It’s easy to fall into the trap of the French Quarter’s neon-signed bars in pursuit of juleps and middling Cajun food, but if you’re craving a more local experience, head to these 10 favorite spots.

You can’t have Southern brunch without grits, and Chef Alex Harrell won’t disappoint there, but he takes it one step further with crispy boudin sausage, a pan-fried egg and red-eye gravy atop creamy, bar-raising grits. Originally from Alabama, Harrell is rooted in Southern cooking traditions, but he might throw in an Italian-ish twist from time to time, such as the Mississippi rabbit leg inspired by veal milanese (breaded, fried and smothered in tomato gravy) with spoonbread. Or the housemade linguine studded with sweet lumps of Louisiana blue crabs, bottarga, fresh mint, serrano peppers and crab butter. 

Chef Kristen Essig cooked around town for years, most notably for big-name Big Easy chefs Emeril Lagasse and Susan Spicer, before deciding to step out on her own. Meauxbar’s menu is a crowd-pleaser, pivoting from playful and adventurous — escargot in bone marrow that doubles as a liquor luge for a shot of Herbsaint — to serious French comfort, like a classic hanger steak au poivre. Reservations are available and advised, since the dining room fills up fast. Those with a case of late-night munchies on Fridays or Saturdays can drop by for dinner, which is served till midnight.On Sunday nights, the bar serves Yak-a-Mein, a local comfort food and proven hangover cure. It’s a vaguely Asian noodle soup with meaty ingredients that vary based on market options, but it always comes with onions, a soft-boiled egg and sambal paste.

If you’re craving soul food or some good ol’ Creole cooking, it doesn’t get more authentic than Li’l Dizzy’s, just a short walk from the Quarter in the Tremé neighborhood. Owner Wayne Baquet comes from a long family tradition of hospitality: His great-aunt Ada opened one of the first African American-owned restaurants in Tremé, and his father’s restaurant was a staple in the 7th Ward neighborhood. Baquet opened Li’l Dizzy’s in 2005 before Katrina, and was able to rebuild it after the storm. Li’l Dizzy’s has become the go-to standard for Sunday brunch, gumbo and fried chicken. Their daily all-you-can-eat buffet is the way to go if you don’t want to miss a bit, and they also do daily specials and po’ boys a la carte.