Top, Best & Fun Rooftop Bars in Bywater

"GQ's Golden Dish Award for Eggs Sardou, Commander’s Palace’s legacy speaks for itself. Located in the Garden District, Commander’s Palace is thought to be the original spot for a jazz brunch and patio dining. For contemporary Louisiana food and alfresco dining, look no further than Commander’s Palace."

"Since 1880, Commander’s Palace has been a hot spot in the Garden District winning numerous awards. Customers come back again and again for the award winning food and welcoming atmosphere of this place filled with history. This venue is more than a restaurant, it is a landmark."

"Po-boys have always made great outside eats, and Parkway has embraced the alfresco push wholeheartedly by essentially creating an entire outdoor restaurant. Diners can set up at one of Parkway’s plethora of patio tables (tented for rainy days) to down one of the city’s best sandwiches. Hits are too many to count, from exquisitely fried shrimp (make it a surf and turf by adding roast beef and gravy) to hot sausage."

"Parkway has been a master of pivots throughout the pandemic, from quickly establishing an efficient curbside service model to adding tenting to let seating spill outside. This patio isn’t the most open-air of the bunch — it’s more of an extension of the restaurant — but it is one of the most protected from the elements; no need to fear a storm spoiling your po’ boys and gumbo here."

"American , Sandwiches"

"A post shared by The Ruby Slipper Cafe (@rubyslippercafe) on Jan 5, 2018 at 11:51am PST. A breakfast hot spot, The Ruby Slipper Café provides a cheery atmosphere with fluffy omelettes and tasty Southern brunch fare. The kid’s menu is small but hearty, offering enticing choices such as French toast sticks tossed in sweet cinnamon sugar, buttermilk or cinnamon swirl pancakes, and even watermelon-flavoured pancakes that’ll blow kids minds!"

"Click your heels three times, and you’ll end up at the Ruby Slipper Cafe on the edge of the Garden District. Wake up, and rally at this boozy brunch spot, with a little vodka in your iced coffee or a little OJ in your mimosa. Go ahead, and order another round while you snack on pig candy bacon bites – your bananas foster pain perdu and crawfish & grits benedict will help you sober up."

"This place is popular, so much so that there is a wait as soon as it opens - I think it opens at 7 AM."

"Opened by chef Mike Stoltzfus and his wife Lillian Hubbard in December 2008, Coquette is a Garden District stunner, from its gleaming floors and crisp linens to its architectural details and warm exposed brick walls. The Garden District building was built in the late 1880s and has been among other things a residence, grocery store, auto parts store and several restaurants. Chef Stoltzfus, who honed his craft as a sous chef at Restaurant August, proffers innovative southern cuisine with an emphasis on locally sourced product."

"Longtime Magazine Street stunner Coquette is open for takeout service, Thursday through Saturday from 4 to 8 p.m. Order online day-of here or call the restaurant after 1 p.m."

"Located in the Royal Sonesta Hotel, we went here for dinner our second night. I got their chargrilled oysters, and oh my word, they were buttery and delicious. Address: 300 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70130"

"Dinner at Desire Oyster Bar For dinner, you have to get oysters if you like them. They are one of the most famous foods here in New Orleans. This is a popular place for them and is also no-frills."

"Royal Sonesta New Orleans, 300 Bourbon St., (504) 553-2281; www.sonesta.com/desireoysterbar. Char-grilled oysters are topped with Parmesan, herbs and butter and served with French bread."

"Mexican food rarely finds its way on the typical NOLA menu, and, yet, Superior Grill’s success proves that the Crescent City needed a little south-of-the-border flair and flavor. Scan through the traditional tacos, and you’ll find a handful of locally influenced items like thick crawfish con queso and uptown enchiladas stuffed with shrimp, crawfish and spinach. The usual suspects like chimichangas, street tacos and nachos are all up for grabs if you’re fancying something familiar."

"3636 St. Charles Ave., (504) 899-4200; www.neworleans.superiorgrill.com. Street tacos filled with brisket, pork, duck or chicken tinga are topped with onions, jalapenos, cilantro and salsa verde. Reservations accepted."

"A classic upscale steakhouse in Old Gretna since 1963, the dinner menu here brings the prices one would expect in such a setting, but the weekday lunch specials bring two-course meals of stunningly high quality for $10.95. Choose from a starter of excellent turtle soup, seafood gumbo, soup of the day, or a fresh salad, followed by six entrees that include slow-cooked boiled beef brisket with cabbage, carrots, new potatoes, and horseradish sauce; and a boneless pork rib-eye glazed with Steen’s cane syrup and fig reduction with yam mash, and haricots verts. 1036 Lafayette St., Gretna, 367-0935, theredmaple.com."

"1036 Lafayette St., Gretna, (504) 367-0935; www.theredmaple.com. Grilled redfish Pontchartrain is topped with crabmeat and served with sherry mushroom cream sauce and haricots verts. Reservations recommended."

"Sure, it’s the most touristy spot in the city, but no list of beautiful Big Easy buildings can be complete without its most recognizable building. Overlooking Jackson Square sits the St. Louis Cathedral, one of the oldest continually operating cathedrals in the United States. After the original structure was destroyed in the Great New Orleans Fire of 1788, multiple rebuilds resulted in the current—and much larger—structure designed by Louisiana architect Jacques de Pouillyin 1850."

"If you’re up for waking up early, Jackson Square, featuring the beautiful St. Louis Cathedral in the background, is about as Instagrammable as you can get. This area gets crowded later in the day though, so if you want the perfect shot with no people in it, you have to go early. Either way though, it’s a fantastic shot for your ‘gram."

"First raised in 1875, this old market hall on St. Claude Avenue came through a post-Katrina renovation between 2012-15, reopening as a modern, chef-centric food hall. In this bright and airy space are 11 dining options around an acclaimed craft cocktail bar, The Mayhaw. T2 Streetfood does Vietnamese classics like banh mi, pho and bao buns, while Torshi is all about eastern Mediterranean flavours, from falafel to gyros, tabouli and baklava."

"After your cemetery tour hop in a cab or Uber and head over in about a 5-minute drive to St. Roch Market for lunch. If you were intrigued by all the voodoo history you learned you can also make a pit stop on the way at the Voodoo Spiritual Temple, home of Voodoo Priestess Miriam, one of the last authentic voodoo practitioners in New Orleans."

"This late-19th-century city-owned seafood market, which was by and large abandoned after Hurricane Katrina, was reborn as an upscale food hall several years ago. The dilapidated structure was spruced up and the navelike interior painted an..."

"Start the day with a bike tour of Marigny and Bywater The two neighborhoods this tour goes on is Marigny and Bywater. These are “coming up” areas, kind of a little hipster and definitely not the standard places to visit. You’ll go to the bike shop in the French Quarter to meet the tour instructor then ride off!"

"After lunch take at least 15 minutes to explore the next few blocks of colorful homes in Marigny. There isn’t much else to do other take great photos and enjoy the neighborhood that has alot of character before heading back to the French Quarter."

"Located on Magazine near Julia Street in the Warehouse District, this adorable bakery is ready to be your holiday hero this season. For Christmas dinner, the yule log can be ordered online for pickup, or stop in and grab one of their many holiday tins filled with items like peppermint bark, truffles, pralines, and more."

"At the French market you can get a small individualized King Cake complete with the toy baby for good luck!. This tiny cake was the perfect size for the 4 of us to share."

"Famous for its doberge cakes since 1949, Gambino’s Bakery ships cakes (and king cakes during Carnival season) all over the map. Order a half and half (lemon and chocolate) or opt for a chocolate peanut butter cake, or maybe a coconut cream. The designer cakes are swank."

"4821 Veterans Memorial Blvd., Metairie, (504) 885-7500; www.gambinos.com. Lemon and chocolate doberge cakes feature six layers of buttermilk cake, buttercream filling and fondant icing."

"Since it opened in October 2013, this delightful shop on Magazine Street and Jackson Avenue has been making all of New Orleans’ donut and coffee dreams come true. With flavors like miso praline and olive oil, NOLA cream, brown butter pistachio, Sriracha with candied thyme, lemon poppyseed, and Vietnamese iced coffee, District is serious about its roster of “fancy donuts.” In addition to donuts big enough for two, District’s other breakfast creations include kolaches, pork belly, egg and avocado breakfast tacos, and buttermilk biscuit egg sandwiches with miso-praline bacon. Plus, their cinnamon roll is topped with extra sugar and brûléed under a blow torch, which is pretty awesome if you ask me."

"It doesn’t matter if you’re after something sweet or savory, District Donuts on Magazine street is the place for you if you crave things like sliders, beer and of course, donuts. This place prides themselves on using local ingredients and items are made to order. As for price, you can typically get sliders for less than five dollars, whereas their deal called the Brown Bag Meal can set you back around a cool ten bucks which includes waffle fries, two sliders and a soda."

"District Donuts is a cute spot to get a freshly made donut, a coffee, and a delicious burger. There are six donuts on the menu weekly, but there are more than 100 options in the catalog that slip into the rotating menu. There are three donuts to expect on the menu, rain or shine: glazed, cinnamon sugar, and chocolate glazed."