9 Noteworthy Louisiana Restaurants | Listen

By: The Local Palate

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Our top 9 Louisiana restaurants from tried-and-true classics to new hotspots

From New Orleans to Lake Charles, Louisiana has an incredible variety of top-notch restaurants to try. In the Local Palate’s 2024 Restaurants Issue, Louisiana writer Beth D’Addono offers a guide to new and tried-and-true local spots with these 9 Louisiana restaurants.

5 New Louisiana Restaurants

Chapter IV | New Orleans, Louisiana

Chef Edgar “Dook” Chase and his wife, Gretchen, opened this modern take on classic creole dishes saluting Chase’s grandmother, the late “Creole Queen of New Orleans,” Chef Leah Chase. The menu stays true while forging its own path, swapping shrimp out for fried catfish atop a mound of creamy grits.

Fives | New Orleans, Louisiana

Chef Paul Terrebonne presides over this gorgeous oyster bar on the edge of Jackson Square in the French Quarter. Small plates include beef tartare spiked with peppery Thai basil and crowned with an egg yolk. Beyond Gulf oysters, bivalves from both coasts are featured. And it’s all served with polish and grace by a fabulous bar staff.

Fives Bistro Seating Credit @coryjames fontenot

The Pearl | Shreveport-Bossier, Louisiana

Shreveport’s The Pearl features chef Val Benn’s creative use of Louisiana ingredients in dishes like black-eyed pea hummus, collard green pesto served with chicken cracklins, and smoked brisket over gouda stone grits. Oysters are available raw or with chipotle bourbon butter, and the kitchen specializes in homemade “caviar pearls” in flavors like pickle and cilantro lime.

Brasas Peru | Baton Rouge, Louisiana

The first Peruvian restaurant in Baton Rouge, Brasas Peru is the brainchild of Lima native Giannina Chavez and her brother, Renzo Ibanez, and sister-in-law, Carolina Ayala. The menu centers on traditional charcoal chicken, the juiciest birds marinated for two days in a spice blend that includes cumin and dried aji panca peppers, rotisserie grilled over a charcoal fire.

Five Mile Eatery | Lafayette, Louisiana

This women-owned-and-operated eatery spotlights locally sourced ingredients, most from within a five-mile radius of the restaurant. Chef Kelsey Leger has decades of experience working on farms and creating artisanal American fare. Expect thoughtfully crafted breakfast sandwiches, burgers, and salads. The restaurant’s mission is hyper eco-aware: recycling, composting, and sustainable practices and packaging prevail.

4 Tried & True Louisiana Restaurants

Commander’s Palace | New Orleans, Louisiana

Winner of multiple James Beard Awards, this “Haute Creole” fine-dining restaurant is a New Orleans landmark, boasting a renowned chef pedigree from Emeril Lagasse to Tory McPhail to current executive chef Meg Bickford.

Strawn’s Eat Shop | Shreveport, Louisiana

This iconic diner, in operation since 1944 and now with multiple locations, is famous for its ice box pies, an epic breakfast menu, and home-style Southern cooking.

The Chimes | Baton Rouge, Louisiana

A made-from-scratch Louisiana menu and extensive beer and liquor selections make this multilocation operation a locals’ standard for Cajun favorites, from the fried pickles and boudin egg rolls to fried seafood platters and crawfish etoufee.

Steamboat Bill’s | Lake Charles, Louisiana

Inspired by its founder’s background in the shrimping industry, this seafood eatery in Lake Charles offers a menu of Cajun fried dinners, crawfish and shrimp boils, po’boys, and tacos.