Commander's Palace

"The Garden District grand dame of New Orleans-style fine dining has a new head chef and expanded courtyard dining, making it a good time to revisit the elaborate Victorian-era mansion. Ever celebratory, Commander’s still raises the bar for hospitality and service while delighting with reliably satisfying Creole dishes like turtle soup, lacquered quail, and a not-to-be-missed bread pudding souffle. During the famous martini lunch served Thursdays and Fridays, a smaller, less expensive menu offers 25-cent martinis with the purchase of an entree. A meal here requires significant advance planning to reserve, so take note." - Clair Lorell

"Commander’s Palace has swept multiple James Beard Award categories, including Outstanding Service in 1993; Outstanding Restaurant in 1996; Best Chef, South in 1999 and 2013; and the Lifetime Achievement Award for matriarch Ella Brennan in 2009. (Owners Ti Adelaide Martin and Lally Brennan were included in the foundation’s 2018 cohort of Who’s Who in Food and Beverage, too.) Commander’s has propelled the careers of chefs including Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse — just another reason why the Garden District restaurant continues as a hospitality icon, serving a Bayou-inflected menu of brown butter wild white shrimp, burgundy escargot crustades, and bread pudding soufflé." - Beth D'Addono

"This Garden District beauty made famous by renowned restaurateur Ella Brennan has been known for its twenty-five cent lunch martinis since introducing the promotion in the 1990s. For food, chef Meg Bickford offers an affordable three-course prix-fixe special for $48 (or two courses for half that), featuring the restaurant’s most famous dishes: turtle soup, lacquered quail, and bread pudding soufflé. The courtyard is always a nice daytime setting." - Eater Staff

"Chef Meg Bickford puts a spin on Creole dishes along with honoring the standards that make Commander’s Palace such an experience. Besides the Creole seafood gumbo and turtle soup, there’s a pecan-crusted fish topped with Prosecco poached jumbo lump crab, and a garlic and pepper seared shrimp made with wild Louisiana white shrimp, served with autumn vegetables and smokey tomato butter." - Beth D'Addono, Clair Lorell

"If it’s a special occasion spot you seek for your Monday night meal, Commander’s has you covered. Enjoy chef Meg Bickford’s modern take on roast beef debris, made with Black angus short ribs slathered over buttery toasted Leidenheimer French bread topped with oyster mushrooms, arugula, Boursin, horseradish mayo, and veal jus. Her pecan-crusted fish is topped with jumbo lump crab poached in Prosecco — Bickford dials everything up to 11." - Beth D'Addono, Clair Lorell