Chapter IV is where you go when you’re looking your best, because everybody and their mama is there. Your ex is at a table sharing smothered okra with their new fling, your former coworker is at the bar drinking a refreshing strawberry spritz, and a group of people you went to school with is around the corner when you walk to the bathroom. Plus, this great (and more modern) Creole spot from the team behind Dooky Chase has almost too many dishes here to choose from.

New Orleans is undoubtedly a seafood city, but most places do the same type of fish, along with the same preparations—we’re talking about you, fried catfish with some sort of cream sauce and a handful of crawfish tails or crabmeat on top. Even though that’s lovely, GW Fins is where you come for innovative seafood dishes. Among the most impressive are options that mimic meat, like dry-aged yellowfin and bluefin “ribeyes” or the muffaletta sliders made with cuts of swordfish.

When Mexican spot Lengua Madre closed, there was a gaping hole in the New Orleans food scene. Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait long for the chef to open Acamaya in Bywater, which focuses heavily on seafood and might even be better than Lengua Madre. The thick and soft sopes are still around, this time topped with crab and whatever seafood is in season. Start with those and even more seafood—some crab claws with arroz negro, ceviche or house-smoked hamachi, and any fish special.

Brennan’s is the fine dining standard in New Orleans. It’s the type of restaurant where you’ll find yourself checking your posture, because you’d hate to slouch, and saying “powder room” instead of bathroom. Servers put on shows when doing tableside bananas foster or crepes fitzgerald (both dishes that Brennan’s actually invented), and are somehow still able to answer any questions you have seamlessly. The menu changes seasonally, and all of it’s excellent.

There are many New Orleans restaurants with storied histories, but none quite like Dooky Chase’s, which was a central meeting point during the Civil Rights Movement and fed its famous fried chicken to A.P. Tureaud and Thurgood Marshall. Get a plate of that chicken for yourself while you admire the art on the walls from Black artists. On Holy Thursday (the last Thursday before Easter Sunday), they do gumbo z’herbes, a traditional preparation of the local dish made with nearly a dozen greens.

Our lives can be split into two distinct time periods: before we tried the turkey neck appetizer at Café Reconcile, and after. These crispy, caramelized hunks of fall-off-the-bone poultry are worth a visit alone, but you should definitely throw in a fried chicken plate, too—theirs is one of the best in the city. Café Reconcile is only open for lunch, and it’s a pretty big space where you can almost always find a table.

Dakar is one of the hottest and most unique restaurants in New Orleans. It’s a tasting menu, supper club-style spot where the chef and owner cooks dishes inspired by the food of Senegal, his home country. Not only that, but he’s right there with you for every course, telling stories and personal anecdotes about each bowl of blue crab seafood stew or pot of jollof rice. It’s a special occasion restaurant that will probably teach you a lot, while also simultaneously being a party.

Castnet Seafood makes our favorite po’boy in the city (yes, even better than Parkway). If it’s your first time, go with the quintessential dressed New Orleans fried shrimp, which comes with lettuce, pickle, tomato, Blue Plate mayonnaise, Crystal hot sauce, and a little butter on Leidenheimer French bread. They also serve a hot sausage option that’s equally good, made with Patton’s, which is the gold standard for ground meat patties, and tastes great dressed with cheese.

Bayona is a spot where you can get Creole dishes and linger with a couple of friends for a while and not feel like you’re part of a large march of tourists (unlike other classic spots like Galatoire's, which turn tables much faster). The courtyard, filled with plants and more cobblestones than a Roman sidestreet, is where you want to be. It feels like your own secret little garden where you can eat duck liver pate, grilled pork chops, and fennel and pepper-crusted lamb loin.

When you want to eat New Orleans-style seafood that’s better (and half the price of what you’ll find at touristy spots in the Quarter), come to Deanie’s on Hayne. Focus on the specials—last time we visited we had the crabmeat-stuffed redfish served with squash and salad for around $20. The seafood platters are also always a winner, especially since they’re totally shareable with heaping amounts of fried shrimp, catfish with stuffed crab, oyster patties, and onion rings.

New Orleans has plenty of Thai restaurants, but there’s something magical about Budsi’s in the Marigny. Maybe it’s because there have been so many iterations: it was originally a restaurant in Thailand, then a pop-up, and finally a gorgeous corner brick and mortar. Regardless, it’s one of our top group dinner spots in the city. Sure, going solo for a cocktail and plate of larb is cool and all, but it’s better to go with friends so you can share all the great appetizers.

Paladar 511 is a loud, fun place to have a group dinner where you can let loose at one of the big leather booths that face the open kitchen and not worry about being too unhinged. The menu is all about pizza, pastas, and hearty sauces—make sure to get the messy-but-worth-it Farm Egg pizza and squid ink spaghetti with calabrian chili butter that we’d happily buy by the jar.

Even though it’s only been open since late 2022, Mamou is one of the newest and best French restaurants in town. It’s a great place to bring a date, eat escargot, and drink a glass of Burgundy. Beyond snails, we love the braised celery hearts with beef tongue, gulf fish court bouillon, and risotto. If you’re around Louis Armstrong Park and need a glass of wine and a snack, hang out at the lively emerald green bar, which is just as fun as the rest of the fuschia-accented dining room.

Stand outside of Luvi on the busy Tchoupitoulas Street corner and it could be hard to believe just how calm the tidy little restaurant is beyond the cottage’s muted blue door. More cool blues with greens and bright florals surround the intimate space, where chefs prepare dishes from Shanghai and Japan just beyond the L-shaped counter. This is the sort of place where you’ll happily lose count as you order plate after plate, many of which are small but easily shared.

The best things at Saffron, a consistently excellent Indian restaurant on Magazine Street, are the dishes that seamlessly incorporate Southern flavors into their food. We’re talking about the comforting seafood gumbo loaded with tender okra, perfectly cooked gulf shrimp, and plenty of curry spice, and the roasted oysters sprinkled with curry leaves and served with fluffy naan.

You can find this fun wine bar inside a small house on St. Claude in the Bywater. They have a great selection of natural wines and a reservations-only, 10-course tasting menu that’s full of surprising dishes in a dining room reminiscent of a friend’s cozy apartment. The menu is always rotating, but think fermenting, braising, smoking, poaching—anything that can be done to get the most out of seasonal, local produce (a recent favorite featured prawns served with fermented tomato).

Ba Mien in New Orleans East is where you can get Vietnamese dishes you won’t find elsewhere in or around the city. Yes, phở, vermicelli, and spring rolls are on the menu. But we’re talking about things like nem nướng khánh hòa, a roll-your-own dish of grilled pork paste, fresh herbs, crunchy vegetables, and tropical fruits. Or, the bánh cuốn thịt nướng, which consists of steamed rice rolls stuffed with grilled pork with peanut sauce.

The biggest Haitian celebrity might be Wyclef Jean, but we’d like to start a petition to change that to Fritai. They really rep the island hard with a flag outside, bright decor, kompa music, and amazing passion fruit wings, plantain sandwiches with fried pork and spicy pikliz, and smothered greens. They did all these dishes when they were a pop-up at St. Roch Market, but at their new Treme corner spot, they also have delicious plates of goat and grilled shrimp to love.

Ethiopian spot Addis recently got a new home on the historically Black New Orleans street Bayou Road. Here, they truly get to take up space, with a handwashing station in front and lots of Ethiopian dining tables known as mesobs throughout the room. Start with the Addis special, which is kind of like steak tartare, and lentil sambusas, followed up with a big plate of lamb tibs, mar mitmita shrimp, and a side of wot. The coffee ceremony is worth doing after your meal.

AJ’s started as a Creole food truck under the Claiborne bridge, and it was always busy then, and it’s always busy now in the Treme. The best thing about AJ’s, apart from the friendly service and consistency, is that everything tastes like it was made at a barbecue—slightly smoky, and just spicy enough to be exciting. Get the Hawaiian ribeye plate with mashed baked potatoes, with a side of blackened salmon, a cup of Jazzy Punch, and one of the sweet potato pies made by the chef's mom.

It’s only natural to get caught looking at other people’s plates when visiting Two Tony’s, a Lakeview restaurant with a large dining room. There are so many Creole Italian dishes worth getting that order envy is a regular occurrence. Not to mention that the portions are so massive, it’s almost a guarantee you’ll have leftovers. Start with fried artichoke hearts, crabmeat-stuffed mushrooms, and a small house Italian salad, then get a side of lump crabmeat with Mediterranean shrimp pasta.

Sure, you could settle for Waffle House after a night out, but you should probably just go to Palm & Pine instead. They’re open on Friday and Saturday night until 1am and serve shareable dishes like buttery cornbread with fermented chili butter and curry crab beignets. And yes, it’s also a good option when it’s still light out. They do a great Sunday brunch where you can eat some duck fat fried potatoes and actually make out all the cool art on the walls.

Queen Trini Lisa is our pick for the best casual lunch in New Orleans. If you’re around Mid-City, use their chickpea-loaded doubles box to fuel up for a day of exploring cemeteries. It’s also completely worth it to go out of your way to try their smoky and slightly sweet BBQ jerk chicken. There are just a few tables, but it’s never super busy, so you can relax over a spicy lunch while dancehall plays from the speakers.

Turkey & The Wolf has received more national attention than any other restaurant in New Orleans over the last couple of years. Which makes sense, since their wild sandwiches are all truly excellent. But while it’s no longer the newest kid on the block, this is still one of the best casual, comfort food spots around. Everything is nostalgic in the best way possible, but their collard green melt might just be the best thing on the menu.

What happens when the Turkey And The Wolf team opens a walk-in-only bar and restaurant that also feels like a museum dedicated to the ‘80s? You’ve got one of the top places in the city to sit at the bar with some small plates (get the roasted artichokes) and an interesting cocktail or two. There’s an endless amount of little trinkets around the space, like cocktail taps with vintage beer logos, pastel posters, and retro furniture.