Brennan's

Brennan's has been a New Orleans dining institution since 1946, when Owen Edward Brennan founded it, and it has occupied the pink 1795 building at 417 Royal Street since 1956. It marks its eightieth year in 2026. This is the kitchen that invented Bananas Foster, and it is still owned by the family, run today by third-generation Ralph Brennan. The recognition is current rather than historical: the New York Times put it among the top 25 New Orleans restaurants in 2024, Wine Spectator has given it the Grand Award repeatedly, it was a James Beard finalist for Outstanding Restaurant in 2022, and beverage director Braithe Gill was named a 2026 James Beard semifinalist for Outstanding Professional in Beverage Service. Turtle soup is $13, the Creole tomato tostada $18, redfish Véronique $36, and a chateaubriand for two $120.

The spirit-free section is called Temperance, 1946 — a nod to the year the restaurant opened and to a word New Orleans has a complicated relationship with. It sits inside the cocktail menu, and it rotates by season, which is the right way round: the same kitchen that changes the tomato dish changes the zero-proof drinks. Two are current. Catalina Island is $15, built on Seedlip Grove 42 with local watermelon juice and tonic — citrus-forward and light enough for a long dinner. Black Hills is $14, on Lyre's non-alcoholic agave tequila with basil purée and lime, and is the more savoury of the pair. That the drinks are named after places, priced within a dollar or two of the house cocktails, and change with the calendar tells you they belong to the beverage director rather than to a supplier catalogue. Two practical notes, because this is a jacket-preferred sort of room: reservations open sixty days ahead and parties over six must telephone, and the dress code asks for dressy casual, with no athletic or cut-off shorts, no sleeveless or decal t-shirts, no hats, and no open-toed shoes for men.