Bird on the street: Here Today Rotisserie Chicken
It's been a minute since we cast our beady eyes over the changing hospitality scene in New Orleans. Here's our pick of some of the new bars and restaurants that are making a splash in the city, and are worth your time if you're looking for fresh places to explore.
RESTAURANTS
Bodega
Formerly neighborhood staple Barcia’s Grocery, this new lunch spot serves up sandwiches and intriguing items such as cola-braised chicken tacos. There are also prepped meals, recent options including everything from Senegalese braised chicken to classic meatloaf. Check their Instagram for updates.
Patula
This bijoux, semi-secret courtyard on Royal Street. Working with the well-respected Ayu Bakeries and serving “boutique wines”, it’s a good morning/lunch spot that serves stuff as light as pasties and salads, up to meatier tenderloin au poivre. Chef Rob Tabine is a Link Group graduate, so has the (pork) chops.
Pulcinella!
Endearing new Italian joint in the Seventh Ward that touts home-style Italian chow. The intimate, 52-seater sees burlesque performer Bella Blue team up with her husband Andy Principe of Palm&Pine fame, with J.D. Solomon on wine selection duties. READ OUR REVIEW!
The Husky
Brought to you by the same team that created Pigeon & Whale. The aesthetic is described by owner John Michael Rowland as a “Gatsby winter lodge”, transporting guests to an upscale cabin-like ambiance. The trappings are luxurious, and the food varied and contemporary. READ OUR REVIEW!
Dr. Jones
A new restaurant from friends David Rouse and Billy Jones, also both of the Link Restaurant Group. It’s a budget-friendly Southern menu with a BYO option and has Haitian and Ethiopian elements thrown in for good measure - broadening horizons in Metarie.
Here Today Rotisserie
Chef Mike Stoltzfus is James Beard Award-nominated and has chosen to put his eggs into an elevated rotisserie chicken basket. You can also pick up pre-prepped cheeses and wines. It's in the LGD, and brought to you by the same team that runs the uptown restaurant, Coquette.
Brutto Americano
In what used to be the Ace Hotel (now The Barnett), where signature Josephine Estelle once sat. Chef Brian Burns and his business partner Reno De Ranieri have gone for modern Italian with local touches and it’s a lovely, Art Deco space.
BARS
Nightbloom
A new cocktail lounge on the St Claude corridor, next to Galaxie Tacos. Expect classics and house specials in an intimate, romantic space that feels suitably chill, in part due to the tasteful soundtrack that wafts over the space.
Fives
Expect plenty of discerning tourist traffic at this new place right on the hubbub of Jackson Square. Cocktails and small plates are the order of the day, and they’re actively hoisting a flag for the savory cocktail trend (sweet options are available, don’t worry).
Observatory Eleven Bar
Head up to this viewing gallery of a bar in the Westin Hotel. There’s no deck, but the floor-to-ceiling windows give a great vista of downtown. Live music makes for an atmospheric place to sip a sundowner.
Rosella
The cocktails that accompany their comfort-forward food menu are a juice worth the squeeze, with well-priced mixed drinks. Their most requested is the Purple Drank - a riff on the more famous libation served up at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar.
Jolie
Kiah Darion (formerly of Bar Marilou) and Will Lester (from Longway Tavern) have curated a welcoming lounge that offers a warmth that’s not too frequent in the CBD. They love their gadgets (think atomizers, eye droppers, blow torches) and there’s musical talent on show with DJs, live bands and a monthly “Cirque de Jolie” cabaret.
Tatlo
Beloved Milkfish chef Cristina Quackenbush is bringing novelty to Bourbon Street, with a self-described “speakeasy/Filipino restaurant/witch bar/absinthe den”. Well, alright then. The latter, absinthe-fuelled cocktails are the main attraction, and it’s a very welcome addition to the Bourbon Street scene.
Maze
Mid City continues to offer more and more great drinking options; this is a high-end party affair with VIP tables, bottle service, DJs, and the like. There’s a fair amount of hype, glitz and neon - again, something different for the Mid City crowd and certainly mixing things up in more ways than one.
RESTAURANTS
Bodega
Formerly neighborhood staple Barcia’s Grocery, this new lunch spot serves up sandwiches and intriguing items such as cola-braised chicken tacos. There are also prepped meals, recent options including everything from Senegalese braised chicken to classic meatloaf. Check their Instagram for updates.
Patula
This bijoux, semi-secret courtyard on Royal Street. Working with the well-respected Ayu Bakeries and serving “boutique wines”, it’s a good morning/lunch spot that serves stuff as light as pasties and salads, up to meatier tenderloin au poivre. Chef Rob Tabine is a Link Group graduate, so has the (pork) chops.
Pulcinella!
Endearing new Italian joint in the Seventh Ward that touts home-style Italian chow. The intimate, 52-seater sees burlesque performer Bella Blue team up with her husband Andy Principe of Palm&Pine fame, with J.D. Solomon on wine selection duties. READ OUR REVIEW!
The Husky
Brought to you by the same team that created Pigeon & Whale. The aesthetic is described by owner John Michael Rowland as a “Gatsby winter lodge”, transporting guests to an upscale cabin-like ambiance. The trappings are luxurious, and the food varied and contemporary. READ OUR REVIEW!
Dr. Jones
A new restaurant from friends David Rouse and Billy Jones, also both of the Link Restaurant Group. It’s a budget-friendly Southern menu with a BYO option and has Haitian and Ethiopian elements thrown in for good measure - broadening horizons in Metarie.
Here Today Rotisserie
Chef Mike Stoltzfus is James Beard Award-nominated and has chosen to put his eggs into an elevated rotisserie chicken basket. You can also pick up pre-prepped cheeses and wines. It's in the LGD, and brought to you by the same team that runs the uptown restaurant, Coquette.
Brutto Americano
In what used to be the Ace Hotel (now The Barnett), where signature Josephine Estelle once sat. Chef Brian Burns and his business partner Reno De Ranieri have gone for modern Italian with local touches and it’s a lovely, Art Deco space.
BARS
Nightbloom
A new cocktail lounge on the St Claude corridor, next to Galaxie Tacos. Expect classics and house specials in an intimate, romantic space that feels suitably chill, in part due to the tasteful soundtrack that wafts over the space.
Fives
Expect plenty of discerning tourist traffic at this new place right on the hubbub of Jackson Square. Cocktails and small plates are the order of the day, and they’re actively hoisting a flag for the savory cocktail trend (sweet options are available, don’t worry).
Observatory Eleven Bar
Head up to this viewing gallery of a bar in the Westin Hotel. There’s no deck, but the floor-to-ceiling windows give a great vista of downtown. Live music makes for an atmospheric place to sip a sundowner.
Rosella
The cocktails that accompany their comfort-forward food menu are a juice worth the squeeze, with well-priced mixed drinks. Their most requested is the Purple Drank - a riff on the more famous libation served up at Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar.
Jolie
Kiah Darion (formerly of Bar Marilou) and Will Lester (from Longway Tavern) have curated a welcoming lounge that offers a warmth that’s not too frequent in the CBD. They love their gadgets (think atomizers, eye droppers, blow torches) and there’s musical talent on show with DJs, live bands and a monthly “Cirque de Jolie” cabaret.
Tatlo
Beloved Milkfish chef Cristina Quackenbush is bringing novelty to Bourbon Street, with a self-described “speakeasy/Filipino restaurant/witch bar/absinthe den”. Well, alright then. The latter, absinthe-fuelled cocktails are the main attraction, and it’s a very welcome addition to the Bourbon Street scene.
Maze
Mid City continues to offer more and more great drinking options; this is a high-end party affair with VIP tables, bottle service, DJs, and the like. There’s a fair amount of hype, glitz and neon - again, something different for the Mid City crowd and certainly mixing things up in more ways than one.