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A bowl with a circular portion of dense, dark bread pudding with raisins topped with a caramel crumble and a dollop of whipped cream with chocolate shavings on top. — White chocolate and caramel bread pudding from GW Fins.

Where to Eat the Best Bread Pudding in New Orleans

15 traditional and offbeat versions of one of New Orleans’s favorite desserts

by Beth D'Addono Sep 15, 2022, 1:01pm CDT

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White chocolate and caramel bread pudding from GW Fins.

| Sam Hanna/GW Fins

by Beth D'Addono Sep 15, 2022, 1:01pm CDT

Bread pudding didn’t originate in New Orleans. Or even in America. It goes back centuries to thrifty home cooks in Britain who tried to transform a heap of stale bread into a treat to feed the family. Now considered a distinctly Southern dessert in the U.S., creative Creole chefs in New Orleans have made bread pudding their own over time. The traditional custardy version, often made from French bread or brioche, is served warm, sometimes punctuated with pecans or raisins, and doused with a rum or whiskey-forward sauce. Here are some of the best versions in town, ranging from traditional to more outside the box, but all deeply satisfying.

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Station 6

Think you don’t like bread pudding? Your mind might be changed by the version at Station 6, Bucktown’s casual but destination-worthy seafood spot. Originally inspired by the restaurant’s chefs Alison Vega-Knoll and Drew Knoll’s childhood love of buttermilk drops, a square portion is topped with a butterscotch sauce and freshly whipped cream.

105 Metairie-Hammond Hwy, Metairie, LA 70005

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A post shared by Station 6 (@station6nola)

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Willie Mae's Scotch House

When there’s one and only one dessert at a place like the legendary Willie Mae’s Scotch House, you know it’s bound to be good. This is true of the bread pudding at Willie Mae’s, a perfect portion of warm fluffy goodness soaked through and through with a buttery white chocolate and rum sauce and set off with bright strawberries.

2401 St Ann St., New Orleans, LA 70119

Visit Website

Willie Mae’s bread pudding smothered in white chocolate and rum sauce.

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Li'l Dizzy's Cafe

Traditional home-style bread pudding is always on the menu at Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe, the Baquet family-owned restaurant run by Wayne, Jr, and his wife Arkesha. Situated at the edge of the Treme on Esplanade, Li’l Dizzy’s pudding is a family recipe, spiked with fruit and served warm with a tasty rum sauce.

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1500 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116

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Li’l Dizzy’s bread pudding.

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Nonno’s Cajun Cuisine and Pastries

It’s great to have chef Shermond Esteen’s restaurant Nonno’s in the Marigny, in the middle of the action at Touro and Dauphine. Besides serving all-day breakfast, heaping platters of fried shrimp, and a killer mac and cheese, his bread pudding is perfect for purists. No nuts or raisins, thank you very much, just tender bread bathed in custard, served warm with a hi-test rum sauce that is good to the last drop.

Open in Google Maps

1940 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70116

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Antoine's Restaurant

The oldest continuing operating family owned restaurant in New Orleans, Antoine’s has been setting a fabulous French-Creole table since 1840. Once the seafood gumbo has been slurped and the oysters Rockefeller demolished, the bread pudding is an absolute. Made with — what else? — Leidenheimer French bread, the end game is creamy and rich, laced with cinnamon, golden raisins, and slathered with a hot buttered rum sauce.

713 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Antoine’s bread pudding.

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Arnaud's

Sunday brunch at Arnaud’s is always a treat, with three courses built around entrees like grits and grillades and eggs Arnaud. A royal option among dessert choices, the bread pudding layered with cinnamon-scented custard and topped with rum-soaked raisins and warm whiskey sauce.

813 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

Bread pudding from Arnaud’s.

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GW Fins

GW Fins is one for classic desserts, the kind whose ingredient list fills you up just from reading the menu. Customer favorites include the samoa, the “Salty Malty,” an ice cream pie with a pretzel crust, and of course, a white chocolate and caramel bread pudding topped with dark chocolate chunks, pecans, and whipped cream.

808 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

White chocolate and caramel bread pudding.

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Tujague's

Tujague’s, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans, has settled in nicely in its new digs just a few blocks from the original spot where the restaurant opened in 1856. The birthplace of brunch and home to the oldest stand-up bar in America, Tujague’s serves a fun rotating seasonal bread pudding including bananas Foster bread pudding and the Southern-style sweet potato bread pudding with a pecan-studded praline sauce.

429 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Seasonal blueberry and white chocolate bread pudding from Tujague’s.

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Mr. B's Bistro

Following the Brennan family tradition, Mr. B’s Bistro is the kind of restaurant where the staff treats every customer like a VIP. The menu of elegant Creole fare (gumbo YaYa, barbecue shrimp) features a standout traditional bread pudding, shot through with a whisper of cinnamon and bathed in a bracing Irish whiskey sauce.

201 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

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Red Fish Grill

Another reason to order dessert with your entree, the double chocolate bread pudding at Red Fish Grill is simply divine. Made with dark and white chocolate ganache and crowned with a piece of housemade chocolate almond bark, this is a chocolate lover’s oozing, gooey dream come true.

115 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Red Fish Grill (@redfishgrill)

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Luke

Luke, the bustling brasserie in the CBD, recreates the Franco-German eateries once common in New Orleans. After the oysters and steak Frites, it’s time for Brendan’s bread pudding, with its hot buttered pecan sauce and scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream, a combo that turns into a swirl of goodness meant to be slurped.

Open in Google Maps

333 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Luke (@lukeneworleans)

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Boucherie

Chef Nathanial Zimet likes to color outside the traditional culinary lines at Boucherie, often with captivating results. The Cordon Bleu-educated chef relishes taking an unexpected turn, as his Krispy Kreme bread pudding illustrates. Swapping bread with donuts is a stroke of brilliance, especially when the result is soaked in a dark rum sauce and paired with a glass of six-year-old La Cigarrera Oloroso sherry.

8115 Jeannette St, New Orleans, LA 70118

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Boucherie (@boucherienola)

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Café Reconcile

Cafe Reconcile is the ultimate feel-good lunch destination, with its comforting soul food menu and mission to provide workforce development and training to under-served young adults. The food (smothered chicken, shrimp and white beans, catfish po’boys) and service are both terrific, making it an essential local destination. As for the bananas Foster bread pudding, moist and oozing buttery banana goodness, it’s a must-eat.

Open in Google Maps

1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70113

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Café Reconcile (@cafereconcile)

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Commander's Palace

Be a smart cookie and order dessert first at Commander’s Palace, a Garden District landmark since 1893. That way, there will be more than enough time to prep the ambrosial bread pudding souffle, which demands at least 20 minutes advance notice. As its name suggests, this is a lofty version of a dessert that can be dense. Even better, it’s finished tableside with warm whiskey cream sauce.

1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Bread pudding soufflé from Commander’s.

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Tchefuncte's Restaurant

It’s worth crossing the Causeway to indulge in Tchefuncte’s bread pudding in Madisonville. Pastry chef Brett Gauthier creates a dessert that is light and custardy, built from fresh brioche dough, vanilla pastry cream, and chocolate chunks. Hot from the oven, espresso custard is poured over the top, filling the airy brioche with oozing ambrosia. Served warm with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, it is such a treat.

Open in Google Maps

407 St Tammany St, Madisonville, LA 70447

Visit Website

Brioche bread pudding with chocolate ice cream from Tchefuncte’s.

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Station 6

105 Metairie-Hammond Hwy, Metairie, LA 70005

Think you don’t like bread pudding? Your mind might be changed by the version at Station 6, Bucktown’s casual but destination-worthy seafood spot. Originally inspired by the restaurant’s chefs Alison Vega-Knoll and Drew Knoll’s childhood love of buttermilk drops, a square portion is topped with a butterscotch sauce and freshly whipped cream.

105 Metairie-Hammond Hwy, Metairie, LA 70005

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Station 6 (@station6nola)

Willie Mae's Scotch House

2401 St Ann St., New Orleans, LA 70119

When there’s one and only one dessert at a place like the legendary Willie Mae’s Scotch House, you know it’s bound to be good. This is true of the bread pudding at Willie Mae’s, a perfect portion of warm fluffy goodness soaked through and through with a buttery white chocolate and rum sauce and set off with bright strawberries.

2401 St Ann St., New Orleans, LA 70119

Visit Website

Willie Mae’s bread pudding smothered in white chocolate and rum sauce.

Li'l Dizzy's Cafe

1500 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116

Traditional home-style bread pudding is always on the menu at Li’l Dizzy’s Cafe, the Baquet family-owned restaurant run by Wayne, Jr, and his wife Arkesha. Situated at the edge of the Treme on Esplanade, Li’l Dizzy’s pudding is a family recipe, spiked with fruit and served warm with a tasty rum sauce.

Open in Google Maps

1500 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

Li’l Dizzy’s bread pudding.

Nonno’s Cajun Cuisine and Pastries

1940 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70116

It’s great to have chef Shermond Esteen’s restaurant Nonno’s in the Marigny, in the middle of the action at Touro and Dauphine. Besides serving all-day breakfast, heaping platters of fried shrimp, and a killer mac and cheese, his bread pudding is perfect for purists. No nuts or raisins, thank you very much, just tender bread bathed in custard, served warm with a hi-test rum sauce that is good to the last drop.

Open in Google Maps

1940 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

Antoine's Restaurant

713 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130

The oldest continuing operating family owned restaurant in New Orleans, Antoine’s has been setting a fabulous French-Creole table since 1840. Once the seafood gumbo has been slurped and the oysters Rockefeller demolished, the bread pudding is an absolute. Made with — what else? — Leidenheimer French bread, the end game is creamy and rich, laced with cinnamon, golden raisins, and slathered with a hot buttered rum sauce.

713 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Antoine’s bread pudding.

Arnaud's

813 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Sunday brunch at Arnaud’s is always a treat, with three courses built around entrees like grits and grillades and eggs Arnaud. A royal option among dessert choices, the bread pudding layered with cinnamon-scented custard and topped with rum-soaked raisins and warm whiskey sauce.

813 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

Bread pudding from Arnaud’s.

GW Fins

808 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

GW Fins is one for classic desserts, the kind whose ingredient list fills you up just from reading the menu. Customer favorites include the samoa, the “Salty Malty,” an ice cream pie with a pretzel crust, and of course, a white chocolate and caramel bread pudding topped with dark chocolate chunks, pecans, and whipped cream.

808 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

White chocolate and caramel bread pudding.

Tujague's

429 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Tujague’s, the second oldest restaurant in New Orleans, has settled in nicely in its new digs just a few blocks from the original spot where the restaurant opened in 1856. The birthplace of brunch and home to the oldest stand-up bar in America, Tujague’s serves a fun rotating seasonal bread pudding including bananas Foster bread pudding and the Southern-style sweet potato bread pudding with a pecan-studded praline sauce.

429 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Seasonal blueberry and white chocolate bread pudding from Tujague’s.

Mr. B's Bistro

201 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Following the Brennan family tradition, Mr. B’s Bistro is the kind of restaurant where the staff treats every customer like a VIP. The menu of elegant Creole fare (gumbo YaYa, barbecue shrimp) features a standout traditional bread pudding, shot through with a whisper of cinnamon and bathed in a bracing Irish whiskey sauce.

201 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Red Fish Grill

115 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Another reason to order dessert with your entree, the double chocolate bread pudding at Red Fish Grill is simply divine. Made with dark and white chocolate ganache and crowned with a piece of housemade chocolate almond bark, this is a chocolate lover’s oozing, gooey dream come true.

115 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Red Fish Grill (@redfishgrill)

Luke

333 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Luke, the bustling brasserie in the CBD, recreates the Franco-German eateries once common in New Orleans. After the oysters and steak Frites, it’s time for Brendan’s bread pudding, with its hot buttered pecan sauce and scoop of homemade vanilla bean ice cream, a combo that turns into a swirl of goodness meant to be slurped.

Open in Google Maps

333 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Luke (@lukeneworleans)

Boucherie

8115 Jeannette St, New Orleans, LA 70118

Chef Nathanial Zimet likes to color outside the traditional culinary lines at Boucherie, often with captivating results. The Cordon Bleu-educated chef relishes taking an unexpected turn, as his Krispy Kreme bread pudding illustrates. Swapping bread with donuts is a stroke of brilliance, especially when the result is soaked in a dark rum sauce and paired with a glass of six-year-old La Cigarrera Oloroso sherry.

8115 Jeannette St, New Orleans, LA 70118

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Boucherie (@boucherienola)

Café Reconcile

1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70113

Cafe Reconcile is the ultimate feel-good lunch destination, with its comforting soul food menu and mission to provide workforce development and training to under-served young adults. The food (smothered chicken, shrimp and white beans, catfish po’boys) and service are both terrific, making it an essential local destination. As for the bananas Foster bread pudding, moist and oozing buttery banana goodness, it’s a must-eat.

Open in Google Maps

1631 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70113

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Café Reconcile (@cafereconcile)

Commander's Palace

1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Be a smart cookie and order dessert first at Commander’s Palace, a Garden District landmark since 1893. That way, there will be more than enough time to prep the ambrosial bread pudding souffle, which demands at least 20 minutes advance notice. As its name suggests, this is a lofty version of a dessert that can be dense. Even better, it’s finished tableside with warm whiskey cream sauce.

1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Bread pudding soufflé from Commander’s.

Tchefuncte's Restaurant

407 St Tammany St, Madisonville, LA 70447

It’s worth crossing the Causeway to indulge in Tchefuncte’s bread pudding in Madisonville. Pastry chef Brett Gauthier creates a dessert that is light and custardy, built from fresh brioche dough, vanilla pastry cream, and chocolate chunks. Hot from the oven, espresso custard is poured over the top, filling the airy brioche with oozing ambrosia. Served warm with a scoop of chocolate ice cream, it is such a treat.

Open in Google Maps

407 St Tammany St, Madisonville, LA 70447

Visit Website

Brioche bread pudding with chocolate ice cream from Tchefuncte’s.

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