Where to Dine for Christmas in New Orleans

In New Orleans, where restaurants are part of the family, dining out for Christmas can be a revered tradition. At this second-most festive time of the year (Carnival season is first), many top local kitchens prepare a special meal for locals and visitors who are wise enough to trust the professionals. Plenty of these options offer their regular everyday menu a la carte as well, so no pressure to commit to the prix-fixe. Hotel restaurants are generally open to take care of their guests, both locals and out-of-towners. Just remember: whatever you eat it’s still Christmas, so don’t skimp on the tip.

Here’s a guide to New Orleans’s best dining options for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. If we’re missing a great spot, let us know.

Christmas Eve

Alma

800 Louisa Street, Bywater

Kick off the holiday with chef Melissa Araujo’s modern Honduran brunch paired best with creative cocktails, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. besides breakfast tacos and blue crab toast, there are savory salads and the best homemade pastelitos de carne (meat pies with Honduras red sauce). The tuna enchilada is also a winner.

The Bower

1320 Magazine Street, LGD

This Lower Garden District charmer is serving the regular seasonally-driven menu along with Chef Marcus Woodham’s take on Reveillon for Christmas Eve. His three-course menu ($67) offers pork belly and scallops with bitter local greens and spicy tuna tartare with gogi berries, duck confit, basil spaghetti with burrata, a tasty vegetarian option. Just try to resist the apple and goat cheese cake with salted caramel.

Josh Brasted/Eater NOLA

Brennan’s

417 Royal Street, French Quarter

Brennan’s is open for breakfast/lunch on Christmas Eve, serving from the regular menu. Come dinnertime, there’s an $85, three-course holiday menu, which includes choices like duck liver mousse and turtle soup to start, with mains ranging from beef wellington and roasted duck to trout with lump crabmeat. Naturally bananas Foster is on the dessert menu. Reserve here.

Broussards

819 Conti Street, French Quarter

Broussard’s, part of the Creole Cruisine Restaurant Group, offers both Christmas Eve and Day menus, as well as a four-course Reveillon option. Creole classics and local seafood drive the experience here, best enjoyed in the gorgeous courtyard if weather permits. Many of the group’s restaurants will be open to cater to both visitors and locals in the French Quarter and CBD, including Boulevard (801 Magazine Street) and Kingfish (337 Chartres Street).

Cafe Degas

3127 Esplanade Avenue, Bayou St. John

The charming Cafe Degas makes for a lovely Christmas Eve setting, a New Orleans classic lit up by Christmas lights all year round. Snag a seat on the patio and choose from the French-centric regular menu from chef Joe Turley or the still-in-the-works five-course Reveillon menu. Last year that included escargot Rockefeller, lamb steak au poivre, and a decadent apple frangipane tart.

Miss River

Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, 2 Canal Street, French Quarter

Big news: Both restaurants in the Four Seasons are open and serving dinner on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Miss River, Alon Shaya’s extravagant flagship restaurant on the ground floor of the towering hotel, is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. both days, serving its regular, special occasion-worthy menu as well as the four-course Reveillon menu. Reserve here.

Mister Mao

4501 Tchoupitoulas Street, Uptown

The always-surprising Mister Mao is a spirited option for Christmas Eve dinner, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Chef Sophina Uong’s regular menu might include Kashmiri fried chicken, crying tiger hanger steak, and blue crab bucatini. Come early to have a drink in the tropical roadhouse bar along with some of the drinking snacks like crispy pork belly with raw garlic, hot chili, and citrus. Dinner is filling up fast, so reserve here.

Origen Bistro

3600 St Claude Avenue, Bywater

For those seeking the non-traditional, chef Julio Machado is open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., serving his menu of polished Venezuelan fare along with a few specials. For sure the traditional holiday treat hallacas will be on the menu, a savory corn dough stuffed with bits of beef and pork, aromatics, raisins, and olives, wrapped in plantains and boiled, tamale style.

Vessel

3835 Iberville Street, Mid-City

How fitting to celebrate a sacred holiday at a restaurant that used to be a church? Vessel offers a gorgeous setting any time of year, but the soaring space is especially festive during the holidays. Chef de cuisine Willie Cooper offers two options on Christmas Eve. Order from his regular polished American menu — think Korean crispy pork belly, crab au gratin with brandy, seafood pasta, and steak au poivre. Or opt for the month-long Reveillon menu, three courses for $65, including choices like eggplant Parmesan soup, blackened ribeye, and chocolate mousse cake. Reserve here.

Christmas Day

Pan-roasted Ora King salmon from Chemin à la Mer

Chemin à la Mer

Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, 2 Canal Street, French Quarter

Donald Link’s restaurant Chemin à la Mer, French for “pathway to the sea,” offers dramatic front-row views of the Mississippi River from its perch on the fifth floor of the 34-story Four Seasons Hotel New Orleans, a special setting for a holiday meal. On Christmas Day, Chemin will offer a traditional prime rib special with Yorkshire pudding in addition to the regular menu. It’s open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Reserve here.

Compère Lapin

535 Tchoupitoulas Street, CBD

Celebrate Christmas with a midday meal (noon to 3 p.m.) at James Beard award-winning chef and St. Lucian native Nina Compton’s flagship restaurant downtown, priced at $95 per person. Enjoy family-style roasted rabbit with sides like creamed collards and blackened potatoes. Dessert is black cake with sorrel sorbet.

Couvant

315 Magazine Street, CBD

Christmas brunch is a $52 three-course feast offered from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Couvant, the French-accented restaurant in the Eliza Jane Hotel. Choices include fried oysters with brie and lemon beurre blanc, truffled butternut squash velouté with pancetta, steak and eggs with mushroom hash, and Crème Brûlée.

The Elysian Bar

2317 Burgundy Street, Marigny

The Elysian Bar, the part-French, part-Southern outpost in the Hotel Peter & Paul, will be open to serve guests and Marigny neighbors who wander into the cozy space, which includes the cool Rectory Bar and seating in various cozy parlors and outside when weather permits. The regular menu is served on Christmas Eve during the usual hours of service, with the addition of a few holiday specials on Christmas Day from noon to 8 p.m. Reserve here.

Sara Essex Bradley/Windsor Court Hotel

The Grill Room

Windsor Court Hotel, 300 Gravier Street, CBD

This elegant Windsor Court restaurant breaks from its Réveillon menu to offer special menus on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The four-course menu for lunch or dinner ($120 per person) is anything but typical — try the red fish with mushroom ragout, lamb with Moroccan couscous or duck l’orange. Choose sticky toffee pudding or orange and chocolate mousse for dessert.

Jack Rose

Pontchartrain Hotel, 2031 St. Charles Avenue, LGD

Open Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and serving guests of the Pontchartrain Hotel and everybody else, Jack Rose features chef Brian Landry’s focus on seasonal and Cajun flavors. The four-course prix-fixe menu ($61 to $93, depending on main course) served both days might include options like duck gumbo, beet and citrus salad, seared scallops, and lamb tournedos. Look forward to dessert with options like the restaurant’s famed Mile High Pie or butter pecan bread pudding. Reserve here.

Restaurant R’evolution

777 Bienville Street, French Quarter

Restaurant R’evolution from chefs John Folse and Rick Tramonto is luxury-grade cooking at its best, and following a multi-million dollar renovation last year, it’s sharper than ever. The Royal Sonesta gets all dolled up for the holidays, so a Christmas dinner here is particularly festive. It’s open from noon to 8 p.m. on Christmas Day offering a Réveillon menu full of holiday dishes. Make your reservation here.

Josh Brasted/Getty Images

The Roosevelt

130 Roosevelt Way, CBD

The annual Christmas Day brunch at the Roosevelt is back, featuring the likes of herb-roasted turkey breast, spice-rubbed prime rib, and Chardonnay-poached shrimp and scallops. This kid-friendly brunch is priced at $139 for adults, $49 for kids, and complimentary for kids under two. Reserve here.

Tujague’s

429 Decatur Street, French Quarter

Celebrate Christmas at New Orleans’s second oldest restaurant from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. with chef Meg Gray’s classic holiday three-course feast, priced at $67. Savor chicken and andouille gumbo, Gulf fish amandine, and pork shank with cornbread dressing. Bread pudding with eggnog sauce wraps up what for so many is an annual tradition.