Whether your appetite calls for no-frills Creole or Cajun fare or upscale French cuisine, Louisiana offers it all. From laid-back markets known for andouille, to refined metropolitan dining, next time you’re in the Bayou State take a specialty-focused food tour or try one of these top Creole, Cajun or French restaurants serving up delicious Cajun and Creole dishes.
Known for its award-winning food and charming atmosphere, Commander’s Palace in New Orleans’s Garden District is an obvious choice. Claiming seven James Beard Foundation Awards and boasting a long list of renowned chefs, from Emeril Lagasse, Paul Prudhomme and Tory McPhail to today’s Meg Bickford, Commander’s Palace has grown from its roots dating back to 1893 into a culinary destination.
Under Bickford’s “dirt to plate in under 100 miles” promise, the restaurant strives for 90 percent of its ingredients to come from within 100 miles of its address. To start, try the shrimp-and-tasso henican—local Louisiana white shrimp stuffed with tasso ham, pickled okra, sweet red onions, five-pepper jelly and a Crystal hot sauce beurre blanc or smoked Gulf fish maque choux. Pork belly and crab cakes also appear on the appetizer menu. Turtle soup, ever-changing daily soup or Commander’s signature creole gumbo are other choices. Can’t decide? Order the “soup 1-1-1” for smaller samplings of all three.
For mains, the pecan-crusted fish is topped with poached jumbo lump crab and comes served with roasted corn, asparagus, grilled kale and melted leeks with whiskey-spiked crushed-corn cream. The garlic-seared shrimp and rich, creamy grits come with charred okra, roasted mushrooms and braised eggplant. Sides are served family-style and include tangy bacon and apple cider-braised cabbage, Prosecco-poached Louisiana blue crab or crushed red pepper-braised fennel and carrots. Be sure to save room for dessert—Commander’s is known for its creme brulée, pecan pie à la mode and Creole bread-pudding soufflé.
For Cajun cuisine, Spuddy’s in Vacherie offers house-made andouille and a variety of Cajun dishes, plus its signature Cajun Cooking Experience, which invites guests into the kitchen with Spuddy to learn how to stuff sausages and cook popular fare like gumbo and jambalaya. The event culminates with a group meal.
Open since 1918, and featuring an on-site Mardi Gras Museum, Arnaud’s, located just off Bourbon Street in New Orleans’s French Quarter, has become a staple of Creole cuisine.
Start with tender Louisiana crab meat baked in a cheese sauce or go with Arnaud’s house hickory-smoked Gulf pompano fish, served with sour cream, capers and onions. Oysters, shrimp bisque, turtle soup and gumbo all dutifully make appearances on the appetizer’s menu.
For more substantial fare, crispy-fried frog legs come topped with Herbsaint-infused garlic-herb butter and the restaurant offers an array of fish choices, including crispy-fried style, served with specialty Creole meunière sauce. Chicken, duck, quail, veal and filet mignon make up the non-seafood options, and Arnaud’s also offers all-vegetarian dishes. Time it up and try to attend one of Arnaud’s buzzy jazz brunches, Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Prix-fixe tasting menus and bar menus are also options.
Recently included in the Louisiana Civil Rights Trail, Dooky Chase’s is as historically significant as it is a tasty choice. Originally a sandwich shop and lottery-ticket outlet in the late 1930s, over the years, Dooky Chase’s has grown, first as a popular bar and later as a family restaurant. Founded by Emily and Edgar “Dooky” Chase Sr., the location evolved into a meeting place for New Orleans music, civil rights and culture.
Start with an order of “Shrimp Dooky”—Creole-spiced and boiled shrimp, deviled egg and pickled okra or crab soup. Entrées include crawfish étouffée, shrimp creole and a variety of fish dishes. The Louisiana pan-seared redfish comes with succotash and lump crab meat with a Creole sauce.
Southern fried chicken, braised duck, ribeye, chicken Creole and other Creole dishes round out the dinner menu. Sides here come family-style and include stewed okra, baked macaroni or jambalaya. If room allows, praline bread pudding or peach cobbler end the experience on a sweet note. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
One of the oldest family-run restaurants in the country, Antoine’s has been in business since 1840. Expert French fare pairs with an elegant environment that keeps people coming back. Start with an order of escargot Bourguignon or the Creole Andouille au gratin—seared local Manda andouille with Antoine’s house Creole sauce and a three-cheese topping. Oysters come in a variety of ways and gumbo and salads are also tried-and-true starters.
Fish lovers can choose between grilled pompano rich with butter-poached jumbo lump crabmeat and fresh lemon or fish amandine, a lightly breaded, local Gulf fish with toasted almonds, brown butter and lemon drizzle. Both dishes come with savory onion rice and seasonal vegetables. Desserts include bread pudding and a flourless chocolate torte.
Book your stay at Best Western Plus French Quarter Courtyard Hotel.
In Lafayette, Prejean’s offers Cajun dishes with a side of live tunes. Try a boudin or blackened Gulf shrimp flatbread, deep-fried gator tail or crawfish nachos. Seafood gumbo, corn bisque and crawfish étouffée all jump off the gumbo and salads menu, or savor andouille with red beans and rice. For dishes on the heartier side, seafood platters, fried po-boys, shrimp and grits or a crab BLT are all options.
Book your stay at Best Western Lafayette Inn.
Quaint, with farmhouse charm, Maison Lacour has to be a contender for anyone in search of French fare in Baton Rouge. Tucked away in a historic house, Maison Lacour serves up traditional French food with a southern Louisiana spin. Standards, like cote de veau, veal chop served with a cognac flambé sautéed with cream and mushrooms, is a classic choice. For a more locally influenced take, opt for the seafood crepe, a thin pancake stuffed with lump crab, shrimp, and asparagus, with a white wine cream sauce.
Book your stay at Best Western Plaquemine Inn.
Many Louisiana regions offer food trails, based on their own delicacies.
The Cajun Boudin Trail, celebrating the popular combination of cooked rice, pork, onions, green peppers, and seasoning, all stuffed into sausage casing, highlights the top boudin spots in the state, including Shawn’s Cajun Meats Too in Delcambre.
On the Louisiana Andouille Trail, you can “follow the links” on the trail’s diverse map of cafés, inns, markets and more—all offering tastes of the coarse, ground-pork specialty. Seafood is the focus of the Bayou Country Crawfish Trail and the Louisiana Oyster Trail. Call or check hours before you go.
