Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris Originally published December 14, 2007 But Christmas Day Restaurants Sparse As Ever Christmas Eve Dining Is Wide Open For most of the history of the New Orleans restaurant business, finding a table on Christmas Eve was just as hard as finding one on Chirstmas Day. And for the same reason: who wants to work then? The managers and owners certainly didn't, and the top waiters and chefs didn't either. So, if restaurant opened at all on December 24, they'd serve lunch and that was it. But four or five o'clock, only those in the we-never-close-no-matter-what category (which included hotel restaurants, the nicest of the options) remained at their stands. Some restaurants--notably the entire Brennan restaurant empire--didn't open even for lunch on Christmas Eve. All that seems to have changed. All of the Brennan restaurants are open, lunch and dinner. (Exception: Brennan's on Royal Street is just doing lunch.) And most other restaurant usually open on Monday are, too. That leaves out Galatoire's and most of the gourmet bistros. But even those aside, it gives people looking for a place to have dinner on the night before Christmas many more options than in any previous year. I have a list of all the restaurants I've been able to ascertain will be open Christmas Even and Christmas Day on our Christmas Page, here. However, I am discovering that many, many more places than I have listed will be there Christmas Eve. So, if you have a favorite place, it's worth it to give them a call. Christmas Day dining, on the other hand, is as sparse as ever. It's the usual array: hotels and hard-core hotel-style chefs like Andrea Apuzzo's namesake restaurant. My advice remains: if you can possibly avoid eating in a restaurant on Christmas, do so. But here's an interesting wrinkle: in recent years, many ethnic restaurants open for dinner on Christmas night, particularly those run by people from largely non-Christian lands. They have no religious connection with the holiday, so why not? Many Chinese restaurants will be open, for example. (On the oter hand, you'll find few, if any, Vietnamese restaurants, since most local Vietnamese are devoutly Catholic.) And a few non-ethnic restaurants operated by Muslims and other non-Christians just keep on going. The Maple Street Cafe and the Maple Cafe, owned by the Jordanian Qutob brothers, have always opened on Christmas with a special, very affordable, and very American menu. I think the Kosher Kajun is open, too. We thank our diverse restaurant brethren for that service for those who need them. © 2007 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com