Opened in 1840, Antoine's is the oldest family-run restaurant in the United States, and a longtime point of pride in the New Orleans culinary scene. It's in the kitchen of Antoine's and the city's other old-line restaurants that contemporary Creole cuisine was largely invented, refined from the melting pot for the gourmet table.

Antoine's itself lays claim to the invention of a number of dishes, including Oysters Rockefeller, Pompano en Papillote, and Eggs Sardou, all of which are still featured on the menu.


The fact is that the history of the place remains the biggest selling point. The dinner menu is expensive and decidedly old-school. Antoine's hit its acme of culinary innovation sometime in the post-WWII era, which is not necessarily a bad thing, so long as you're not expecting flashy contemporary cuisine. For the prices of the dinner menu, though, you can get a more impressive meal at dozens of other New Orleans restaurants. Will they have the same soul, though? Often not. And they certainly won't have the same history.

A good compromise that will satisfy both gourmets and history buffs is to head to Antoine's for lunch. You can enjoy the flawless service and beautifully appointed dining rooms all while getting one of the best bargains in town. Just $20.15 buys you a hearty three-course lunch, and a daily drink special runs for only 25 cents (echoing the famous lunch martini special at Commander's Palace). 

For an extra $15, you can add a half-dozen Oysters Rockefeller. If you can swing it, it's a worthy expenditure for the sheer curiosity alone.

Antoine's original version is quite different from the thousands of imitators that have found their way onto menus around the world over the years, most of which are laden with spinach and cheese.

The original contains neither, though the actual recipe is a closely-guarded secret. The pureed topping is heavy with the slightly medicinal flavors of celery and anise liqueur, onions and a hint of something pickled. It's an odd but compelling blend that really does taste like something out of an entirely different era; a tiny, luscious culinary time portal the likes of which you don't often encounter.

If you're sticking to a budget, though, the three-course lunch really will fill you up on its own. On a recent trip, I enjoyed a starter of a fresh green salad topped with juicy Louisiana strawberries and balsamic vinaigrette. My dining companion went for the alligator bisque, velvety and sweet, with a surprisingly generous amount of alligator meat (which, in this context, tastes more like crabmeat than chicken, though a bit denser than both). 

The next course found me digging into a winter-friendly roasted airline chicken breast over cheesy mashed potatoes with a wine and herb pan jus. Revolutionary? Not so much. Tasty and satisfying? You bet! My tablemate let me steal a bite of his Shrimp Creole, a classic presentation of peppery tomato and mushroom sauce served over fluffy white rice. Again, it's not a game-changer, but if you want to taste Shrimp Creole in the most traditional possible way (which is, frankly, a noble and increasingly challenging quest), you're covered.

Desserts were bread pudding, rummy and sweet with raisins, and cheesecake, of the fluffy, ricotta-style variety. Hearty portions both, they ended the meal on a high note, and an unsurprisingly classic one.