Dooky Chase Restaurant
Creole restaurant · Treme
2301 Orleans Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119
Highlights
Creole cuisine, fried chicken, gumbo, and civil rights history
Creole cuisine, fried chicken, gumbo, and civil rights history
"Previously announced as a 2025 James Beard Award recipient." - Erin DeJesus
"Opened in 1941 by Leah Chase, who became known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine," this restaurant combined elevated Creole food with a deliberate mission to support social change, serving as a congregational space where civil-rights leaders could strategize when other public venues were unavailable. Today the family continues that legacy, with grandson Edgar Chase as executive chef, and the dining room still radiates warmth and camaraderie — the blended scents of simmering collards and freshly baked cornbread, patrons dressed in their Sunday best, soft laughter, and raised toasts evoke a long tradition of hospitality tied to activism. Leah Chase, who died in 2019, framed the work as a higher calling to make the world better, and that ethos remains central to the restaurant's identity." - Shani Hillian
"There are many New Orleans restaurants with storied histories, but none quite like Dooky Chase’s, which was a central meeting point during the Civil Rights Movement and fed its famous fried chicken to A.P. Tureaud and Thurgood Marshall. Get a plate of that chicken for yourself while you admire the art on the walls from Black artists. On Holy Thursday (the last Thursday before Easter Sunday), they do gumbo z’herbes, a traditional preparation of the local dish made with nearly a dozen greens and plenty of meat or without if you prefer it vegan." - chelsea brasted, zella palmer, carlo mantuano, megan braden perry
"Chef Leah Chase’s rich legacy lives on at Dooky Chase thanks to a new generation, who’ve kept the iconic Treme institution top-notch since her death in 2019. The restaurant’s famous gumbo z’herbes is only available on special occasions — but when it is, locals line up around the block for the incredible dish. Still, the Creole seafood gumbo is always on the menu here, and unlike the minimalist gumbo z’herbes, this one is chock-full of meat and seafood." - Eater Staff
"A historic Treme landmark tied to classic Creole and community culinary influence: credited with the gumbo z’herbes and recommended for lunch items like fried chicken and red beans, as well as for some of the city’s most influential cooking overall." - Beth D’Addono
