Diners' Choice: Innovative restaurants in New Orleans / Louisiana

OpenTable

Updated January 05, 2025

Looking for the best restaurants that are fit for foodies in New Orleans / Louisiana? You’re in the right place. Each month, OpenTable analyzes nearly 2 million global diner reviews from the past four months. We sort the results by location and category to help you discover new favorite restaurants. It's a great partnership: you reserve, eat, and review. We listen...and deliver the results for all to benefit. Enjoy!

Wild South

4.9

4.9 (18)

$50 and over

Creole / Cajun / Southern

Lower Garden District

About the restaurant

Take the right turn off of Magazine Street
in the Lower Garden District and you’ll
stumble upon Wild South.

Through the yellow doors lies a restaurant
that showcases local ingredients we
hold dear in new, innovative ways while celebrating
the signature elements that make up this Southern cuisine.

Whether you’re popping in for snacks at
the bar or want the full tasting experience,
Chef Michael Stoltzfus and his team invite you
to partake in the unique taste of the Wild South.
Wild South is now offering a la carte at both the bar
and dining room.

Top review

Owen

Dined on Jan 5, 2025

excellent meal, wonderful service, and lovely atmosphere. sorry to see it was the last ever dinner service at Wild South! Glad we got to experience a wonderful restaurant on its last night!

Cafe Reconcile

4.8

4.8 (21)

$30 and under

Southern

Lower Garden District

About the restaurant

Our innovative Workforce Development Program is designed as a positive youth development space that supports the career exploration and job readiness opportunities of young people 16-24 years old. Interns earn industry credentials, explore career and educational pathways that suit their individual abilities, and experience real-world, on the job training.

Led by a skilled team of industry professionals with shared lived-experience and incorporating a cadre of community-based partners, we work to build bright futures with and alongside our young people.

Café Reconcile is a destination lunch spot for a wide cross-section of New Orleanians as well as visitors from all across the country. Focusing on the kind of “soul food” for which New Orleans is known, the restaurant has earned high praise from local and national critics.

When guests dine in the cafe, funds go directly back into our Workforce Training Program ensuring Interns and Alumni have essential supports.

Top review

Patricia

Dined 6 days ago

The staff is always so personable and professional. The food is always great.

Jewel of the South

4.8

4.8 (74)

$31 to $50

Contemporary British

French Quarter

About the restaurant

Borrowing its name from an influential 1850s-vintage bar in the Central Business District, this pub-like tavern (with courtyard) occupies an old brick Creole cottage in the French Quarter, where well-known local bartender Chris Hannah serves up cocktails both classic and contemporary. London-born chef Philip Whitmarsh runs the kitchen.
Accolades include James Beard, World 50 Best, Art of Hospitality, Best Bar South (North America).

Top review

TastebudVIP

Dined 5 days ago

Our drinks were amazing. I enjoyed the sweetbreads appetizer with julienned mirliton and hot pepper jelly.

Yo Nashi

4.7

4.7 (465)

$50 and over

Japanese

Central Business District

About the restaurant

Yō Nashi is a New Orleans omakase restaurant. Utilizing local ingredients and flavor with Japanese technique and presentation, Chef Jose creates a dining experience that invokes a sense of transportation while simultaneously being rooted in the city where he presides.

Our daily omakase menu is created around the best seasonal ingredients available. Please provide any allergies or dietary restrictions with your reservation so that we may be able to ensure your best possible experience.

Top review

Jon

Dined 1 day ago

Always an exceptional dinner. Omakase is the way to go.

Maypop

4.6

4.6 (1364)

$31 to $50

Southeast Asian

Central Business District

About the restaurant

Welcome to Maypop! - the sister establishment to the award winning Mid-City restaurant MOPHO. Located two blocks from the Super Dome and only one block from Poydras street, it features Southeast Asian inspired southern cuisine and focuses on hand made pastas and house charcuterie paired with Gulf seafood, local produce and hand ground curries. Enjoy our refreshing cocktails that are as innovative and creative as our cuisine, and our well curated wine list paired to our eclectic dishes.
Executive Chef Michael Gulotta was named a 2016 Best New Chef by Food and Wine Magazine and Maypop was named a 2017 best new restaurant by New Orleans magazine as well as a 2017 peoples choice best new restaurant by Gambit Magazine.

Parties of 5+ guests will be charged an automatic 20% gratuity.

Top review

Jennifer

Dined 5 days ago

We love Maypop. The food is delicious, the service is fantastic, and just overall it is a great spot for a special date night. They made us feel welcome! They also didn't even bat an eye at some dietary restrictions I have that have caused issues at other similar restaurants and went out of their way to make sure I was safe and cared for. Highly recommend this gem.

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4.6

4.6 (148)

$50 and over

Portuguese

Central Business District

About the restaurant

34 is Chef Emeril Lagasse’s first restaurant dedicated to the cuisine of his Portuguese heritage. He was inspired by his late mother, Hilda, who influenced his interest in cooking when he was a child growing up in Fall River, MA. The 245-seat restaurant is adorned in shades of green – Emeril’s signature color – wood accents and ornate Portuguese tiles. A painting of a rooster, a national Portuguese symbol of good luck, greets guests at the entrance. Once inside, a jamon bar with countertop service and tile-clad DJ booth are focal points of the space. The restaurant celebrates not only the food and design of Portugal but also the sounds, with music from local and touring DJs.

Top review

SteveVIP

Dined today

Excellent food prep and service. Should be served as tapas. Go here to share great tastes. We loved it. Our server was Claire. Very knowledgeable and patient

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Experience

Happy Hour at 34 Restaurant & Bar

Tacos del Cartel

4.5

4.5 (229)

$30 and under

Mexican

Central Business District

About the restaurant

At Tacos del Cartel, tacos, brunch, lunch and dinner are an art form. The menu is a culinary love letter, a symphony of flavors that dance on the taste buds. The culinary rebels in the kitchen experiment with traditional Mexican recipes, infusing them with the boldness of cultures.

Top review

TerraVIP

Dined 1 day ago

What a wonderful experience! The food was delicious and our waiter Eddie was phenomenal. He was so knowledgeable of the history of the restaurant and eloquently shared it with us throughout our experience. Our experience was so amazing that we immediately booked another reservation while still there.

Vessel NOLA

4.2

4.2 (2639)

$30 and under

Seafood

Mid-City / City Park

About the restaurant

Vessel Specializes in Fresh Seafood and New American Cuisine! Renowned Chef Wille Cooper, who trained under Emeril Lagasse & Wolfgang Puck sources fresh local ingredients incorporating many of the traditions New Orleans is famous for. Dinner is served 7 days a week and brunch Sat-Sun! Happy Hour weekdays 4-6 pm (except holidays). Reservations are advised and we welcome walk-ins! Dine inside or outdoors on our gorgeous covered patio! ARCHITECTURAL DIGEST featured VESSEL as one of "8 of the Most Gorgeous Restaurants in Former Churches Worldwide". Paranormal activity lurks at VESSEL as featured on The Travel Channel's hit show "THE DEAD FILES" in the episode "Deadly Vessel" showcasing the spirits that haunt Vessel. Eat, Drink, Congregate! at Vessel at New Orleans' most exciting restaurant/bar, housed in a 1914 historic church in Mid-City, 10 minutes from the French Quarter just off the Canal Street Streetcar.

Top review

stan

Dined 4 days ago

Very good meal. Outstanding service. Beautiful place to eat. Will return

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True Food Kitchen - New Orleans

4.2

4.2 (700)

$30 and under

American

Warehouse District

About the restaurant

True Food Kitchen is a chef-driven restaurant and scratch bar that was founded by Dr. Andrew Weil, the pioneer of integrative medicine, to provide food that tastes great and is good for you. At our table, delicious dining and conscious nutrition go hand in hand, without sacrificing flavor, creativity or indulgence. Our expertly trained chefs craft flavor-forward dishes, handcrafted cocktails and freshly pressed refreshers so you can enjoy epic food experiences that aren’t just good for you, but good to you. Join us in New Orleans for lunch, dinner, or weekend brunch. Located in New Orleans below The Julia at St. Charles apartments at the corner of Julia Street and Saint Charles Avenue, near F45 Training. New flavors, new combinations, new obsessions. Come see us for something completely new and delicious.

Top review

Harvey

Dined on Dec 15, 2024

Great time! Would do it again!! There is no bad meals to be had.

Public Service

3.3

3.3 (530)

$30 and under

American

French Quarter

About the restaurant

A dynamic community gathering place, Public Service is a casual-yet-sophisticated restaurant with a menu honoring the Gulf Coast’s hard-working fishermen and farmers. Our chefs prepare contemporary cuisine in an open-display kitchen highlighted by an open-flame rotisserie.

Join us for a relaxing meal with family or friends, a quick bite in our bar or pull up a stool at the open kitchen to experience a meal guided by our chefs. At Public Service, the recipe is simple: combine confident Southern hospitality with a menu that allows the ingredients to speak for themselves.

Click on our virtual tour to step inside Public Service! https://visitingmedia.com/tt8/?ttid=nopsi-hotel-icms#/3d-model/0/1?b11t0=1&a10ph=1&i2d0a=1&j2ck2=1

Top review

Kathleen

Dined on Dec 2, 2024

The food was delicious. Our server was so friendly and funny. The restaurant was beautiful. I would recommend Public Service. We will be back

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Experience

Jazz Brunch at Public Service Restaurant

Experience

Wine Down Wednesdays at Public Service

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