Archived Article By Tom Fitzmorris
Originally published April 14, 2006
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Best Restaurants For Easter Sunday Brunch Or Dinner
Revised and expanded Friday, April 14
Easter, like many other holidays that used to keep us at home with family dinners, has been transformed by current dining vogues into a major dining-out holiday.
So much so that it's getting hard to find a restaurant with reservations available for Easter brunch (the most popular meal that day). Especially this year, with so many restaurants closed on Sunday.
The demand is such that the bad dog of popular dining days has been unleashed again. That's the "special holiday menu." It offers a limited selection of dishes (so the kitchen can get it out more easily to more people) at a higher price (so the high demand can be taken full advantage of). Neither of these motivations is evil, but the result is diminished enjoyment for the diner.
If you can find a good Easter brunch, or even a good Easter dinner (not a bad option, although the field is even smaller than in the brunch department), it can be very pleasant indeed. The weather tends to be very nice, so if you're in the French Quarter a stroll around is inviting. Even the most ambitious restaurants make themselves friendly to families and their children, so that's not a problem.
And even the most expensive special menus I've seen top out at around $50 a person, which isn't confiscatory.
For obvious reasons, it's impossible to review the Easter offerings first-hand. Here are the restaurants open for Easter whose menus look good to me, and which have a decent enough track record that I'd feel good about making reservations in them. I left out restaurants that told me they're totally booked (Antoine's, for example), but that doesn't mean that by the time you call these places won't also be full. I've placed the in the order of likelihood that they'd still have a reservation for you, as well as goodness.
La Cote Brasserie. 700 Tchoupitoulas. 613-2350. This is one of the great sleepers for Sunday brunch, because it's just deep enough in the Warehouse District (a block from Emeril's) for people to forget about it. The food is terrific.
Bourbon House. 144 Bourbon, 522-0111. They'll be open all day with what looks to me like their entire regular menu at regular prices. A very handsome restaurant in the main dining room.
La Provence. 25020 US 190, Lacombe. 985-626- 7662. The classic Easter dish, lamb, is so much a specialty here that Chef Chris has a little lamb as his logo. They open at one in the afternoon usually, but may open earlier. They go till 7 p.m. The later you go, the easier it is to get a table.
Broussard's. 819 Conti, 581-3866. Broussard's only opens for Sunday brunch on special days like this one--and that's a good thing for those of us looking for first-class dining rooms too late. As of last night they still had reservations for a special menu priced around $40.
Rib Room. 621 St. Louis, 529-7045. The Rib Room is a beautiful place now that we've all grown accustomed to the renovated main dining room. They're a shade expensive, but very pleasurable.
Cafe Degas. 3127 Esplanade, 945-5635. A French bistro with better food every time I go and a pleasant feel on Sunday mornings, Cafe Degas's dining room is an enclosed deck with a pleasant view of the oak trees on Esplanade at Grand Route St. John.
Chateau du Lac. 3901 Williams Blvd., 467-0054. This fine little French bistro is running its regular menu on a day when they're not usually open. The food here is simple and very good, served in a minimal but pleasant dining room.
Arnaud's. 813 Bienville, 523-5433. They have a very limited menu for a five-course Easter brunch at $49 per person. If you arrive early (from 10 till 11:30 a.m., they also have a few eggs dishes and omelets, although it's unclear whether that can be had a la carte.
Andrea's. 3100 19th Street at Ridgelake, 834-8583. The special menu is large and fairly priced ($38.50 for four courses), and they're open all day and into the evening. Chef Andrea is notorious for overbooking his restaurant on holidays, so I would strongly urge either first reservations of the day or late afternoon dining.
Court of Two Sisters. 613 Royal. 522-7273. They have a very large buffet of middling quality and affordable price, plus the very handsome and comfortable courtyard.
Restaurant Des Familles. 7163 Barataria Blvd. at Lafitte-Larose Hwy. (LA 45 at LA 3134), 689-7834. This pretty restaurant out on the bayou was, oddly, one of the first restaurants to reopen after the storm. They're open for Sunday brunch on Easter with a special menu as well as the regular seafood and brunch offerings. Moderate price; unique setting, with a view of the bayou.
Begue's. In the Royal Sonesta Hotel, 300 Bourbon. 553-2278. The original Sunday brunch buffet may already be full, but it's worth trying.
Wolfe's in the Warehouse District. 859 Convention Center Blvd. (Marriott Hotel.) 613-2882. It's a buffet, but a step up from most, according to reports from readers. The chef-owner is Tom Wolfe of Peristyle.
Palace Cafe. 605 Canal, 523-1661. The brunch menu is still not fleshed out completely, but they are open all day Sunday, with a substantial menu and a lot off the rotisserie.
Galatoire's. 209 Bourbon, 525-2021. Likely a full house already on the reservation side, but if you can show up early (11:30 a.m. for the main room or late (between 2 and 5 p.m.) you should be able to get a table. Get the Easter bunny to stand in line.
Windsor Court Grill Room. 300 Gravier, 522-1994. The Grill Room has a buffet whose description, I must say, I find underwhelming. The price is $59 for adults, $29 for kids. They also have a room package for $180 per night, if you want to get your Easter basket in a posh place.
If you know of any other restaurants that should be on this list, please alert me at news@nomenu.com.
© 2006 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com