The Best Restaurants & Bars In The Bywater & Marigny

Just east of the French Quarter is where you'll find the Marigny and Bywater, two neighborhoods that are definitely more low-key than their neighbor to the west, but still distinctly New Orleans. These two areas are filled with bars and restaurants, many of which are frequented by more locals than visitors, and it’s easy to get around by foot or bike. You'll find a few great cafes, late-night music spots, a wine garden utopia, and more—here are all the best places to eat and drink in the Marigny and Bywater.

Check out our complete list of New Orleans restaurants and bars here.

BREAKFAST/LUNCH

At least once during your next trip to New Orleans, you’re going to wake up thinking, “Things really went sideways last night after that third hurricane.” When that happens, head east to Elizabeth’s. This place is famous for its huge breakfast and brunch dishes, like eggs Florentine topped with fried oysters and sweet potato duck hash over a cornbread waffle, along with their praline bacon. They also serve really solid cocktails, like a morning margarita and brandy milk punch—no hurricanes in sight.

Summers in New Orleans are brutal, and when you need a break from bar hopping or just want to relax for a bit near water, head to The Country Club. You can eat crab beignets or have some filet mignon at the restaurant inside the 200-year-old house, but the real reason to come here is to hang out by the big pool in the backyard, where you can still order food, but also swim or just lay around. If you come on the weekend though, be prepared for Drag Brunch at 10am and 1pm on Saturdays and Sundays, which is exactly as fun—and as popular with bachelorette parties—as you’d expect.

After a few days of binging on French-Creole food, you’re going to want something green, fresh, and not cooked in butter. When you hit that wall, Satsuma Cafe is here for you. This small Bywater cafe serves breakfast and lunch daily and is the place to go for fresh juices, salads, and avocado toast. That said, they also have a great bacon, egg, and cheese, in case richness fatigue hasn’t set in yet. They get mobbed on the weekends, but if you come early enough, grab a seat on their garden patio.

A food hall located inside a restored building from the 1800s, St. Roch Market brings together a wide range of local vendors that serve things like oysters, Vietnamese food, charcuterie, fresh pastries, cocktails, and more. It’s a great place to check out for brunch or lunch before exploring the nearby Marigny neighborhood, or if you’re with a group and everyone just happens to be in the mood for something different.

Located right in the middle of the Marigny, Flora Cafe checks off everything you’d want from a neighborhood coffee shop. Local artwork on the walls? Yes. Good coffee and affordable breakfast and lunch food served all day? Confirmed. A cat that wanders around the shop, but isn’t overly friendly? You get the idea. They stay open until 10pm daily, so basically anytime you need a coffee or a snack, Flora Cafe is a good option.

DINNER

Eating at N7 feels like you’re in on a secret. It’s located on a random side street in the Bywater, has almost no signage, and unless you knew otherwise, you’d think it was just a swanky house that hosted a lot of outdoor dinner parties. They serve a mix of French and Japanese dishes, along with a variety of canned seafood, and have an extensive wine and cocktail menu. But it’s the combination of great food, the Christmas light-covered garden patio, and the sense that you stumbled upon something undiscovered that makes N7 such a special spot.

At the far end of the Bywater, you’ll find Bacchanal, a weird little wine shop that evolved into a wine garden utopia and one of the coolest places you can spend a night in New Orleans. After you pick out a bottle, head outside to the big backyard where you can drink, order food, and catch live music every night of the week. There’s also a semi-secret cocktail and wine bar upstairs, which is the perfect place to take in the scene and survey the backyard for available seats.

Look, you probably didn’t come to New Orleans to eat barbecue. But just like when you end up singing karaoke with a stranger or learning that you actually like absinthe, this city has a habit of delivering the unexpected, and that’s what you get at The Joint. This barbecue spot just a few blocks from Bacchanal serves all of the classics, but ribs and sausage are what they do best, and make sure to grab a slice of peanut butter pie, too.

LATE-NIGHT EATS & BARS

There are two good times to go to Dat Dog. The first is before a night out when you want to drink a few beers, enjoy one of their many delicious sausages, and look out over Frenchmen Street as people start to filter in for the night. The other time is a few hours later, when it’s after 1am and nothing in the world sounds better than a crawfish etouffee-covered bratwurst. Either is fine and regardless of what hour it is, you’re going to be very pleased with your decision.

Almost every place on Frenchmen hosts live music each night and it’s easy enough to just bar hop up and down the street until you find one you like. Blue Nile is one of your best options though. On any given night, you can hear funk, blues, jazz, or brass, depending on when you stop by. It can get pretty packed inside since they tend to host the bigger brass bands, but this place also has a large balcony on the second floor where you can still hear the music and drink, but without being stuck in the crowd.

In recent years, New Orleans has seen a lot of new craft breweries pop up, but our favorite is Parleaux Beer Lab. This brewery-meets-beer garden is located at the far end of the Bywater, near The Joint and Bacchanal, and, along with serving plenty of seasonal beers, it hosts different food trucks most nights of the week. Stop by for a few brews and some food, or you can even catch a yoga class here in the morning.

The Apple Barrel on Frenchmen Street looks like the blueprint for any “New Orleans-style bar.” There’s random artwork of musicians, money is stapled to the wall above the bar, and everything sort of looks secondhand. But it’s also one of the most low-key bars on the street, and since it’s smaller than the rest, the shows here feel way more intimate than anywhere else on Frenchmen.