Classic Creole.
French Quarter: 209 Bourbon. 504-525-2021. Map.
Lunch and dinner continuously Tuesday-Sunday.
Very Dressy
AE DC DS MC V
Website
WHY IT'S NOTEWORTHY
The restaurants and chefs who create the food of the present and future are do not tell the whole story of dining in New Orleans. At least as important are those who continue to serve the kind of food that made New Orleans dining famous in the first place. Galatoire's is the apotheosis of the traditional Creole-French restaurant, so tightly integrated into the city's culture that almost anything it does makes news. With a menu full of borrowings from classic French cuisine and other New Orleans restaurants, it reassures us that we stand on firm culinary ground here. But more important still is the social phenomenon that is Galatoire's. No place better shows off the style of the upper levels of New Orleans society--who have much more fun than their counterparts in other American cities.
WHY IT'S GOOD
The first generations of the Galatoire family had the knowledge and taste to set a standard that lives on today. The food is really simple in both preparation and service. It relies upon ingredients of excellent quality (heavy on the local products, especially seafood) and recipes so evolved through decades of natural selection that they can almost not help but be good. Proof of this comes in any dinner here composed of new dishes: they're rarely as good as the old ones. Meanwhile, the waiters perform organically, relating with the kitchen and the customers (sometime in defiance of the management) to deliver the best to those who know how to enjoy it best. Truth be told, the food here is brilliant in only a small percentage of its long menu catalog. That doesn't matter, because if you understand Galatoire's--something not possible on a first visit--you also know what and how to order
BACKSTORY
Chef Jean Galatoire came to New Orleans from a small town in France in the late 1800s, when French cuisine dominated the city. He went to work for a restaurant called Victor's, and in 1905 he bought it and changed the name to his own. Cooking French classics with New Orleans ingredients, he and his large family (now in its fourth generation in the business) established Galatoire's as particularly sympatheque to the unique New Orleans style of socializing. It remains that to this day. An upheaval occurred in the late 1990s, when a shift in the family brought in new management and performed a major restoration of the building, modernizing a relatively few things as it went. That got the customer base up in arms, but all that had calmed down by New Year's Day 2006, when Galatoire's gave great comfort to the city by reopening after Hurricane Katrina. In early 2010, the Galatoire family created a stir by selling most of its interest in the restaurant to two investors (long-time customers both).
DINING ROOM
The main dining room downstairs is the most photographed restaurant interior in New Orleans. Tiled floors, mirrored walls, motionless fans of polished brass hanging from high ceilings, and bright naked light bulbs create half the scene. The rest is supplied by the jammed-in customers, all well-dressed (especially the women) and deeply engaged in sending a convivial energy back and forth. The second floor dining rooms are pleasant but much less distinctive. However, the addition of a bar and waiting area in the 1990s was very welcome, all but eliminating the need to wait in line on the sidewalk for the unreservable downstairs tables.
ESSENTIAL DISHES
Fried eggplant and souffle potatoes bearnaise
Shrimp rémoulade
Oysters en brochette
Crabmeat maison
Shrimp maison
Grand gouté (a combination of the four previous items, for four)
Oysters Rockefeller
Escargots bordelaise
Crabmeat canapé Lorenzo
Sautéed sweetbreads
Grilled duck breast
Foie gras
Créole gumbo
Turtle soup
Green salad with garlic
Godchaux salad (seafood and greens)
Fish meunière amandine
Fish with crabmeat Yvonne
Poached fish with hollandaise or Marguery sauce
Crabmeat Sardou
Crabmeat au gratin
Fried or broiled soft shell crabs meunière
Bouillabaisse
Shrimp Clemenceau
Shrimp Créole
Shrimp Marguery
Shrimp or crawfish etouffée
Chicken bonne-femme
Chicken Clemenceau
Roasted duck
Filet mignon, strip sirloin, or ribeye steak
Lamb chops
Pork chops
Sweetbreads
Veal chop
Veal liver
Cup custard
Banana bread pudding
Crepes maison
FOR BEST RESULTS
Knowing a waiter here is a huge advantage. Take their advice without exception.This is the last restaurant in town that requires a jacket for men at dinner, and (attention!) no jeans ever. No restaurant scene surpasses in joyousness the Friday afternoon crowd at Galatoire's. However, the quality of the food and service come way down then. The best time to come is in the later afternoon; the restaurant keeps going through dinner, is never empty, and is more attentive to the fine points.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT
Someday, something will be done to give the upstairs dining rooms more of the feeling of the downstairs. Some of the waiters are playing a role more than they're waiting tables.
FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD
Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter.
- Dining Environment +3
- Consistency +1
- Service +1
- Value
- Attitude
- Wine and Bar +1
- Hipness +1
- Local Color +3
SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES
- Romantic
- Good for business meetings
- Many private rooms
- Open Sunday lunch and dinner
- Open all afternoon
- Historic
- Good for children
- Reservations accepted (for upstairs dining room only)
This review was updated with new information on 8/13/2010.
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