Mid-City

Mid-City

Covington

Warehouse District & Center City

French Quarter

French Quarter

Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd

Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon

Marigny

On the top edge of the Marigny Triangle lies a delicious and slightly unexpected Italian restaurant with a light heart--to judge by the pun-laden descriptions of the many fresh pastas and ingredients to toss it with. It harbors a small array of salads and appetizers, but the focus is on the sizable portions of pasta. I’m in a pasta-hungry stage lately, and I've been hooked by Arabella since the place opened. The staff is happily involved in serving your pick from the myriad possibilities that come about with seven pasta shapes (one of them gluten-free), six sauces, and seven miscellaneous toppings.

Arabi

Uptown 2: Washington To Napoleon

French Quarter

Belle Chasse

Lakefront/UNO Area

Slidell

Uptown 4: Riverbend, Carrollton & Broadmoor

Uptown 2: Washington To Napoleon

Atchafalaya may be the ultimate New Orleans restaurant, at least for the younger half of the gourmet world. The food is great, inspired by the traditional ingredients and flavors but without more than a handful of classic Creole restaurant dishes. The place is an old neighborhood joint much in need of thorough restoration. But the prices reflect that. Instead of lunch, Atchafalaya offers a first-class brunch almost every day of the week. Even the restaurant's motto--"New Orleans's Only Five-A Restaurant"--is clever. The only drawback is getting a table--never easy when you need one.

River Parishes

Metairie 2: Orleans Line To Houma Blvd

French Quarter

Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon

Harahan

Harvey

Uptown 2: Washington To Napoleon

Metairie 3: Houma Blvd To Kenner Line

Uptown 1: Garden District & Environs

Harvey

Mid-City

Uptown 3: Napoleon To Audubon

Trying to think of a place for dinner recently, with the limitation that one of us didn't want Italian, the three of us could think of nothing but Italian restaurants. We finally settled on an Italian restaurant that was just different enough from the standard to make it seem. . . well, not really Italian. Whatever that means. Avo's take on Italian food is very new to the scene, having premiered only six months earlier. It wasn't until we were deep into the meal before we saw that not only is Avo's very Italian but very deep New Orleans-Italian roots. Avo's main selling point is its premises, a rebirth of the former Martinique restaurant and its hedge-surrounded, open-air courtyard. That part of the renovation was the deepest: it's now a weatherproof dining room that nevertheless has an outdoor-dining feeling. If the weather is even remotely nice, they open all the big windows. The menu is different enough from any other in that part of restaurant-loaded Magazine Street to be attractive. You will walk past at least three restaurants between your parking space and Avo.

Uptown 4: Riverbend, Carrollton & Broadmoor