THE SOUTH
The New Orleans Michelin Guide: The Stars, Bib Gourmands, and Recommended Restaurants
By Eric Barton | Nov. 4, 2025
Lufu
AUTHOR BIO: Eric Barton is editor of The Adventurist and a freelance journalist who has reviewed restaurants for more than two decades. Email him here.
Michelin has released its New Orleans guide, naming stars, Bib Gourmands, and a slate of recommended spots across the city. The tally: one two-star (Emeril’s), two one-stars (Saint-Germain and Zasu), 11 Bib Gourmands, and 17 recommended selections.
New Orleans is one of the great restaurant cities on Earth—part living archive, part laboratory, always loud in flavor and opinion. Here, you’ll find po’boys that reset your idea of sandwiches, tasting menus that redefine classics, bars where the happy hour menu is better than dinner most places.
What follows is the complete list of winners—stars, Bibs, and recommended—to help plan your next night out in New Orleans, an undisputed champion of eating well.
34 Restaurant & Bar
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Emeril and E.J. Lagasse’s modern Portuguese “love letter” runs on shareable plates and Iberian swagger—clams in vinho verde, arroz de pato with chouriço and mushrooms, and this absolute killer dish above, the Prego, a Portuguese filet sandwich. The room reads sleek but unfussy, with a wine list heavy on Portugal and Spain. It’s the Lagasse family in new colors, confident and generous.
Award: Recommended
Acamaya
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Chef Ana Castro, a 2025 James Beard semifinalist, makes Mexican mariscos in a way that feels quietly revolutionary. Her dining room is small, almost spartan, which means the grilled whole fish or scallop crudo has nothing to hide behind. Acamaya is less about flash and more about reverence—for the food, for her story, and for the people who come ready to listen.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Addis Nola
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Owners Prince Lobo and Dr. Biruk Alemayehu—along with chef Jaime Lobo—serve authentic Ethiopian dishes, like house-made injera with stews and tibs that land bright and aromatic. The room glows with textiles and wicker, and the hand-washing ritual sets the tone: slow down, share, and eat with your fingers. It’s Ethiopian hospitality translated cleanly to New Orleans.
Award: Recommended
Atchafalaya
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Chef Christopher Lynch steers a neighborhood Creole stalwart known for a raucously good brunch, a DIY Bloody Mary bar, and refined dinner plates that still feel like New Orleans. Candlelit rooms, white linens, and swaggering service keep the mood celebratory. It’s where locals take visitors to show off the city without a museum tour.
Award: Recommended
Clancy’s
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Uptown’s white-tablecloth classic plays the hits—fried oysters with brie, lemon icebox pie, and duck to make you remember Sunday suppers. The cellar is deep, the service old-school, and the room hums like an insider’s club that still welcomes newcomers. Creole comfort with a wink and a jacket.
Award: Recommended
Cochon
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Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski’s Warehouse District staple does Cajun with a pitmaster’s pedigree. Think wood-fired oysters, cracklin’-crisp pork, and the kind of slow-cooked stews that smell like Acadiana. The room is brick-and-timber rustic, the plates rooted in technique and local product, not garnish. It’s where New Orleans goes when it wants its heritage cooked hard and right.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Cochon Butcher
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Next door to Cochon, the butcher/sandwich counter spins house-cured meats into cult favorites—the Le Pig Mac double-pork “burger,” stacked muffulettas, and a Cubano that tastes like it came off a smokehouse line. Five full-time butchers crank through whole hogs; nothing goes to waste, from cracklins’ to stock bones. Grab a seat, a beer, and something messy wrapped in paper.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Compère Lapin
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Nina Compton trained at the French Culinary Institute, won a James Beard Award, and still makes curried goat that tastes like it could comfort an entire nation. Compère Lapin is a Warehouse District favorite, Caribbean in influence but unmistakably New Orleans in attitude. It’s one of the few restaurants where a business dinner and a third date would both make sense.
Award: Recommended
Dakar NOLA
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Born in Harlem and raised in Senegal, Serigne Mbaye could’ve opened a fine-dining tasting menu anywhere, but he did it in New Orleans, and thank God. Dakar NOLA is part memoir, part dinner, and wholly unique, earning him the 2024 James Beard Award for Best New Restaurant and the No. 6 spot on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list. You can’t miss with anything on the menu, but don’t skip the jollof rice, accompanied by a house Dakar Spice that makes me sweat just thinking about that lovely heat. Michelin favors restaurants that tell a chef’s story, and this tale is a true original.
Award: Recommended
Domilise’s Po-Boy & Bar
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Uptown’s shrine to the Leidenheimer loaf keeps it simple: fried shrimp and oyster po-boys dressed and stacked at the corner of Annunciation and Bellecastle. The Domilise family’s place dates to the early twentieth century, and the barroom vibe hasn’t changed much since. Order at the counter, crack a cold drink, and let the grease and gravy do their work.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Emeril’s
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E.J. Lagasse has the keys now, and the flagship shows it: a modern tasting menu that rebuilds his father’s classics with tight technique and New Orleans swagger. Last month, The New York Times stamped the reboot with three stars, a national nod that set the stage for what came next. In the American South’s inaugural Michelin list, Emeril’s stands alone with two stars—the region’s only two-star—cementing E.J.’s takeover as more than a cosmetic refresh.
Award: Two stars
Galatoire’s
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This French Quarter institution keeps things formal with tuxedoed servers, a jacket requirement after five, and a menu that never forgets shrimp rémoulade, crabmeat maison, or black drum meunière. The kitchen, guided by chef-turned-corporate-president Melvin Rodrigue, cooks tradition like it’s breaking news. Friday lunch remains the city’s best theater.
Award: Recommended
Herbsaint
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Donald Link’s bistro on St. Charles Avenue walks the tightrope between French refinement and Southern indulgence. The house-made spaghetti with guanciale and a fried-poached egg should probably be registered with the city as an official comfort object. Herbsaint is the kind of place you bring your in-laws, even if you don’t like them, just so they’ll shut up about the food.
Award: Recommended
Hungry Eyes
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Mason Hereford’s ’80s-inspired dinner spot trades in “luxury drinking food”: martinis up front, medium-size share plates from chef Phil Cenac in back—roasted artichokes, grilled pastrami, seafood curries that lean bright and punchy. It’s loud, walk-in-only, and built for snacks that turn into a night. Turkey and the Wolf’s sense of mischief, with a later bedtime.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Killer PoBoys
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French Quarter counter service, chef-crafted fillings: seared Gulf shrimp with pickled veg and sriracha aioli, glazed pork belly with lime-slaw snap, and a black-beer beef debris that eats like a late-night good idea. Two locations—at the back of Erin Rose and on Dauphine—keep the line moving. It’s the po-boy’s passport stamp.
Award: Recommended
The Kingsway
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Chef Ashwin Vilkhu’s tasting menu draws on family dinners and pan-Asian flavors, refined into a sleek, modern room with a serious bar. Dishes move from raw and precise to richly spiced, with balance as the through-line. It’s the sibling to Saffron NOLA that dresses up for the evening.
Award: Recommended
La Petite Grocery
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Chef Justin Devillier’s Magazine Street bistro is a neighborhood anchor with signatures worth a detour: blue crab beignets, turtle bolognese, and the LPG cheeseburger. Service is polished, the room warm, and the cooking equal parts classic and sly. Date night by way of old-New-Orleans.
Award: Recommended
Lufu Nola
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Three chefs—Sarthak Samantray, Aman Kota, and Sachin Darade—bring regional India to the CBD with chaat at lunch, curries and tandoor-leaning plates at dinner, and a welcome that feels personal. What started as a pop-up is now a tight, elegant room where masalas meet New Orleans appetite. It’s one of the city’s liveliest new dining stories, told in spice.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Mister Mao
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Self-described as “unapologetically inauthentic,” Mister Mao is where chef Sophina Uong lets loose—in the best possible way. The dishes rotate frequently, but staples like tamarind-glazed pork ribs and Vietnamese crawfish étouffée show a deep understanding of bold flavors and unexpected pairings. The dining room has tropical wallpaper, mismatched chairs, and the kind of energy that makes you stay for dessert whether you meant to or not.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Molly’s Rise & Shine
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From the Turkey and the Wolf crew, breakfast gets playful and dialed—Grand Slam McMuffins, roasted carrot yogurt, and biscuit-and-gravy that flirts with miso. Co-chefs Colleen Quarls and Liz Hollinger keep the line fast and the plates smart. It’s sunshine with a side of chaos, in the best way.
Award: Recommended
Osteria Lupo
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From Brian Burns and Reno De Ranieri, this Magazine Street charmer leans Northern Italian—house-made pastas, wood-fired vegetables and meats, and a wine list that rewards curiosity. The vibe is neighborhood-casual with razor-sharp execution. It’s where simplicity shows its technique.
Award: Recommended
Parkway Bakery & Tavern
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Since 1911, Mid-City’s po-boy factory has been slinging roast beef debris and fried shrimp on crackly Leidenheimer bread, with Jay Nix steering the modern era. Lines snake, sauce drips, and the counter hums like a neighborhood reunion. It’s the platonic ideal of a po-boy shop, still moving at streetcar speed.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Patois
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Chef Aaron Burgau makes French food that went to high school in Louisiana. That means chicken liver mousse and gnocchi with rabbit, plus a dining room that feels like the kind of place you can linger without anyone polishing the silver at you. It’s quietly confident, and that’s saying something in this city.
Award: Recommended
Peche
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Peche is a seafood temple where the flames never go out. Chefs Donald Link and Ryan Prewitt won a James Beard Award for this place, and it shows in the grilled whole fish and wood-roasted oysters. The dining room is noisy, the plates come fast, and it all works like a well-tuned parade route.
Award: Recommended
Restaurant August
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There was a time when this was the fancy restaurant in town. And though others have stolen some of the spotlight, John Besh’s flagship still delivers foie gras three ways and crab-stuffed Gulf fish with surgical precision. August feels a little more buttoned-up than the rest of the city—but Michelin likes their shirts pressed.
Award: Recommended
Saba
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Alon Shaya’s Magazine Street dining room is a hymn to pita and tahini: hot bread balloons from the oven, hummus comes in seasonal riffs (yes, with blue crab), and salads and skewers land bright and herb-driven. The cooking is generous and modern Israeli, built for tearing, dipping, and passing. It’s where a table becomes a small party.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Saint Germain
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A tasting menu served in someone’s house, basically, with wine pairings that might surprise you and dishes that occasionally involve tweezers. There are only a few tables, and the chefs bring the food out themselves, so you’ll feel weirdly invested by dessert. It’s not just intimate. It’s surgical. In the best way.
Award: One star
Saffron
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Saffron is what happens when Indian flavors meet Gulf Coast ingredients and decide to throw a party. Chefs Pardeep and Arvinder Vilkhu serve pork vindaloo and curried Gulf shrimp in a room that feels more like New York than New Orleans. Michelin doesn’t usually reward spice—but they might make an exception.
Award: Recommended
Turkey and the Wolf
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Biggest surprise from the New Orleans Michelin Guide? This right here. And it’s not because Mason Hereford’s sandwich chapel doesn’t deserve it. Hereford rewires nostalgia: the collard green melt, the fried bologna tower, the wedge with “everything bagel” crunch. But since when does Michelin enjoy American-style nostalgia? Either way, I’m glad they took this field trip into vintage oddities and dishes like these pork, chicken, habanero empanadas, which not only are a celebration of somebody’s birthday but of a recognition from the French.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Willie Mae’s Nola
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The Seaton family’s legend lives on through Kerry Seaton-Stewart, whose golden, glass-shattering fried chicken still draws lines and converts skeptics. Sides matter—butter beans, cabbage, mac and cheese—and the new downtown outpost keeps the flame while Tremé rebuilds. A master class in simple done perfectly.
Award: Bib Gourmand
Zasu
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Sue Zemanick has a James Beard Award and a gift for making halibut feel special. Zasu is the restaurant where she finally gets to show off what she does best: exacting, seasonal dishes that don’t whisper, they murmur. It’s quiet here, yes. But the food is a revelation.
Award: One star
