This old-school sandwich shop is the best, with a full bar and heaping platters of fried seafood and overstuffed po’ boys filled with everything from fried softshells to meatballs and roast beef. Radosta’s even features a broiled fish of the week, for folks looking for an alternative to fried.

Opened in 1982, Taj Mahal pioneered regional Indian cuisine in New Orleans, expanding to Magazine Street with the opening of Nirvana. The menu is vast, including standard dishes, vegetarian, tandoor roasted meats and seafood, and specialties from the south, including uthappam, a type of dosa made into a pancake and topped with coconut chutney, vegetables, and chili.

This Creole Italian spot draws a loyal crowd for dishes like parmesan crusted eggplant, turtle soup and veal parm with pasta. Porter & Luke’s is family friendly, with a kid’s menu, po-boys and platters of fried seafood rounding out the menu. Casual and inviting, the restaurant is many a locals’ fave.

Located on a busy section of Metairie Road, Vietnamese favorite Rolls-N-Bowls specializes in two things: spring rolls of all flavors and steaming bowls of pho. The aromatic, tasty bowls are crammed with vegetables, just like the avocado or grilled tofu spring rolls. Protein-topped salads are bountiful, and rice and noodle dishes stay affordable despite heaps of meat. Delicious milk tea and bubble tea smoothies round out this magnificent menu.

Parish Line Bistro rebuilt the old Metry Bar in the wedge-shaped building that was originally a train depot more than a century ago. There’s a rooftop bar and an airy dining room for enjoying specialties like wagyu beef sashimi, whole roasted cauliflower oozing parmesan, olive oil, and preserved lemon, Mexican-style street corn, and a buttery Maine lobster roll. Locomotion presides, from the wall of train tickets papering the bar to the iron train rails that serve as footrests.

Don’t be fooled by the no-frills exterior. Uchi earns props for its warm service and solid menu of sushi, sashimi, and specialty rolls. Plenty of hot items too, like teriyaki and yaki soba, tempura, and yakitori skewers. The lunch specials are a bargain.

Blue Line is a sandwich haven in Old Metairie. In addition to a breakfast panini served on chewy pressed ciabatta and a fried egg and corned beef sandwich on seven-grain, diners can go big with the duck-duck-goose waffle, a duck confit and sweet potato hash-topped waffle with foie gras butter, cane syrup drizzle, and two fried eggs. Lunch is equally enticing, when hearty salads are topped with the likes of roasted Brussels sprouts, edamame, and quinoa, and sandwiches range from light and simple grilled cheese and chicken salad sandwiches to corned beef and duck pastrami, Philly cheesesteaks, and Cubans.

This Cheers-style bar has been a neighborhood go-to since 1983. Besides sports and darts, Oscar’s dishes a great half-pound burger for under $10 — unheard of. The steak special is $16.75 Tuesday and Wednesday, or plan for spaghetti and meatballs for $12.50 on Thursday. The Marilyn pin-up theme is fun.

Colombian grill master Edgar Caro is the creative chef behind Brasa, a steakhouse that rounds out a portfolio that includes Baru, Basin Seafood, and Zocalo. Don’t mistake this for a Brazilian all-you-can-eat place — Brasa is an upscale, white tablecloth place with starters like avocado stuffed with crabmeat ravigote and an array of steaks brought to the perfect char over a wood-burning grill. Burgers, fish, and chicken too.

It doesn’t get more old school than the family-owned Galley Seafood, a roadhouse known for boiled seafood and po’ boys. But the menu runs beyond boiled and fried seafood to Creole Italian dishes and white beans with shrimp. There’s seating on the porch and a full bar.

This new restaurant on Metairie Road in the old Garden Gates Home and Garden store has style to spare. Garrison Kitchen includes five outdoor dining gazebos, a garden for strolling, and a century-old cottage with its bar and progression of cozy dining rooms. Chef John Sinclair incorporates the garden’s fresh vegetables and herbs into dishes like tuna niçoise, roasted pork belly, beef kebabs, meatballs with herb salad, shrimp toast, and a pork cutlet sandwich. Pastry chef Jillian Duran rocks desserts like Black Forest profiteroles.

Although this isn’t a restaurant, no list of cool spots would be complete without Blue Ruin, a date night speakeasy that is a must for pre- or post- dinner cocktails. Open every day but Monday, this place delivers a stylish vibe with touches like a circular chandelier and antique mantle. Drinks like a gin cucumber gimlet are $6 until 7 p.m.

The emphasis is on freshness and clean flavors at Unagi & Sushi, a tucked away gem on Airline. Beyond the usual menu offerings, there are special rolls like the Pink Lady, which adds cucumber, snowcrab, tuna, jalapeno, and pickled onion to salmon in a soy wrap. Lunch specials are a bargain.