Top Best Italian Restaurants in Bayou Gauche

"Come to Paladar for the pizza (where the lamb sausage and tzatziki pie will bowl you over), but the menu offers many Italian delights if you’re willing to share some of the small plates. Try the lovely fried arancini or the fantastic chicken liver mousse, before moving on to other pleasures. Super bonus points, too, for Paladar’s wallet-friendly prices -- $11 for the house-made raviolo with egg yolk, ricotta, maitake mushrooms, porcini cream, and truffle pecorino?"

"MarignyChic neighborhood spot for pizza, pasta, and seafoodWhile the main dining room is a bustling hodgepodge of families, groups of friends, and servers navigating it all, the more intimate balcony above is the best place to be seated before digging into lemonfish crudo or squid ink spaghetti. Order a pizza to share, and spend some time inspecting the cocktail menu. After your meal, head toward the river to find the entrance to Crescent Park for a sunset stroll."

"The chefs at Paladar 511 bring a modern Californian charm to New Orleans, and while the starter list has Italian favorites like homemade ravioli, beef Carpaccio, and arancini with short rib rags, you'll also find a zesty Yellowfin tuna crudo with orange and avocado that whisks you west. It’s a similar story with the pizzas. A basic cheese and tomato pie is delightful, but you can also try homemade lamb sausage or buttered leeks."

"If you’re visiting NOLA and staying in the Quarter and looking for great Creole-Italian nearby that’s something above a muffaletta, Irene’s is definitely your best bet. And you’ll be even more pleased if you have a hankering for comfort dishes prepared with generous amounts of butter, cream, and cheese. Just be prepared to make a reservation in advance or you’re sure to run into a serious wait for a table."

"Irene’s may be in newish digs on Bienville Street but this family-owned Creole Italian restaurant remains the gold standard for homey, cheesy Italian goodness. Open since 1992, Irene’s is much loved for its lasagne Bolognese and crispy duck St. Philip. Although it now accepts reservations, cutting down on the wait for a table, it’s still fun to have a martini in the piano bar before tucking into a feast."

"In its new location close to Canal Street in the French Quarter since 2018, this locally owned Creole Italian is a real gem. Follow your nose - you can smell the garlic a half-block away - and take a seat at the spacious bar for well-shaken cocktails while you wait for a table. The charming warren of dining rooms invites, as does the gorgeous outside courtyard, an addition in 2020."

"You know an Ace Hotel isn’t going to mess around when it comes to dining, and that’s surely the case with Josephine Estelle’s entry into the NOLA dining scene. The pasta list alone is something of a marvel, with entries ranging from a killer bucatini amatriciana and short rib fusilli with mushroom and taleggio cheese, to gemelli with duck confit. The simple canestri cacio e pepe will make you weep for your gluten-free friends."

"Josephine Estelle is an osteria from James Beard Award-nominated chefs, Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, and showcases their signature culinary style of combining the craft-centric philosophy of Italian cooking with flavors of the American South. Our seasonal menu--available daily for breakfast,...See More"

"European-style attention to detail applied to full-flavored Southern-style ingredients results in an innovative culinary experience at Josephine Estelle, which serves some of the b..."

"Next up is the Central Business District's Domenica, situated at 123 Baronne St. With four stars out of 1,479 reviews on Yelp, the Italian spot, which offers pizza and more, has proven to be a local favorite. Get ready for antipasto plates like roasted cauliflower with sea salt and whipped feta; smoked beets with honey-whipped ricotta and pickled shallots; meatballs with creamy polenta; and arancini with corn and fontina. Main courses include a selection of pizzas and entrées like slow-cooked rabbit with porcini mushrooms; lasagna with pasta verde and béchamel sauce; and squid ink tagliolini with blue crab and herbs."

"This list couldn’t be complete without Alon Shaya’s Italian love letter in the Roosevelt Hotel. The Napoli-style pizzas are always a favorite, especially during happy hour, when they’re half-price (2-5pm daily), and you’d be a fool indeed to miss out on its selection of house-cured salumi, from lardo to coppa, prosciutto, biroldo, and even a chicken liver mousse."

"A traditional Neopolitan-style Italian eatery located in the heart of New Orlean’s Central Business District (CBD), Domenica has become a favorite among both locals and critics sin..."

"Get ready to get messy; if you’re going to “Manale’s,” you’d best order the BBQ shrimp, a dish that, strangely, has nothing to do with barbecue or grilling. It’s all about the sauce, a decadent combination of butter, olive oil, and black pepper used to poach the whole, huge Gulf shrimp. Shelling those shrimp, bathed so heavily in that sauce, means that you’re going to have butter leaking all the way down into your armpits if you’re not careful."

"People hang around the doors of this modest Metairie institution, night after night, the way barbecue lovers flock to the newest and hottest joints in Texas, except that R&O has been around since the ’80’s, that’s how much people love it here, and why shouldn’t they—the roast beef po boys are some of the most distinctive in town, but there’s so much else to eat here, too—shrimp salads, eggplant parmesan lunch specials, thin crust pizza, the works. Fancy it’s not, unforgettable all the same."

"For good reason: They’re reasonably priced, filling and about as egalitarian as a local food can be. Fried seafood po’ boys get much of the love, but consider the unsung hero of po’ boy land: the roast beef po’ boy. Here in the first suburb west of New Orleans proper is R&Os, home of the finest roast beef po’ boy with gravy that can be."

"When an Italian restaurant has been in the same spot for over 30 years, you know there's something great coming out of the kitchen. That's the story of Mona Lisa on Royal Street, where reasonably priced classics make your mouth water just by smell alone. The lasagna is legendary (made with meat or a vegetarian version with spinach and artichokes), the pizzas are perfect for sharing and the shrimp scampi is perfectly prepared."

"(1212 Royal St.) Right next to Bennachin is another comfy, cozy spot, the Mona Lisa, decked in the namesake’s-centric art floor to ceiling, and serving some of the best (and most inexpensive) pizza in the Quarter."

"Editor's Note: Photo taken from the establishment's official social account. View this post on Instagram. A post shared by Algiers Plaza (@algiersplaza) on Feb 19, 2020 at 7:47am PST"

"On my first visit to Shake Therapy, it was comically but aptly described to me as “Subway — but for milkshakes”. This quaint little dessert shop creates detailed works of ice cream art while offering the addition of nearly every sweet and sugarcoated topping known to man. Can’t make up your mind?"

"Shake Therapy makes custom shakes so you can add as many toppings as your heart desires (and as your stomach will take). Cookies, Fruit :oops, Pop-Tarts, mini pies, donuts, sprinkles, chocolate drizzles, gummy bears, cereal, popcorn balls, Nutella...the list is endless."

"This soft serve chain started five years ago in Sydney, with franchises now in Texas, Virginia and here in New Orleans, the second U.S. location. Aqua S dishes Instagrammable soft serve in flavors like cappuccino, Arnold Palmer, and cotton candy that look and taste just like how they sound. This location is owned by sisters Loan Le and Yen Truong, who fell in love with the place in Houston."

"This outpost of the Australian brand is famed for its creamy, bright-blue, sea-salt soft serve and Instagramable décor begging for selfies. With a library of more than 100 flavors, only a few are offered at a time, and they change every two weeks. A recent favorite—pancake swirled with sea salt—was cool, salty-sweet hominess."