Best Breakfast and Brunch Places in New Orleans

"GQ's Golden Dish Award for Eggs Sardou, Commander’s Palace’s legacy speaks for itself. Located in the Garden District, Commander’s Palace is thought to be the original spot for a jazz brunch and patio dining. For contemporary Louisiana food and alfresco dining, look no further than Commander’s Palace."

"A favorite for visitors and locals alike, Commander's Palace is a New Orleans landmark known for its award-winning Creole fare and elegant jazz brunch. MoreCallReserveStart Your ReservationWebsite"

"Managed by the renowned Besh Restaurant Group and helmed by James Beard-nominated pastry chef Kelly Fields, Willa Jean is a modern bakery and kitchen crafting Southern comfort food in an urban-chic environment. The stylish restaurant serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner along with freshly baked pastries and sweet treats, which are perfectly paired with signature Willa Jean blend Intelligentsia Coffee and specialty coffee drinks. Tuck into creative breakfast and brunch dishes of crawfish and grits with poached eggs and cheddar biscuits, biscuits with gravy, fried eggs, and pimiento cheese, and griddled banana bread."

"Opened in 2015 by South Carolina-born chef Kelly Fields, Willa Jean offers a bright, modern space to enjoy breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. The pastry counter alone is worth a visit. In 2019, Fields won the James Beard Award for Outstanding Pastry Chef."

"I’ve only been to Cafe Du Monde, but that Willa Jean warm chocolate chip cookie looks right up my alley!. I would love to do a swamp tour and a cemetery tour!. This is a very well-done New Orleans guide!"

"Click your heels three times, and you’ll end up at the Ruby Slipper Cafe on the edge of the Garden District. Wake up, and rally at this boozy brunch spot, with a little vodka in your iced coffee or a little OJ in your mimosa. Go ahead, and order another round while you snack on pig candy bacon bites – your bananas foster pain perdu and crawfish & grits benedict will help you sober up."

"The family-owned restaurant with four locations around New Orleans spotlights house signature items like Chicken St. Charles, Eggs Cochon and Bananas Foster Pain Perdu. Prices start around the $9 range, topping out around $15. The spot doesn’t take reservations."

"Katie’s first opened its doors in 1984 as a family-owned and operated corner lunch hot spot founded by former oil man Leo Leininger, who named the restaurant after his mother. It changed hands in 1993 when the Craig family – mother Mary and sons Scot and David – purchased it. The restaurant was a neighborhood icon until it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina."

"There’s a time when you have to let the menu sing for itself. That’s the case with Katie’s. The lemon ricotta pancakes feature three large buttermilk pancakes that are packed with ricotta cheese and lemon zest."

" American male) was so friendly, personable, and attentive to all of our needs. My parents were blown away. Thanks again for the experience!"

"Ace Hotel stands in the Warehouse District, where you can check out Alto, the hotel’s rooftop garden. Get a mix of seasonal cocktails, wines, craft beers, frozen drinks and rotating on-tap specials at Alto’s bar. Poolside dining includes a selection of Italian-inspired small plates for any growing appetites."

"Josephine Estelle is an osteria from James Beard Award-nominated chefs, Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, and showcases their signature culinary style of combining the craft-centric philosophy of Italian cooking with flavors of the American South. Our seasonal menu--available daily for breakfast,...See More"

"King Cake is a braided sweet bread shaped into a circle and covered with icing and colored sprinkles—typically green, representing faith, purple for justice, and gold for power. The treat is customarily enjoyed from Three Kings Day, also known as Epiphany on January 6, leading up to Mardi Gras and the start of the Lenten season, when people tend to abstain from such indulgences. Laurel Street Bakery"

"Bagels can make just about anything better, and Laurel Street is offering curbside takeout and delivery of its sweets and bagels. Don’t forget to get a tub of their special cream cheese, like the date and honey or olive pimento, while you’re at it. Cost: Bagels are $1.75 each or $18 for a dozen; spreads are $1.75 for a single serving or $4 for a half-pint; order online through Seamless or Grubhub"

"Grilled salmon nicoise salad includes tomato, hard-boiled egg, roasted red potatoes, green beans, shaved red onion, olives and mixed greens in apple cider vinaigrette with ciabatta toast."

"Opened in 2017 in the Garden District, Lula is New Orleans’ only Creole/Southern restaurant with an in-house distillery. Partner Jess Bourgeois, formerly of Commander’s Palace, handles the restaurant while co-owner Bear Caffrey, a Baton Rouge ER doctor with a penchant for chemistry, oversees the distillery. To open a combined full service restaurant with a micro-distillery, Bourgeois and Caffrey had to seek approval through House Bill 233, which passed in the summer of 2015, paving the way for future restaurant-distillery concepts in Louisiana."

"This stylish yet rustic micro-distillery produces small-batch, handcrafted vodka made from Louisiana sugar cane. The smooth and clean spirit has the soft finish of a cane vodka. Also available is a molasses- and raw-sugar-based rum that is batch fermented and distilled, and gin steeped with botanicals like juniper, coriander, angelica root and citrus peel."

"Tea-brined, buttermilk battered Cornish hen is served with Creole slaw and fries. Reservations accepted. Lunch and dinner daily, brunch Sat.-Sun."

"440 Chartres St., (504) 524-8990; www.originalpierremasperos.com. A seafood pistolette is filled with crawfish, Gulf shrimp, bell peppers and onions in creamy cheese sauce and topped with Parmesan."

"Herbsaint first introduced New Orleans to prolific restaurateur Donald Link. Since then, Link has opened several more excellent restaurants — Pêche, Cochon, and Cochon Butcher, and helped build a new generation of New Orleans culinary leaders. The French and Italian Herbsaint has remains one of the most consistently good restaurants in New Orleans, with the bonus of romantic outdoor seating along the downtown portion of the St. Charles streetcar line and now a menu catered to takeout and delivery."

"Housed in a relatively anonymous-looking building in the Central Business District, the dining room is disarmingly casual and feels like a democratic venue to sample some of the city’s best food. As almost all well-loved New Orleans restaurants do, Donald Link's flagship shows skill with the classics, and the dirty rice and chicken, tasso, and andouille gumbo remain as popular as ever. But the Italian and French dishes on the menu will call out to you."

"Burger Benedict features a potato latke, a house-ground burger patty, poached eggs, hollandaise, crumbled bacon and green onions. Reservations recommended. Brunch and lunch Wed.-Sun."

"Saturn Bar's month to month Mod Dance Party offers visitors with enough 60's swagger to wind the night away. DJ Matty also DJ Kristen loan realness to the gathering's notch by adhering to a soundtrack involved exclusively of vinyl records from the period. Wearing Twiggy eye cosmetics, bouffants, cigarette pants, and realistic small scale dresses, the group accept the presence of the Mad Men fan tradition gone brilliantly astray."

"ClaudeWhat could possibly be the exact opposite of a place like Foundation Room?. Yup, Saturn Bar it is. Calling it a “dive bar” wouldn’t be adequate or accurate; this joint is a NOLA institution."

"Luvi is one of the best restaurants to open in New Orleans in the last few years, a petite and colorful Uptown cottage where chef Hao Gong wows with his mastery of Japanese and Chinese cuisines. Gong, who worked for years at Sake Cafe, delivers raw and nearly raw fish paired with the likes of cucumber and yuzu vinegar and pink dragon fruit, as well as Shanghai comfort food like dumplings, dan dan noodles, and bam bam chicken. The menu changes often, but can always be counted on for a range of hot and cold delights."

"Nestled along Tchoupitoulas Street in Uptown New Orleans is Luvi - a light and refreshing Japanese + Chinese fusion restaurant. Its menu is packed with a handcrafted selection of raw bites, Shanghai comfort foods and Asian-inspired cocktails. With housemade sauces, fresh ingredients and carefully prepared creations, Luvi pushes boundaries and sets new standards for fusion cuisine."

"5236 Tchoupitoulas St., (504) 605-3340; www.luvirestaurant.com. Mala Holla is spicy beef with cilantro, peanuts and ghost chili oil. Reservations accepted."

"For over three decades, Pho Tau Bay has remained a go-to place for Vietnamese food in New Orleans - and with good reason. Their traditional Vietnamese menu features an extensive selection of authentic dishes, drinks and sweets. Begin your meal with their signature, freshly prepared spring rolls made with shrimp, pork, vermicelli and fresh herbs."

"Pho Tàu Bay, family-owned and a local favorite, recently reopened its doors in the Central Business District. Sometimes it has caramelized flan for dessert, the perfect counterbalance to a satisfyingly salty broth."