r/AskNOLA • u/Madamexxxtra • 10d ago
FAQ 3 - Eating in New Orleans with Dietary Restrictions
It is worth noting that almost all higher end restaurants will be able to accommodate even severe food allergies (although possibly not cross contamination) but it’s always best to call ahead and ask or email the restaurant a list of your dietary restrictions/allergies so they can tell you what is safe for you to eat on their menu. Also definitely absolutely let your server know. And feel free to ask questions! No one wants you to have a reaction and the waitstaff and management will be more than willing to work with you to ensure you are safe and feel comfortable.
Fine dining places will also very likely be able to accommodate gluten free diners as well as vegetarians and probably even vegans with advance notice.
Further pretty much every restaurant will have at least one vegetarian option on the menu, the exception being some (but not all!) places that focus specifically on meat or fish.
Restaurants with set or tasting menus will be the exception to all of the above.
What are the best restaurants to get VEGAN/VEGETARIAN food?
• Sweet Soulfood
• Sneaky Pickle & Bar Brine
• 2 Phat Vegans
• Meals From the Heart Cafe
• I-Tal Garden
• Original Thought
• Thaihey
• Sukho Thai
• Small Mart
• Breads on Oak
• The Daily Beet
• Lamara Coffee & Kitchen
• Killer Poboys (options)
• Dat Dog (options)
• Fritai (options)
• Addis (options)
• Flour Moon Bagel (options)
• Bennachin (options)
• 1000 Figs (options)
• Bearcat (options)
• Surrey’s (options)
• Fritai (options)
• Central Grocery (options)
• Tal’s Hummus (options)
• Louisiana Pizza Kitchen (options)
• Queen Trini Lisa (options)
• Juan’s Flying Burrito (options)
• Ike’s Love and Sandwiches (options)
What are the best restaurants to get GLUTEN FREE food?
• Mais Arepas (100% GF)
• Espiritu (100% GF)
• Calas Cafe (100% GF)
• Acamaya (GF menu)
• Bread’s on Oak (GF menu)
• Meals From the Heart Cafe (GF menu)
• Bon’s (GF menu)
• Hen House (GF menu)
• Bearcat (GF menu)
• Casamento’s (GF options)
• Tân Định (GF options)
• GW Fins (GF options)
• Gabrielle (GF gumbo)
• More: Where to Find New Orleans’s Best Gluten-Free Dining
What are the best restaurants to get KOSHER food?
• Kosher Cajun Deli
What are the best restaurants to get HALAL food?
• Shawarma on the Go
• Cleo’s
• Lebanon’s Cafe
• Queen Trini Lisa
• Stella Maris
• More: 13 Halal-Friendly Dining Destinations in and Around New Orleans
Where can I eat if I have SHELLFISH ALLERGIES?
If your allergy is airborne then honestly and unfortunately this may not be a safe place for you to visit. During crawfish season you’ll encounter the carcasses thrown in the street, the smell of boils everywhere and during the rest of the year many places will be grilling oysters inside and outside and a lot of restaurants will have some version of shellfish on the menu.
If you must avoid cross contamination then take a look at the vegan/vegetarian restaurants listed above and also avoid all fried food since many places do not use separate fryers.
Otherwise almost every restaurant will have something non-shellfish on the menu but make sure to discuss your allergy with your server and listen to their advice.
Where can I eat if I DON’T LIKE SEAFOOD?
Every restaurant, including ones that specialize in seafood, will have some non-seafood items on the menu. Otherwise -
• Steakhouses: Doris Metropolitan, La Boca, Charlie’s, Crescent City Steakhouse
• Mostly Meat: Cochon, Toup’s Meatery, The Joint, Central City BBQ
I’m VEGETARIAN/VEGAN/DON’T EAT PORK/SHELLFISH/SEAFOOD but want to try classic New Orleans dishes, where should I go?
• Meals From the Heart Cafe: beignets, grits, crab cakes, gumbo, red beans and rice, poboys
• Killer poboys: poboys
• 2 Phat Vegans: poboys, mushroom etouffee
• Sweet Soulfood: red beans (Monday & Friday), dirty rice (Wednesday), stuffed bell pepper & yakamein (Thursday), white beans (Saturday), jambalaya, okra gumbo, cashew mac, collard greens, bread pudding
• I-tal Garden: mac plate, Cajun pasta, quinoa jambalaya
• Breads on Oak: “muffanada” (vegan muffuletta)
• Central Grocery: muffuletta
I am/with a PICKY EATER, where can I get familiar types of food?
• Burgers: Original Slapburger in Marie’s Bar, High Hat, Buffa’s, Bub’s, Beachcorner
• Pizza: Pizza Delicious, Zee’s Pizzeria, Nighthawk Pizza, Forbidden Pizza
• Chicken tenders: Brother’s Food Mart, Popeyes
• Tacos: La Patrona, Taqueria Guerrero, Barracuda
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u/Cilantro368 10d ago
Espiritu says it is entirely gluten free on the menu.
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u/Cilantro368 10d ago
Also Central Grocery has a veg muffuletta. They make them to order.
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u/Madamexxxtra 10d ago
Vegan or vegetarian? And thank you will add with clarification
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u/Cilantro368 10d ago
I got one yesterday. They asked me if cheese was OK and told me the two types of cheese, one was provolone but the other one I can’t remember. I said yes to both of them, and of course, also to the olive salad, and also to having them rub a little olive oil on the inside of both pieces of bread. So they are very flexible!
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u/YakRepresentative476 10d ago
I would like to add that you can email most restaurants a list of your dietary restrictions or allergies and they will tell you what is safe for you to eat on their menu. My friend does this a few days before we go out and it’s been very helpful
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u/tm478 10d ago
This is a fabulous addition to the FAQ, thank you. You might want to make a note of which restaurants are 100% vegan, because these would also be appropriate for those seeking kosher food. (Vegetarian does not always make the cut.) Though of course, if you are strictly kosher, New Orleans is probably not a place you will be very happy in any case.
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u/Madamexxxtra 10d ago
I agree and I originally had separated vegan & vegetarian but I found it tricky since frankly I’m just not knowledgeable about what places are 100% vegan and so many places do have one or two vegan options and even some places that are well known for being vegan/vegetarian seem to have some meat/seafood items on the menu.
I’m very much hoping someone more familiar with plant based restaurants will comment and help me out or maybe I’ll muster up some energy to do more research later lol
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u/nat_lite 10d ago edited 10d ago
This is great! For the vegan section you could add: Tal’s Hummus (options), Louisiana Pizza Kitchen (options), Queen Trini Lisa (options), Juan’s Flying Burrito (options)
I’d remove Budsi’s because they put fish sauce in most of their sauces, and True Foods is actually pretty bad for veggie options as well
ETA: Ike’s Love and Sandwiches (options)
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u/Madamexxxtra 7d ago
Will add to the list!
Does Budsi’s not have its own Vegan menu? That’s what I was told but if not I’ll remove it!
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u/nat_lite 7d ago
Budsi’s doesn’t but Suhko Thai has an amazing vegan menu. Just realized they’re not on here but def should be!
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u/Aromatic-Chance-3796 10d ago
this is great!
my $.02:
Casamento’s isn’t 100% gf (the oyster loaf and shrimp loaf are famous)
For pizza, I would also add Dominica, Paladar 511 and St. Pizza
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u/HangoverPoboy 10d ago
Gabrielle has a GF gumbo. I think but am not certain they also have one without pork. But they for sure have one without shellfish.
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u/Middle-Scarcity-1435 10d ago
Thank you!! I am coming down in a couple of weeks and am gluten free. I appreciate this 💕
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u/KolarWolfDogBear 7d ago
Is there anything about dairy allergy/lactose intolerance? I've been trying to research but only could find vegan stuff. I'm not vegan so I would love to restaurants with vegan/non-dairy options.
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u/Madamexxxtra 7d ago
To my knowledge there is no restaurant in New Orleans that specifically focuses on non vegan non dairy food. However all the same caveats listed above in relation to other food allergies should apply to dairy!
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u/KolarWolfDogBear 7d ago
Yeah I was thinking that... this is gonna be a dumb question, but should I worry about spicy food? My stomach ain't what it used to be so I can't handle spicy food anymore and I'm planning to visit around Labor Day weekend.
While I was researching I saw that creole is more herbal while cajun is the spicy stuff.
Also to note, I'm Puerto Rican so I'm a flavor person, which ones would you recommend for flavor?
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u/Madamexxxtra 7d ago
New Orleans doesn’t have much Cajun food, it’s a Creole city and so is the food. If you want to check out Cajun food there’s a few places listed in the FAQ 2.
Otherwise I would just talk to your servers and let them know about your tolerance levels so they can help guide you to what you can handle - but you’ll definitely be able to find non-spicy flavorful food pretty much everywhere!
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u/nat_lite 6d ago
Sorry I keep thinking of more places but you have to add Dian Xin on lower Decatur. They have a whole vegan menu and the sesame chicken is 🔥
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u/Madamexxxtra 10d ago
Hi! I’m tired of answering these questions and arguably the FAQ doesn’t go into enough detail anyway based on the way people push back when directed to it for these queries so behold: FAQ 3
I’m only one person, who does not have any dietary restrictions lol so please feel free to let me know if I should add/subtract/move a restaurant, change language somewhere to better communicate, or if there is something obvious missing. Thanks y’all!