clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile
Herbsaint’s banana brown butter tart.
Chris Granger/Herbsaint

18 New Orleans Restaurants Where Dessert Steals the Show

From Mile High cake to black and gold Doberge, be sure to save room for dessert

View as Map
Herbsaint’s banana brown butter tart.
| Chris Granger/Herbsaint

Pastry chefs are sometimes the unsung heroes of the restaurant world. In New Orleans, there’s no shortage of amazing pastry chefs that deserve top billing at their restaurants, turning out everything from humble hand pies to baked Alaska and bananas Foster.

At each restaurant listed here, diners are guaranteed to have a stellar sweet or a fabulous dessert menu greeting them. From cakes to pavlova and loads of pies, tarts, and brûlées, this list of new and classic restaurants is sure to please every sweet tooth in town.

Please note: These are the best desserts found at restaurants, not bakeries or sweet shops — that guide is here. Have another favorite destination for dessert? Share in the comments or send a tip.

Read More
If you buy something or book a reservation from an Eater link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics policy.

Brigtsen's Restaurant

Copy Link

Dessert soars at Brigsten’s in Riverbend, where chef Frank Brigtsen excels at elevating comforting home classics, like pecan pie, butterscotch bread pudding, double chocolate cake, and lemon blueberry creme brulee. Many folks consider this the best pecan pie in town, a caramel-sauced wedge topped with freshly whipped cream.

Brigsten’s pecan pie
Brigsten’s/Facebook

Thanks to Saba sous chef Blair Tiller’s passion for pastry, desserts here surprise at every turn. She incorporates the likes of tahini, pistachio, and seasonal fruits into a rotating menu of treats, like the pistachio baklava, which takes an interesting turn with the addition of citrus and white chocolate. Creamy malabi, a not-too-sweet milk custard, is enhanced with orchid root, rose, and muscadine. Now that’s outside the box.

James Beard award winner Sue Zemanick delights with every dish on her debut restaurant’s compact menu, and dessert is no different. There are almost always specials, like a chocolate cremeaux with port poached pears, whipped cream, and chocolate cookie crumble, but current items to save room for include a brown sugar tart with marmalade, satsuma, and whipped cream or a chocolate malt semifreddo cookie crumble, hazelnuts, and toasted marshmallow.

Executive chef Amandalynn Picolo oversees a seasonal dessert menu at Vessel with vibrant flavors, textures, and gorgeous platings, making sweets yet another of the reasons to visit this sexy Mid City restaurant and cocktail spot. Ask what flavor the seasonal cheesecake is, then order it.

Bread pudding with berry drizzle from Vessel
Vessel/Facebook

Dakar NOLA

Copy Link

Chef Serigne Mbaye has long seen a confluence between his Senegalese roots and his chosen home New Orleans. At his newly opened Uptown chef’s tasting restaurant Dakar Nola, dessert might be a tribute paid to the Louisiana pecan, with the addition of sweetened millet couscous that becomes even more delicious with ataya (Senegalese tea) flavored ice cream and mint.

Commander's Palace

Copy Link

The bread pudding souffle at Commander's Palace takes an iconic New Orleans dessert to the next, creamy level. Finished tableside with warm whiskey cream, the dessert needs to be preordered, so don’t forget. Of course, there’s always a praline parfait or creme brûlée to sweeten the meal.

Bread pudding soufflé at Commander’s
Commander’s Palace/Facebook

Coquette

Copy Link

Coquett’e new pastry chef Kayleigh Buvens does beautifully plated and oh-so-tasty desserts at this Garden District stunner, like a fruit-filled pillow of meringue on a custard-like sauce scattered with sugared flower petals, purple sweet potato and buttermilk chocolate cake, and more ever-changing wonders that compliment chef Mike Stoltzfus’ intriguing Southern menu.

Jack Rose

Copy Link

Mile high pie has been synonymous with The Pontchartrain Hotel’s Caribbean Room restaurant for generations. When Jack Rose restaurant took over that space, there was never a nano-second that the famed treat was going away. Smart move — the elaborate three-tiered pie layered with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream, topped with meringue, and finished with a chocolate drizzle is as much a part of the local landscape as the streetcar that rumbles up St. Charles Avenue in front of the hotel.

Randy Schmidt/Eater Nola

Herbsaint

Copy Link

Brown butter is, well, better than plain, bringing a nutty, depth of flavor to anything it joins. Which is why the banana brown butter tart at Herbsaint is so revelatory. In step with the restaurant’s contemporary French Southern vibe, executive pastry chef Maggie Scales creates this satisfying treat and other wonders at this flagship for the Link Restaurant Group — visit La Boulangerie, which she co-owns, to channel more goodness.

Chris Granger/Herbsaint

Lengua Madre

Copy Link

Nostalgia is always an element at Lengua Madre, the always-buzzing restaurant by chef Ana Castro. Her Mexico City childhood memories inform the five-course chef’s tasting menu, which might include a stuffed sweet pepper featuring a rehydrated dried chile candied in light sugar syrup. The seeds are removed, and the chili is filled with a chocolate cremeux and served with a quenelle of orange zest and tonka bean whipped cream. Not going to eat that anywhere else in town.

Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA

GW Fins

Copy Link

GW Fins is umami central, and not just for chef Michael Nelson’s pristine seafood. The salty malty dessert is a winner, an ice cream pie made with a pretzel crust, malt ice cream, and caramel whipped cream. Every bite is a symphony of sweet, salty, and savory deliciousness.

GW Fin’s famous salty malty ice cream pie.
GW Fins

Bakery Bar

Copy Link

Dessert at Bakery Bar hinges on the excellent Debbie Does Doberge cake options in flavors like lemon, peanut butter cup, and Saints black and gold. But there’s more to Bakery Bar than cake. Along with an appealing savory menu, creative desserts include a creme brulee informed by candied guajillo chillis and a chocolate creme flan with passion fruit mouse.

Boozy cinnamon doberge cake from Bakery Bar
Bakery Bar/Facebook

Compère Lapin

Copy Link

Compere Lapin, Nina Compton’s first restaurant, will always be a local favorite, with its sun-kissed menu of soulful Caribbean-inspired dishes and ever-changing array of desserts. Options might include a mango creme brulee or a Bolivian chocolate cake served with passion curd. In the land of bread pudding, these sunny flavors are most welcome.

Passionfruit mousse with chiffon cake and pineapple, currently on Compere Lapin’s dessert menu
Compere Lapin/Facebook

Brennan's

Copy Link

Brennan’s is the birthplace of Bananas Foster, the ever-popular flaming tableside dessert of bananas, rum, and brown sugar served over vanilla ice cream, dessert that also comes with the show. Yes, it’s available for breakfast too.

Antoine's Restaurant

Copy Link

Pecan bread pudding, flaming cafe brulot, baked Alaska. This grand dame, Nola’s oldest operating family-run restaurant, turns out an array of desserts pleasing customers since 1840. Order the baked Alaska first — this cake and ice cream wowzer takes its time to perfection.

Tableau

Copy Link

Creme brulee lovers tend to agree. It’s all about the burnt sugar crust, and there’s never enough of it. At Tableau the problem is solved, with the custard swiped across an entire dinner plate, topped with a burnt sugar crust that reaches from edge to edge. Basically, every bite is the good part.

Miss River

Copy Link

There are plenty of wows on Alon Shaya’s Miss River menu in the Four Seasons — the whole fried chicken is one place to start that conversation. But at the end of the meal, start with the chocolate doberge cake topped with 23k gold flakes; swanky and very shareable. There’s also baked Alaska for two (or three).

The Country Club

Copy Link

The Country Club dishes a range of experiences, from wild drag brunches to poolside parties. Chef Chris Barbato keeps the focus on modern Southern cuisine, with global influences. Hence, his Basque-style cheesecake, which swaps New York style for this caramelized version, baked at high temp to dish a smooth custard interior, dressed with fresh berries and pine nuts. 

Brigtsen's Restaurant

Dessert soars at Brigsten’s in Riverbend, where chef Frank Brigtsen excels at elevating comforting home classics, like pecan pie, butterscotch bread pudding, double chocolate cake, and lemon blueberry creme brulee. Many folks consider this the best pecan pie in town, a caramel-sauced wedge topped with freshly whipped cream.

Brigsten’s pecan pie
Brigsten’s/Facebook

Saba

Thanks to Saba sous chef Blair Tiller’s passion for pastry, desserts here surprise at every turn. She incorporates the likes of tahini, pistachio, and seasonal fruits into a rotating menu of treats, like the pistachio baklava, which takes an interesting turn with the addition of citrus and white chocolate. Creamy malabi, a not-too-sweet milk custard, is enhanced with orchid root, rose, and muscadine. Now that’s outside the box.

Zasu

James Beard award winner Sue Zemanick delights with every dish on her debut restaurant’s compact menu, and dessert is no different. There are almost always specials, like a chocolate cremeaux with port poached pears, whipped cream, and chocolate cookie crumble, but current items to save room for include a brown sugar tart with marmalade, satsuma, and whipped cream or a chocolate malt semifreddo cookie crumble, hazelnuts, and toasted marshmallow.

Vessel

Executive chef Amandalynn Picolo oversees a seasonal dessert menu at Vessel with vibrant flavors, textures, and gorgeous platings, making sweets yet another of the reasons to visit this sexy Mid City restaurant and cocktail spot. Ask what flavor the seasonal cheesecake is, then order it.

Bread pudding with berry drizzle from Vessel
Vessel/Facebook

Dakar NOLA

Chef Serigne Mbaye has long seen a confluence between his Senegalese roots and his chosen home New Orleans. At his newly opened Uptown chef’s tasting restaurant Dakar Nola, dessert might be a tribute paid to the Louisiana pecan, with the addition of sweetened millet couscous that becomes even more delicious with ataya (Senegalese tea) flavored ice cream and mint.

Commander's Palace

The bread pudding souffle at Commander's Palace takes an iconic New Orleans dessert to the next, creamy level. Finished tableside with warm whiskey cream, the dessert needs to be preordered, so don’t forget. Of course, there’s always a praline parfait or creme brûlée to sweeten the meal.

Bread pudding soufflé at Commander’s
Commander’s Palace/Facebook

Coquette

Coquett’e new pastry chef Kayleigh Buvens does beautifully plated and oh-so-tasty desserts at this Garden District stunner, like a fruit-filled pillow of meringue on a custard-like sauce scattered with sugared flower petals, purple sweet potato and buttermilk chocolate cake, and more ever-changing wonders that compliment chef Mike Stoltzfus’ intriguing Southern menu.

Jack Rose

Mile high pie has been synonymous with The Pontchartrain Hotel’s Caribbean Room restaurant for generations. When Jack Rose restaurant took over that space, there was never a nano-second that the famed treat was going away. Smart move — the elaborate three-tiered pie layered with chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream, topped with meringue, and finished with a chocolate drizzle is as much a part of the local landscape as the streetcar that rumbles up St. Charles Avenue in front of the hotel.

Randy Schmidt/Eater Nola

Herbsaint

Brown butter is, well, better than plain, bringing a nutty, depth of flavor to anything it joins. Which is why the banana brown butter tart at Herbsaint is so revelatory. In step with the restaurant’s contemporary French Southern vibe, executive pastry chef Maggie Scales creates this satisfying treat and other wonders at this flagship for the Link Restaurant Group — visit La Boulangerie, which she co-owns, to channel more goodness.

Chris Granger/Herbsaint

Lengua Madre

Nostalgia is always an element at Lengua Madre, the always-buzzing restaurant by chef Ana Castro. Her Mexico City childhood memories inform the five-course chef’s tasting menu, which might include a stuffed sweet pepper featuring a rehydrated dried chile candied in light sugar syrup. The seeds are removed, and the chili is filled with a chocolate cremeux and served with a quenelle of orange zest and tonka bean whipped cream. Not going to eat that anywhere else in town.

Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA

GW Fins

GW Fins is umami central, and not just for chef Michael Nelson’s pristine seafood. The salty malty dessert is a winner, an ice cream pie made with a pretzel crust, malt ice cream, and caramel whipped cream. Every bite is a symphony of sweet, salty, and savory deliciousness.

GW Fin’s famous salty malty ice cream pie.
GW Fins

Bakery Bar

Dessert at Bakery Bar hinges on the excellent Debbie Does Doberge cake options in flavors like lemon, peanut butter cup, and Saints black and gold. But there’s more to Bakery Bar than cake. Along with an appealing savory menu, creative desserts include a creme brulee informed by candied guajillo chillis and a chocolate creme flan with passion fruit mouse.

Boozy cinnamon doberge cake from Bakery Bar
Bakery Bar/Facebook

Compère Lapin

Compere Lapin, Nina Compton’s first restaurant, will always be a local favorite, with its sun-kissed menu of soulful Caribbean-inspired dishes and ever-changing array of desserts. Options might include a mango creme brulee or a Bolivian chocolate cake served with passion curd. In the land of bread pudding, these sunny flavors are most welcome.

Passionfruit mousse with chiffon cake and pineapple, currently on Compere Lapin’s dessert menu
Compere Lapin/Facebook

Brennan's

Brennan’s is the birthplace of Bananas Foster, the ever-popular flaming tableside dessert of bananas, rum, and brown sugar served over vanilla ice cream, dessert that also comes with the show. Yes, it’s available for breakfast too.

Antoine's Restaurant

Pecan bread pudding, flaming cafe brulot, baked Alaska. This grand dame, Nola’s oldest operating family-run restaurant, turns out an array of desserts pleasing customers since 1840. Order the baked Alaska first — this cake and ice cream wowzer takes its time to perfection.

Related Maps

Tableau

Creme brulee lovers tend to agree. It’s all about the burnt sugar crust, and there’s never enough of it. At Tableau the problem is solved, with the custard swiped across an entire dinner plate, topped with a burnt sugar crust that reaches from edge to edge. Basically, every bite is the good part.

Miss River

There are plenty of wows on Alon Shaya’s Miss River menu in the Four Seasons — the whole fried chicken is one place to start that conversation. But at the end of the meal, start with the chocolate doberge cake topped with 23k gold flakes; swanky and very shareable. There’s also baked Alaska for two (or three).

The Country Club

The Country Club dishes a range of experiences, from wild drag brunches to poolside parties. Chef Chris Barbato keeps the focus on modern Southern cuisine, with global influences. Hence, his Basque-style cheesecake, which swaps New York style for this caramelized version, baked at high temp to dish a smooth custard interior, dressed with fresh berries and pine nuts. 

Related Maps