New Eats in Old Metairie
Tree-lined Metairie Road lazily winds through the middle of Old Metairie, one of the oldest neighborhoods in the Greater New Orleans area. The gorgeous street teems with boutiques, spas, and notable eateries that cannot be passed up.
Metairie Road is the home of many decades-old stalwart restaurants ranging from down-home New Orleans delicacies to international delights. The Galley Seafood, Porter & Luke's, Byblos, Taj Mahal Indian Cuisine, Lee's Hamburgers, Parlons Café, Nor Joe's, and Mark Twain's Pizza have been the go-to eateries for all Old Metairie families for generations. For adults, bars with great food menus are perfect for after-work or late-night eats. Winston's Pub & Patio has a rich, old world pub decor, and Oscar's is covered from floor to ceiling in Marilyn Monroe photos and paintings.
A slew of fast casual restaurants have sprung up between the casual and fine dining dinner-oriented restaurants. City Greens, Poke Loa, Rolls N Bowls, Rush Bowls, and Main Squeeze Juice offer healthy options while Creole Creamery, Shipley's Donuts, and Fat Boys Pizza are for cheat days. Even new coffee shop brands Moxie Coffee and CR Coffee Shop have found spaces in between CC's Coffee, PJ's Coffee, and Puccino's.
New Arrivals
Where two long-running restaurants shuttered, two new restaurants helmed by Edgar Caro and Antoinio Mata (owners of Baru Bistro & Tapas and Basin Seafood & Spirits) opened in 2017 and 2018. Brasa Churrascaria and Zocalo Cocina Mexicana brought exciting new flavors to the area in the wake of Chateau du Lac and Vega Tapas.
"I'm from El Salvador, Edgar is from Colombia. This is our food, this is what we love to eat. So we thought, 'We've got to bring this to New Orleans.' We were looking around at places in the city, and we saw that there's a lot of money around here," explained Owner and Head of Operations Antonio Mata. "We opened our doors, and it was an immediate success. People wanted something fresh and new. Vegas Tapas five months later went out of business. We were like, 'We love the neighborhood, the neighborhood loves us. Why not?' And that's where Zocalo started."
Brasa and Zocalo are neighborhood restaurants with loyal customers who sometimes visit several times a week, but tourists are hard to come by in the area. That may mean a loss of income if the regulars choose to make a new restaurant their usual spot. With the influx of new development in the area and luxury brands filling those spaces, prices are rising high for all.
Mata said, "You see young professionals with their families here. That's why I feel like more restaurants will be coming. We'll see how much it can be sustained with prices going up and competition coming this way. We love the neighborhood and the clientele, but it's going to get tough."
Starting with the 2010s boom, several restaurants arrived and thrived. Blue Line Sandwich Co. and Ruby Slipper focus on breakfast and brunch service hours. Felipe's Mexican Taqueria and Rock-n-Sake Sushi are great for the whole family. Hog Alley Lounge, Parish Line Bistro, and Garrison Kitchen + Cocktails are solid options for catching up with your friends over fine food or date night. If you're up for some competition, Loft18 is a bar and restaurant with golf and game simulators (adults only after 7 p.m.).
Chef Gulotta's TANA
The highly-anticipated Italian-inspired venture TANA features dishes by Chef Michael Gulotta in a newly-built strip of buildings on the bustling western end of Metairie Road. The bright white exterior walls give way to a bright blue oasis upon entrance. "Location is everything these days, especially in New Orleans," said Chef Gulotta. "We just wanted to offer something that wasn't here before. TANA has the New Orleans soul and big New Orleans flavors that people love, but we bring a slightly different look to it—a slightly different feel to it."
Known for enticing Asian-fusion dishes, Chef Gulotta decided to go back to his Sicilian heritage and Italian culinary training for this restaurant, but he maintains his experimental flair with some aspects of the menu. "There are a few dishes that are based on my Sicilian upbringing. I trained in Liguria, Italy," he pointed out. "The restaurant I worked in was on the water about a 30-minute walk from the French Riviera, and it bordered Provence. It was all fresh seafood, fresh pastas, very Italian, but a lot of Provencal influence. There's also a lot of Louisiana in the menu. This is an 80/20 rule: 20% of the menu are dishes I get to play around with, and 80% are tried and true, delicious dishes for people to enjoy."
TANA is currently attracting diners from all over the metro area, but Chef Gulotta has noticed some resistance from staunch New Orleanians who dare not cross the parish line. "I think it's a good mix of people from all over the city right now, but I don't know how that's going to go moving forward. It's amazing to me how people are like, 'Metairie is not New Orleans.' My Mid-City restaurant MOPHO is on the exact same road as TANA."
Beyond the curves of Metairie Road, the Old Metairie neighborhood also offers wonderful eats at Radosta's Restaurant, Chef Ron's Gumbo Stop, Ristorante Filippo, Uchi Sushi & Hibachi, Mama's Place, and Unagi & Sushi. This food-centric enclave will have you coming back for more.
