Summer is typically New Orleans’s season of closures and reduced hours, and not a time for big openings — but this year is different. Summer 2024 is all about the year’s most hotly anticipated restaurants opening their doors for locals to experience first, ahead of the busier fall festival and tourist seasons. Get ready for Mexican mariscos to beat the heat, a mystical Filipino witch bar to awaken the senses, Venezuelan arepas to satiate, yak-a-mein to comfort, and exquisite baked goods to delight the eyes (and palate). Here are New Orleans’s most anticipated restaurant openings this summer, in no particular order.
Acamaya
Where: 3060 Dauphine Street, Bywater
When: July
Acamaya is gearing up for a grand opening on July 5, bringing one of New Orleans’s most anticipated restaurants of 2024 to the Bywater this summer. James Beard-nominated chef Ana Castro, who closed her acclaimed Mexican tasting restaurant Lengua Madre in 2023, is getting a bit more casual with Acamaya, focusing on Mexican mariscos like aguachiles (a recent example being mahi mahi and alamo jack aguachile verde), classic Mexico city-style shrimp co*cktail, tuna tostadas, octopus tacos, michelada oysters, and margaritas.
Tatlo
Where: 240 Bourbon Street, French Quarter
When: August
Witchcraft, Southeast Asian foodways, and absinthe combine at Tatlo, the divine-sounding restaurant coming up from Milkfish founder Cristina Quackenbush. Quackenbush has joined forces with chef Anh Luu, the former executive chef at Bywater Brew Pub who now runs her Vietnamese street food pop-up Xanh, for what Quackenbush is calling a Filipino witch bar, “an immersive trip through the personal, the mystical, and the historical.” The grand opening is slated for August, but the next few months may bring opportunities for a sneak peek.
The Coop
Where: 1030 Derbingy Street, Gretna
When: June/July
James Beard semifinalist Marlon “Chicken” Williams is opening a second outpost of his restaurant, Chicken’s Kitchen, in Gretna, introducing a build-your-own breakfast option for the first time (early birds, get excited: it’s going to open its doors at 6:30 a.m.). A sneak peek at the menu shows the beloved meat and three dishes that Williams is known for, with the addition of daily specials like yak-a-mein, a large menu of sandwiches, fresh-pressed juices, smoothies, and salads.
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Nobu
Where: 8 Canal Street, Caesars New Orleans
When: August 15
Luxe New York-born sushi chain Nobu is arriving in New Orleans later this summer, located in the Nobu Hotel opening as part of the ongoing transformation of Harrah’s into Caesars New Orleans. The 175-seat restaurant will serve all the Nobu signatures, like yellowtail jalapeno sashimi, black cod miso (marinated for two to three days), and endless nigiri. The restaurant is now accepting reservations from August 15 onward.
City Market
Where: 1101 Elysian Fields Avenue, St. Roch
When: June/July
New Orleans’s newest food hall is City Market (initially called Elysian Market), nearing completion in a vibrantly painted building at the intersection of Elysian Fields and St. Claude Avenue. The building’s owner Ngo Vu is planning a slew of global offerings like sushi and poke; pho, banh mi, and vermicelli bowls; boba and fresh juice; burgers and wings; and boiled seafood, including crawfish. An outpost of Zoe’s Bakery, a popular Covington bakery, is expected, there will be a full bar, and there’s also a promise of fresh produce.
La Cocinita
Where: 4920 Prytania Street, Uptown
When: Late July/Early August
One of New Orlean’s most popular food trucks is becoming an Uptown restaurant later this summer. La Cocinita proprietors Benoit and Rachel Angulo are planning a bigger-than-ever menu of pillowy arepas, including vegan options, and a weekend brunch menu of empanadas, breakfast tacos, and breakfast bowls. A full bar will serve tropical co*cktails, mimosas, margaritas, and mojitos, plus South American wines and beer.
Later this year
34 Restaurant and Bar
Where: 710 Baronne Street, Warehouse District
Emeril Lagasse’s “love letter” to his Portuguese heritage, 34 Restaurant and Bar, is slated to open in the Warehouse District in September. Expect tapas-style shared plates and a “jamón bar”; Lagasse’s son, E.J., is a collaborator.
Additionally, keep an eye out for Lagniappe Bakehouse, the first-ever retail bakery from acclaimed pop-up pastry chef Kaitlin Guerin; a second location of popular brunch destination Alma Cafe from chef Melissa Araujo; ShaSha Lounge: Social Aid and Pleasure Club, an ambitious NFT lounge from chef Nina Compton; and Rice Vice Sake, a Nashville-based sake bar expanding to New Orleans.
The Kingsway
Where: 4201 Magazine Street, Uptown
The Vilkhu family is inching toward the opening of their second restaurant, the Kingsway, in the former Magasin Vietnamese Cafe location. It will differ from Saffron, the family’s acclaimed destination for fine-dining Indian cuisine, melding East Asian and French flavors.
The Bell Nola
Where: 3125 Esplanade Avenue, Bayou St. John
Charleston restaurateur Brooks Reitz is opening the Bell on Esplanade Avenue later this year, a bar and dining room with an English tilt and cozy pub feel but with French and New Orleans culinary influences.
