Seafood$$$$french-quarter
GW Fins in New Orleans is Tenney Flynn's Bienville Street fine-dining seafood room, with a daily-changing menu sourced from the Gulf and the docks.
Signature: Scalibut, Sizzling oysters
Order: Whatever runs as the daily catch. Then the warm biscuits, which arrive without prompting.
Tip: Reservations are easier on weeknights; bar dining serves the same menu with shorter waits.
Modern Creole$$$$warehouse-district
Restaurant August in New Orleans is the 2001 modern Creole flagship in an 1830s Tchoupitoulas warehouse, originally John Besh's room and now.
Signature: Gulf fish in lemon butter, Truffled potato gnocchi
Order: The truffled potato gnocchi, on the menu in different forms for two decades.
Tip: Tasting menu is the most-rewarded path; book a window-side table for the brick-arch view.
Creole$$$$garden-district
Commander's Palace in New Orleans is the 1893 Garden District grande dame on Washington Avenue, the Brennan family flag with turtle soup, jacket-required.
Signature: Turtle soup, Pecan-crusted Gulf fish
Order: The turtle soup with sherry tableside. It has been on the menu since the dining room opened in 1893.
Tip: Book the upstairs Garden Room for the live courtyard view; the dress code requires collared shirts at dinner.
French Creole$$$french-quarter
Galatoire's in New Orleans is the 1905 white-tile French Creole room on Bourbon Street, where regulars hold the same Friday lunch tables and tip the captain.
Signature: Shrimp remoulade, Trout amandine
Order: The shrimp remoulade to start, then trout amandine. Order souffle potatoes alongside.
Tip: The downstairs room is walk-in only and no reservations; Friday lunch starts at 11:30 and runs into the evening.
French Creole$$$french-quarter
Antoine's in New Orleans is the 1840 St Louis Street dining room, the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States and the birthplace of Oysters.
Signature: Oysters Rockefeller, Pommes de terre souffles
Order: Oysters Rockefeller, invented here in 1899. Then the souffleed potatoes.
Tip: Skip the main dining room for the Hermes Bar on Bienville, the kitchen runs the same menu and the room is unstuffy.
French Creole$$$french-quarter
Arnaud's in New Orleans is the 1918 French Creole room on Bienville Street from Arnaud Cazenave, with mosaic-tile floors, the French 75 Bar next door.
Signature: Shrimp Arnaud, Souffle potatoes
Order: Shrimp Arnaud, the house remoulade. Then redfish with Hollandaise.
Tip: The French 75 Bar serves the canonical version of its namesake drink and seats walk-ups; no jacket required there.