Best Restaurants to Impress Clients in New Orleans 2026
Impress Clients · New Orleans · 7 tables ranked · Updated June 2026
Impressing a client in New Orleans is a different problem than in most American cities, because the room is half the argument. A visitor does not want a generic luxury dinner they could have in any downtown; they want the New Orleans they came for, turtle soup poured tableside, Oysters Rockefeller invented on the premises, a turreted Garden District landmark or a CBD tasting menu with national ambition. The city's grandes dames have hosted business since the 19th century and know exactly how to make a guest feel hosted: private rooms, jackets after five, a 25-cent martini that becomes the story they tell back home. Seven rooms get the brief right. The beignet stands and po-boy counters, wonderful as they are, are on the avoid list at the bottom.
The ranking
1. Commander's Palace — Haute Creole · Garden District
1403 Washington Avenue · turtle soup, pecan-crusted fish; about $80–$120 a head at dinner with wine, far less at lunch · chef Meg Bickford · winner of seven James Beard Awards
The turreted Garden District landmark every visitor remembers, seven James Beard Awards deep. Book it to give a client the real New Orleans.
No room hosts a client better. The blue-and-white Victorian on Washington Avenue has been the Brennan family's flagship since 1974, and chef Meg Bickford, its first female executive chef, cooks the haute Creole canon that won the restaurant seven James Beard Awards: turtle soup finished tableside with sherry, pecan-crusted Gulf fish, spiced sugarcane-lacquered quail. The room reads as a special occasion the moment a guest walks in, and the legendary 25-cent martini lunch is the kind of only-here detail a visitor repeats for years. Private and semi-private spaces handle a business group, and the jacket-friendly dress code signals that you booked something serious. Figure $80 to $120 a head at dinner with wine, a fraction of that at the celebrated lunch. Reserve two to three weeks out, more during festival season.
2. Emeril's — Contemporary Creole · Warehouse District
800 Tchoupitoulas Street · multi-course tasting menu; from about $185 a head before pairings · chef E.J. Lagasse · 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist, Emerging Chef
Emeril's flagship, reborn under his son as a serious tasting room. Reserve it for the client who wants ambition, not nostalgia.
Emeril Lagasse's original 1990 flagship reopened after a full 2023 renovation as the most ambitious fine-dining room in the city, with his son E.J. Lagasse running the kitchen day to day. E.J. was named a 2026 James Beard Award semifinalist for Emerging Chef, and the multi-course tasting menu reworks his father's classics through a modern, precise lens in a refreshed Warehouse District room that feels current rather than dated. For a client who associates the city with a TV name but wants to be genuinely impressed by the food, this is the booking: national recognition, a real tasting-menu experience, and a location minutes from the CBD hotels. Figure from $185 a head before pairings. Book three to four weeks out and request the chef's counter if the guest is a serious eater.
3. Restaurant August — New American · Central Business District
301 Tchoupitoulas Street · tasting menu and à la carte; from about $150 a head for the tasting · chef Corey Thomas · celebrating 25 years in 2026
A 19th-century CBD room running a polished tasting menu, minutes from the hotels. Book it for the convenient, serious client dinner.
Set in a 19th-century French-Creole building on Tchoupitoulas, Restaurant August opened in 2001 as John Besh's first New Orleans restaurant and is the BRG Hospitality flagship, celebrating its 25th anniversary through 2026. Executive chef Corey Thomas, in the role since 2022, directs a tasting menu that is among the most polished in the city, refined New American cooking with Louisiana ingredients in a candlelit, beam-and-brick room. Its real edge for a client dinner is location and tone: it is genuinely fine dining, but it sits in the Central Business District within walking distance of the major hotels, so a visiting guest does not need a long taxi. Figure from $150 a head for the tasting. Book two to three weeks out and note the kitchen runs the tasting for the full table.
4. Antoine's — French-Creole · French Quarter
713 St. Louis Street · Oysters Rockefeller, Pommes de Terre Soufflées; about $70–$110 a head with wine · the fifth-generation Alciatore family · founded 1840, oldest family-run restaurant in the United States
The 1840 original that invented Oysters Rockefeller, with private rooms made for a deal. Book one for a client dinner with history.
Founded in 1840 and run by the fifth generation of the Alciatore family, Antoine's is the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States, and its great asset for a client dinner is its warren of private rooms. The Rex and Proteus rooms and the museum-like 1840 Room, hung with Carnival history and home to an antique silver duck press, turn a business dinner into an event a guest cannot get anywhere else. Oysters Rockefeller was created here by Jules Alciatore in 1899 and the recipe remains a guarded secret; the soufflé potatoes and Baked Alaska complete a menu that is pure New Orleans theatre. Figure $70 to $110 a head with wine. Reserve a private room two to four weeks out and let the waiter, often a decades-long veteran, run the evening.
5. GW Fins — Seafood · French Quarter
808 Bienville Street · the Scalibut, lobster dumplings; about $90–$130 a head with wine · chef-owner Tenney Flynn and executive chef Michael Nelson · ranked on Yelp's 2026 Top 100 Restaurants
The city's most credible seafood room, between Bourbon and Dauphine. Book it for the client who came to eat Gulf fish.
When the client loves seafood, GW Fins is the specialist that out-cooks the grandes dames at their own coastline. Chef-owner Tenney Flynn, long known as "the Gracious Gourmet" of Gulf seafood, built a menu that changes daily with the catch, and executive chef Michael Nelson keeps it sharp; the signature Scalibut, halibut layered with scallops over Royal Red shrimp risotto, is the dish a guest remembers. The polished, contemporary French Quarter room, between Bourbon and Dauphine, is comfortable for conversation and a notch less formal than the historic giants, which suits a relaxed but serious client. Ranked on Yelp's 2026 Top 100 Restaurants list. Figure $90 to $130 a head with wine. Book a week or two ahead and ask about the lobster dumplings to start.
6. Galatoire's — French-Creole · French Quarter
209 Bourbon Street · soufflé potatoes, Crabmeat Maison; about $70–$110 a head with wine · executive chef Phillip Lopez · a French Quarter institution since 1905
The Friday-lunch theatre of old New Orleans, jackets required after five. Book the downstairs room for a client who wants the scene.
Galatoire's has run on Bourbon Street since 1905, and its famous Friday lunch, a downstairs room of regulars, captains and table-hopping that can stretch into the evening, is one of the great only-in-New-Orleans spectacles to show a client. Executive chef Phillip Lopez cooks the Creole classics straight: Crabmeat Maison, soufflé potatoes, trout amandine, served by tenured waiters who know the room. Jackets are required for gentlemen after 5 p.m. and all day Sunday, part of the formality that makes a guest feel they have been let into something. The coveted downstairs tables take no reservations at peak, so for a client send someone early or book upstairs. Figure $70 to $110 a head with wine. The most characterful lunch in the city.
7. Arnaud's — French-Creole · French Quarter
813 Bienville Street · Shrimp Arnaud rémoulade, Pompano en Croûte; about $70–$105 a head with wine · chef de cuisine Tommy DiGiovanni · a French Quarter grande dame since 1918
A sprawling 1918 Creole grande dame with private rooms that scale to a crowd. Book it for the larger client group.
Arnaud's has occupied a block of the French Quarter since 1918 and can seat more than a thousand across its dining rooms, which makes it the choice when the client dinner is really a group event. Chef de cuisine Tommy DiGiovanni, in the kitchen for over 27 years, cooks the classic French-Creole repertoire, and the signature Shrimp Arnaud, plump Gulf shellfish under a spicy rémoulade, has anchored the menu for a century. The mosaic-tiled main room and the upstairs private spaces handle everything from a quiet four-top to a full company reception, and the on-site Mardi Gras museum gives a visitor something to walk through after dessert. Figure $70 to $105 a head with wine. Book a private room two to four weeks out for a group, sooner around Carnival.
Avoid for impressing a client
Café du Monde — French Quarter. The 24-hour beignet stand by Jackson Square is essential New Orleans, but it is counter service, cash, communal marble tables and powdered sugar everywhere. Café du Monde is a wonderful morning stop, not a room in which to host a client; there is no table service and nowhere to talk business.
Domilise's — Uptown. The legendary po-boy shop makes one of the city's best fried-shrimp sandwiches, but it is a paper-plate, no-frills neighborhood counter with a line out the door. Domilise's is a great lunch for you alone; a visiting client expecting to be hosted will be standing on the sidewalk holding a sandwich.
Casamento's — Uptown. The tiled oyster house is a New Orleans treasure, but it is cash-only, takes no reservations and famously closes for the summer. Casamento's has neither the format nor the reliability for a planned client dinner; never build a meeting around a room that might be dark when you arrive.
Booking strategy for a New Orleans client dinner
Decide first whether the goal is the grand New Orleans experience or a convenient serious meal, because the geography splits on it. The historic giants, Commander's Palace, Antoine's, Galatoire's and Arnaud's, deliver the only-here theatre but sit in the Garden District or deep French Quarter, so factor a short cab from a CBD hotel. The tasting rooms, Restaurant August and Emeril's, are in or beside the Central Business District within walking distance of the major hotels, which matters when a guest is jet-lagged. For a visitor's first night, lead with the grand option; for a working dinner squeezed between meetings, August's location wins.
If you need a private room, ask at booking and confirm the food-and-beverage minimum in writing; Antoine's, Commander's, Arnaud's and August all run dedicated spaces, and Antoine's historic rooms are the single most impressive private setting in the city. Book two to four weeks out, and far earlier for Carnival, Jazz Fest or French Quarter Fest, when the whole city's tables vanish. Two New Orleans-specific notes: tell the restaurant if the client has not eaten Creole food so the captain can guide them, and remember the dress code, jackets after five at Galatoire's and advised at the other grandes dames, so neither you nor your guest is caught out.
Frequently asked
What is the best restaurant to impress a client in New Orleans?
Commander's Palace. The turreted Garden District landmark, run by chef Meg Bickford and the Brennan family, has won seven James Beard Awards and pairs its turtle soup and haute Creole cooking with private rooms and a 25-cent martini lunch that no visiting client forgets. For a modern, CBD-convenient alternative near the downtown hotels, Emeril's and Restaurant August both run ambitious tasting menus that read as serious without leaving the business district.
Which New Orleans restaurants have private dining rooms for a client dinner?
Antoine's is the standout, with a warren of historic private rooms, the Rex, Proteus and the museum-like 1840 Room, that have hosted business and Carnival dinners for generations. Commander's Palace, Arnaud's and Restaurant August all run dedicated private and semi-private spaces as well, and Arnaud's, which can seat more than a thousand across its French Quarter footprint, scales to a large group. Book private space two to four weeks out, sooner during festival season.
How much does a client dinner cost per person in New Orleans in 2026?
Budget about $70 to $110 a head for à-la-carte dinner with wine at Commander's Palace, Antoine's, Galatoire's or Arnaud's, and $90 to $130 at GW Fins for seafood. The tasting-menu rooms run higher: figure $150 and up at Restaurant August and north of $185 at Emeril's before pairings. Lunch at Commander's or Galatoire's is the value play, a fraction of the dinner number for the same room and service.
Where should I take an out-of-town client in New Orleans?
Give a visitor the New Orleans they came for. Commander's Palace and Antoine's deliver the grand, only-here Creole experience, turtle soup, Oysters Rockefeller, tableside flambé and a room steeped in history. For a guest who wants modern ambition, Restaurant August and Emeril's show the city's fine-dining present. If the client loves seafood, GW Fins in the French Quarter is the most credible specialist room in town.
Is there a dress code at New Orleans fine-dining restaurants?
At the grandes dames, dress up. Galatoire's requires jackets for gentlemen after 5 p.m. nightly and all day Sunday, and Commander's, Antoine's and Arnaud's all expect smart attire for dinner, jackets advised even where not strictly required. The CBD tasting rooms, Restaurant August and Emeril's, are smart but a little more contemporary. For a client dinner, err formal: a jacket is never wrong in these rooms and signals you took the booking seriously.
Related rankings
Featured in
- New Orleans dining guide
- Best for impressing clients worldwide
- Best seafood restaurants worldwide
- The full RFK rankings index
- Commander's Palace review
- Antoine's review
Affiliate disclosure: RFK earns a commission on bookings made through partner platforms (Resy, OpenTable, Tock) marked with a "Reserve" link. Sponsored listings are clearly marked with a Sponsored badge and are not eligible for editorial ranking. The seven rooms on this list were ranked editorially and no booking partner influenced the order.