
This new Indian restaurant opened in the heart of the CBD (on the ground floor of the Wyndham Garden Hotel) in late March, a low-key spot run by Kumud Ranjan and Rani Masgalli with chef Sudhardshan “Suda” Kasarapu. Namaste’s vast menu highlights dishes from southern India, including several vegetarian items like kadai paneer, aloo mutter, and dal makhani, as well as familiar biryanis, lamb and goat curries, lamb vindaloo, and tandoori chicken (there’s also a section of noodle and rice Indo Chinese dishes). It’s open every day but Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., and a liquor license is in the works.
Lucy Boone Ice Cream
3918 Baronne Street, Milan
Lucy Boone was among a small number of remarkable ice cream pop-ups that emerged during the pandemic in New Orleans, finding a home for its classic flavors at Port Orleans for the last two years or so. Now couple Abby Boone and Aaron Schnell have opened their standalone shop in the Milan area (near Mosquito Supper Club) for ice cream pies and sandwiches, milkshakes, scoops, and pints — but did we mention ice cream flights? Customers can order four mini scoops of homestyle flavors like strawberry crisp, salted caramel, and chocolate pretzel toffee that come in an appropriately-designed dish. Open daily from noon to 9 p.m.
Moon Garden
3138 Magazine Street Suite C, Irish Channel
Moon Garden first brought its bubble tea to Pythian Market in August 2022 after popping up around town, but has luckily landed its own Magazine Street storefront since the food hall’s closure (and it’s in the same building as Levee Bakery). There are sections for hot or cold bubble tea in flavors like mango vanilla, honeydew, and red bean; smoothies; fruit teas; and brewed teas. Customers can top drinks with boba jelly, made from tapioca but often in a square shape, crystal boba, made from konjac, regular bursting/popping boba, and most excitingly, boba ice cream bars, which come in three sweetness levels. The new shop adds charcuterie, all-day brunch, and grab-and-go sandwiches.
Dough Nguyener’s Bakery
433 Lafayette Street, Gretna
This exciting new bakery and cafe in Gretna debuted on March 17, combining a production bakery for baguettes, doughnuts, and king cakes with a restaurant and drive-thru for coffee drinks, savory Vietnamese pastries, sandwiches, stews, and desserts. Dough Nguyener’s range of menu items, from frozen daiquiris and pate chaud to the whole-fried chicken dinner, is simply astounding. It’s open Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. and Sunday from 6 a.m. until 3 p.m.
High Grace NOLA
733 Saint Peter, French Quarter
This new bar has big shoes to fill — it’s taking over the space formerly home to legendary dive bar Johnny White’s. Call itself an “upscale dive,” the space has a new look thanks to blue-tinged lights and dark wood, along with a few neon signs and funky murals, but you can still spot the sporty Johnny White’s spirit. Beyond posing itself as an industry haven by offering a nightly discount, High Grace is having fun with lighting drinks on fire and topping them with mini rubber duckies.
Nina’s Creole Cottage
Caesars/Harrah’s New Orleans, 228 Poydras Street
Rounding out the trifecta of celebrity chef-owned restaurants in the newly rebranded Caesars New Orleans is Nina Compton’s quick-service restaurant, opened in the casino in mid-March. Joining Bobby’s Burgers by Bobby Flay and PizzaCake by Buddy Valastro, it’s billing its fried catfish sandwich, hot fried chicken sandwich, and shrimp and grits.
Devil Moon BBQ
1188 Girod Street, Warehouse District
This new barbecue restaurant with a D.C.-based restaurant group operator seeks to define South Louisiana barbecue. Devil Moon’s kitchen is led by Shannon Bingham, the chef behind food stalls and pop-ups Emmylou’s BBQ and Buttermilk, rounding out a menu of Southern snacks like pimiento cheese and smoked onion dip with plates of pork ribs, beef brisket, pulled pork, turkey breast, and Louisiana smoked sausages like boudin and chaurice. Sides, particularly white beans, dirty rice, and chicken sauce piquant reflect a Cajun to Bingham’s barbecue style.
February 2023
Pizza Cake and Bobby’s Burgers
Caesars/Harrah’s New Orleans, 228 Poydras Street
February 10 marks the debut of two restaurants at Harrah’s Casino, soon-to-be Caesars New Orleans: the sixth location of Bobby Flay’s Bobby’s Burgers, and the second location of Buddy Valastro’s PizzaCake. They’re part of a celebrity-driven mini food hall that’s part of the rebranded casino, which will eventually also include a restaurant from local star chef Nina Compton, to be called Nina’s Creole Cottage. Luxe sushi brand Nobu will anchor the casino with its first New Orleans restaurant, which is set to debut in 2024.
Mucho Mas
8201 Oak Street, East Carrollton
This highly-anticipated destination for Mexican cuisine and large-format cocktails has opened on Oak Street. Julio Machado, the former chef and co-owner of Metairie’s Tacos del Cartel, has been working on the restaurant for a few years, taking over the large Oak Street space that was previously home to DTB (Down the Bayou). With an eye-catching, trendy vibe and over-the-top decor, Mucho Mas serves mashups like barbecue birria tacos and Mexican ramen as well regional Mexican dishes like carne asada tasajo and snapper a la talla, with many dishes grilled on charcoal.
January 2023
Sammy’s Ethiopian Kitchen
422 S. Broad Street, Mid City
When acclaimed Ethiopian restaurant Addis NOLA moved into new digs, it didn’t mean a loss of that cuisine from Broad Street, luckily. A veteran of Addis NOLA, Samuel Shifferaw, opened Sammy’s Ethiopian Kitchen in its place, after more than 30 years of either working in or running Ethiopian restaurants, and the food reflects it — Sammy’s tibs, kitfo, atakilt wot, and shiro are standout. Open daily for lunch and dinner.
Cafetomas Uptown
1506 S Carrollton Avenue, Carrollton
A second location of Kenner’s delicious Colombian cafe, Cafetomas, landed in Uptown this year, bringing a friendly, family-run destination for jibaritos, arepas, burritos, smoothies, breakfast, and fresh juice to lucky Carrollton Avenue. Don’t miss the specialty coffee, shakes, or treats like watermelon paletas either — this place is a delight. Open Thursday through Tuesday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Lagos Taqueria
5223 Spain Street, Gentilly
There’s an exciting new taco truck in Gentilly, Lagos Taqueria on Filmore Avenue between St Roch Avenue and Spain Streets. In addition to brisket barbacoa, cochinita pibil, and pulled chicken tacos, options abound — quesadillas, burritos, taquitos, and even chilaquiles are available to grab from the truck, with fresh, spicy green and red sauces made daily. Taco Tuesday is a steal — five 4-inch tacos go for $10. Order online or stop by Tuesday through Friday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. and 4 to 7 p.m. and Saturday between 3 and 7 p.m.
Chapter IV
1315 Gravier Street, Downtown
There’s a new breakfast, lunch, and Sunday brunch restaurant downtown, anchoring a new residential building owned by Tulane University. Chapter IV has big-name backing with Edgar “Dook” Chase IV, grandson of the legendary Dooky Chase’s restaurant founder and culinary icon Leah Chase and her husband Dooky Chase. The daytime spot celebrates Creole comfort food like gumbo, crab bisque, and fish and grits, as well as trendier items like squid ink seafood pasta and fried chicken sandwiches.
Habana Outpost
1040 Esplanade Avenue, French Quarter/Marigny
This once-controversial restaurant that was 10 years in the making has finally made its debut on a prominent corner at the edge of the French Quarter, bringing a lively, colorful outpost of the popular New York-born restaurant to New Orleans. A simple, to-go-friendly menu of Cuban-Mexican items like nachos, quesadillas, burrito bowls, tacos, vegan options, and the restaurant’s signature Cuban sandwich is available weekends only for now — Friday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. You can’t miss it — just look for the Mexican flag-adorned inflatable tube man and branded car out front.