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Brennan's
The Top List of Best Brunches - New Orleans, LA
New Orleans is known for Mardi Gras and they do a pretty good Brunch too
by Paul A. Greenberg
Sunday in New Orleans is the day locals simply unwind and let the city wrap its arms around them. Relaxing in New Orleans always requires food, great music and good company. Restaurants citywide show off their best easy foods at Sunday brunch, but make no mistake – fresh ideas and imaginative culinary muscles are stretched, all to the benefit of diners who worked hard all week to earn a few hours of hot jazz, steamy oysters and sweet indulgences.
Court of Two Sisters
613 Royal St., New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 522-7261
Hours: 5:30-9pm nightly; Jazz Brunch Buffet, Sat., Sun. 9am-3pm; Mon.-Fri. 11am-3pm
Only at Court of Two Sisters in the French Quarter is buffet brunch served daily. The buffet is the most extensive and lavish in the city. The restaurant boasts well over a century of experience in feeding the masses. Egg dishes, seafood, carved meats, fresh bakery items, salads and fruits populate the mouthwatering spread. Still, it is the home-churned vanilla ice cream with praline sauce that goes down so easily with the Dixieland jazz as background music. Find a seat in the aged courtyard, and plan to return for dinner, if only to sample the bacon-wrapped oysters en brochette.
Estimated cost per person: Brunch $40; Dinner $65
Holiday schedule: Open all major holidays
The Veranda
444 St. Charles Ave., New Orleans, LA 70125
(504) 525-5566
Hour: Buffet Breakfast, Mon.-Sat. 6:30-10:30am; Lunch, Daily 11am-2pm; Dinner, Daily 5:30-10PM; Sunday brunch, 11am-2pm
The family unit is intact in New Orleans, and on Sunday, the best multi-generational brunch spot is The Veranda Restaurant at Hotel Inter-Continental. The buffet is as visually stunning as it is delectable. From the artisan cheeses, pates and exotic fruits to the food stations offering everything from Asian preparations to Southern biscuits, gravy and grits, the selection is staggering. The Veranda gives the feel of outdoor dining, although located inside the hotel’s third floor. In the evening, soft lighting and soothing music are a sharp turn from the lively champagne jazz brunch. Check out the ever-evolving international wine list.
Estimated cost per person: Brunch $42.50; Dinner $55-$65
Holiday Schedule: Open all major holidays
House of Blues
225 Decatur St., New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 310-4999
Hours: Sunday brunch 10am-2pm; Dinner 5-10pm nightly
If you need a little old time religion and angelic funk with your omelets and jambalaya, where better than funk central? House of Blues rocks the house every Sunday with regional gospel bands and singers, and be prepared to make a joyful noise and second line through the building as the music swells. The food is equal to the music, and anyone who misses out on the white chocolate bread pudding with whiskey sauce is going home only half-fed. Dinner is similarly upbeat – try the beer-battered catfish -- sensational. Still, the house calling card remains the pan seared “voodoo” shrimp and rosemary cornbread. Now that rocks.
Estimated cost per person: Brunch $43; Dinner $45
Holiday hours: New Year’s Eve, Open, New Year’s Day, Closed; Christmas Eve, open; Christmas Day, closed. Valentine’s Day, open. Easter, open.
Jackson
1910 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 529-9599
Hours: Dinner Wed.-Mon. 6-10pm; Brunch Sun. 10am-2pm
The Magazine Street business and entertainment district is creeping further toward downtown, with Jackson among the biggest draws. Situated in a cavernous historic building with exposed brick walls and sky-high ceilings, Jackson was among the first local eateries to go smoke-free. The menu is similarly progressive. Brunch can be as tame as poached eggs over paneed green tomatoes, or it can fast forward to a stellar pain perdu stuffed with fruit and cream cheese mouse. Dinner goes further with pepper-crusted filet in bourbon cream sauce. The house brandy milk punch is a gentle reminder what easy Southern living is all about.
Estimated cost per person: Brunch $30; Dinner $50
Holiday schedule: Christmas eve, open; Christmas Day, closed. New Year’s Eve, open; New Year’s Day, Open; Valentine’s Day, open; Easter, open.
Begue’s
Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon St., New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 586-0300
Hours: Breakfast/lunch Mon – Thurs., Sat. 6:30am-1pm; Fri. 11:30am-1pm; Dinner nightly 6-10pm; Sunday brunch 10:30am-1:30pm
Forget all you have heard about stuffy hotel dining rooms. Begue’s is lively, elegant and very New Orleans. You will dine on fine table linens with real silver cutlery, and if you happen in on Sunday, expect an upscale buffet with etoufees, fresh salmon, plump gulf shrimp, steamed veggies, omelets filled with crabmeat, sugary beignets and pastries as beautiful to look at as they are sweet to the taste. Dinner is equally elegant, with the best baked swordfish in the city. Stop by on Fridays for a lavish seafood buffet, complete with smoked fish, oysters, crab legs and more.
Estimated cost per person: Dinner $75; Brunch $45
Holiday schedule: Open all major holidays
Brennan’s
417 Royal St., New Orleans, LA 70130
(504) 525-9711
Hours: Breakfast/brunch Mon.-Fri. 9am-1pm; Sat, Sun. 9am-2pm; Dinner nightly 6-9pm
Kings, queens, matinee idols, star athletes – name them and they have probably graced Brennan’s doorway for the breakfast of a lifetime, complete with a the trademark Sazerac cocktail (made with “bourbon and a little mystery”). Brennan’s Eggs Hussarde is known worldwide – poached eggs atop Holland rusks, Canadian bacon and Marchand de Vin sauce. Since WWII days, Brennan’s has been a New Orleans culinary anchor, a tourist must-see, and a beloved local institution. That could be because of the signature blackened redfish, or the deliciously rich New Orleans Turtle Soup. Oh, and the Bananas Foster flamed tableside? Brennan’s invented it.
Estimated cost per person: Brunch $40; Dinner $75
Holiday schedule: Christmas Eve, open; Christmas Day, closed; New Year’s Eve, open; New Year’s Day, open; Valentine’s Day, open; Easter, open.
Ralph’s on the Park
900 City Park Ave., New Orleans, LA 70119
(504) 488-1000
Hours: Lunch, Fri. 11:30am-2pm; Dinner Tues.-Sun. 5:30-9:30pm
Brunch, Sun., 11am-2pm
Ralph Brennan is nationally known for his dedication to quality foodservice and fine New Orleans dining. Ralph’s on the Park is adjacent to City Park, far from the crowded French Quarter and downtown dining scene. Interiors are casually elegant, and the menu is strictly New Orleans. For brunch, consider a hearty country gumbo followed by veal grillades and grits. For dinner, be good to yourself and indulge in andouille crusted, flash fried oysters in hot sauce butter, and an unforgettable roasted lamb loin stuffed with goat cheese, pine nuts, sun-dried tomato and mint filling. Now that’s a real New Orleans meal.
Estimated cost per person: Dinner $60-$75; Brunch $40-$50
Holiday schedule: Christmas Eve, closed; Christmas Day, closed; New Year’s Eve, open; New Year’s Day, closed. Valentine’s Day, open; Easter, open.
Palace Café
605 Canal St., New Orleans, LA 70125
(504) 523-1661
Hours: Lunch, Mon-Fr. 11:30am-2:30pm; Dinner Mon.-Sat. 5:30-9pm; Brunch, Sun, 10:30am-2:30pm
Only in New Orleans could a century-old piano store be artfully converted into a chic, downtown bistro. Located on the widest boulevard in the world, Palace Café is one part old New Orleans, one part tourist haunt and one part power-lunch destination. Here you can discover Gumbo Ya-ya, and cut a tender rotisserie chicken with a fork. If you had any doubt what brought you here, the crabmeat cheesecake with Creole meuniere sauce will remind you. On Sunday, the jazz is hot, and the Palace potato pie with pork, mashed potatoes, cheddar cheese, spinach and onion gravy is way hot.
Estimated cost per person: Dinner, $45=$55; Brunch, $35-45
Holiday Schedule: Christmas Eve, closed; Christmas Day, closed; New Year’s Eve, open; New Year’s Day, open; Valentine’s Day, open, Easter, open.
Café Degas
3127 Esplanade Ave., New Orleans, La 70119
(504) 945-5635
Hours: Lunch, Wed.-Sat., 11am-2:30pm; Dinner, Wed, Thurs. 6-10pm; Fri, Sat. 6-10:30pm; Sun. 6-9pm; Sunday brunch 10:30-3pm.
Café Degas is that neighborhood place too cool to be a “joint,” but not quite upscale enough to be called fine dining. Lingering somewhere in between, the sensibility is strictly French, owned by a Frenchman, and featuring French favorites, such as the house steak frites au poivre, or the sizzling French onion soup with croutons draped in bubbly melted Swiss cheese. The tiny space has no storage, so virtually everything is bought fresh daily. Sunday brunch is a lazy, lingering affair, best enjoyed with house made pates and a tender omelet of cured salmon and goat cheese. Ooh-la-la, baby.
Estimated cost per person: Dinner $35-$50; Brunch $25-$35
Holiday schedule: Christmas Eve, lunch only; Christmas Day, closed; New Year’s Eve, dinner only; New Year’s Day, lunch only; Valentine’s Day, open; Easter, open.
Muriel’s Jackson Square
801 Chartres St., New Orleans, LA 70116
(504) 568-1885
Hours: Lunch Fri., Sat. 11:30am-2:30pm; Sun. Brunch 11am-2pm; Dinner Mon.-Sat. 5:30-10pm; Sun. 5-10pm.
The proverbial best seat in the house on the New Orleans dining scene has to be the balcony at Muriel’s Jackson Square. Overlooking St. Louis Cathedral and the exquisite Jackson Square, Muriel’s occupies a cavernous circa 1750 building has been artfully converted into a two-story restaurant with intimate, distinctive dining rooms. In these rooms classic veal Oscar shares menu space with the chef’s innovative seared scallops with mushroom streudel and wild mushroom sauce. Brunch brings crème brulee French toast, and shrimp and andouille-stuffed mirlitons. From ambiance to wine selection to eclectic menu selections, Muriel’s is a true French Quarter dining experience.
Estimated cost per person: Dinner $45-$55; Brunch $35-$45
Holiday schedule: Christmas Eve, closed; Christmas Day, closed; New Year’s Eve, open; New Year’s Day, open; Valentine’s Day, open; Easter, open.
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