New Orleans

Paladar 511

Italian
Californian
Brunch
Cocktails

This soaring Marigny warehouse is perpetually busy and buzzing with chatter, music, and clinking glasses of Italian aperitivo cocktails. The food is unique for New Orleans, a mix of California coastal and modern Italian that ranges from refreshing to comforting. Spicy hamachi crudo, beef tartare, seared snapper over butter beans, and compressed cantaloupe dishes are vibrant. On the comforting side, giant arancini filled with short rib ragù, hearty pastas like cacio e pepe and seasonal ravioli or tortellini, and pork saltimbocca over polenta satisfy. Then there are the pizzas, bursting with flavors with toppings like buttered leeks, lamb Merguez sausage, garlic confit, and braised collard greens. An affordable brunch menu is popular on weekends, during which the ambient volume is turned up even higher.

The flavors, the textures, the ingredients, all the components — Paladar just hits on all marks. It’s always busy, which I love, because that’s just a sign of a great restaurant.

A smiling woman with long hair in a casual outfit standing against a colorful wall

Sue Zemanick

Sue's Perfect Order

A pizza topped with two sunnysideup eggs greens and other toppings served on a wooden table with an embroidered napkin

Rush Jagoe

Squid Ink Spaghetti

Unchanged for years, this might be the best squid ink pasta in town. It’s ultra spicy with Calabrian chile butter, fat shrimp, and noodles that are just the right thickness.

Hamachi Crudo

The crudo is somewhat deconstructed at Paladar, letting the diner mix it all together or not. Avocado mellows the aguachile base and spicy peanuts: fennel or pickled peppers provide crunch.

Farm Egg Pizza

Garlic confit, creamy Gruyère, braised greens, and multiple yolks running over salty-sweet, peppery bacon top a Neapolitan-style crust.

Buttermilk Panna Cotta

Paladar’s panna cotta is tangy from buttermilk and topped with cookies (pistachio shortbread, cornmeal, or ginger molasses). It’s drizzled with seasonal fruit curd, like passion fruit or blueberry.