The Absolute Best Beignets In New Orleans

New Orleans is a city steeped in incredibly diverse cultures and history, making it a creative and culinary city like no other. Perhaps the things it's known for the most are jazz and food. While we're no experts on jazz, we're excited to take a look at some of the best places to find beignets in New Orleans, which will inevitably lead us to some other incredible New Orleans-style dishes along the way.

If you aren't familiar with beignets, you're in for a special treat — pun intended. Essentially, they're fried dough treats, made with yeasted dough that's fried to order and then generously topped with powdered sugar. We dare say that there's usually enough powdered sugar on a fresh plate of beignets that you should be prepared to breathe some of it in while you're taking your first bite. Just embrace it. Some people compare beignets to doughnuts, although they're typically less doughy and more pillowy. Others call them fritters, which is a close comparison as well (via What's Cooking America).

But many places have gotten a little more creative with beignets, working with inspired flavors, fillings, dips, and even savory seafood riffs on this traditionally sweet pastry. Here we've taken a look at some great places to find beignets in New Orleans, ranging from the original coffee stands in the French Market to local cafes and upscale restaurants. However you like your beignets, you're sure to find an option here to satisfy your tastes.

Café Du Monde is famously known for two things: chicory coffee and beignets. Located in the tourist-heavy New Orleans French Market, the coffee stand has been selling coffee and tender fried pastries doused in powdered sugar since 1862. Even if you've never been to Café Du Monde, there's a chance you've seen the iconic Café Du Monde coffee cans in stores, or you've been treated to a fresh cup by someone who's just returned from a trip to the Big Easy.

But the coffee is only one half of the magic that's created at Café Du Monde — and that's where the beignets come in. Bon Appétit writes that Café Du Monde is one of those tourist traps that's absolutely worth a visit, and we couldn't agree more. Beignets are sold by the plate, with three fritters on each. Share, or don't, but they're best enjoyed hot. If you're feeling especially bold, you can even try dipping them in some rich and bitter chicory coffee.

Whether you're a local that doesn't frequent the French Quarter often, or you're traveling through a different part of New Orleans, you should still be able to lay your hands on some Café Du Monde goodness. The coffee stand has expanded to include 15 locations across New Orleans and the surrounding areas. While the original coffee stand was once open 24 hours a day, the hours have since been shortened to 7:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., most days of the year.

In 1870, just eight years after Café Du Monde appeared, Morning Call Coffee Stand opened in the French Market. Like many famous food rivalries (Pat's or Genos? Shake Shack vs. In-N-Out?), locals have strong opinions about which coffee and beignet stand they prefer (via Nola.com). Morning Call Coffee Stand has since left the French Quarter, expanding to several locations across the city over the years, including a picturesque location inside City Park next to the New Orleans Museum of Art and Botanical Gardens — which has since been converted to a Café Du Monde outpost (via Eater). Today, Morning Call Coffee Stand is located in a new development just west of the park on the corner of City Park Avenue and Canal Boulevard. While it may not be located in the original French Market anymore, you probably won't have to battle as many tourists to get a cup of coffee and a stack of beignets.

Beignets are sold by the plate, three each, for $3.50. Café au lait is the recommended drink with your beignets, but Morning Call also offers other coffee drinks, milk, juices, and soft drinks. For those who need a little more than beignets, Morning Call's menu is slightly longer than their competitor's, offering iconic local dishes like jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish étouffée, and muffulettas. We're not here to tell you which one is better, but we'd definitely encourage you to try both famous beignets and decide for yourself.

While Café Du Monde and Morning Call Coffee Shop are busy competing with each other, plenty of other coffee and beignet shops have found their groove. In an extremely informal poll of New Orleans locals and friends who have visited, Café Beignet kept coming up as a consistent and satisfying beignet spot — and it's not just our friends who think so. Even Alton Brown of the Food Network can't get enough of Café Beignet's pastries.

Opening its first location on Royal street in 1990, Café Beignet has continued the tradition of serving chicory coffee and fresh pillowy beignets, while also offering a menu of locally inspired breakfast and lunch options. The beignets come three to a plate, as is the custom, and are currently offered for $4.75. If you're traveling on a budget (or even if you just like free coffee), we'd highly suggest checking out Café Beignet's discounts page, where they currently offer a coupon for a free café au lait with any purchase. There are now four Café Beignet locations, all relatively close to each other, including a spot on Bourbon Street that plays live jazz all day, starting at 10 a.m. 

Loretta's Authentic Pralines has been in business for over 35 years, and was the first praline company in New Orleans to be owned and operated by an African American woman — Ms. Loretta Harrison. If you aren't familiar with pralines, they're a classic Southern confection, essentially made of buttery caramel and pecans (via Southern Living). Loretta's, which makes a selection of classic and flavored pralines, had the ingenious idea of combining the flavors of traditional Southern pralines with irresistible New Orleans beignets, creating the iconic praline beignet. Each beignet is drizzled with a caramel sauce and topped with candied pecans before being topped with the usual pile of confectioner's sugar. It's truly a marriage of two Southern icons.

Of course, Loretta's Authentic Pralines offers so much more than praline beignets. They're also known for their savory beignets that come with a variety of pairings, including barbecue chicken, burger, and crab meat beignets. You could really just make a whole meal out of beignets at Loretta's. There are two Loretta's Authentic Pralines locations in New Orleans, one in the French Market and one on North Rampart street.

Some people like their beignets with a café au lait, and some people prefer their beignets with a glass of bubbly — and The Vintage is here to satisfy everyone. While The Vintage calls itself a coffee shop on social media, they're more of a small bites café serving up beignets and pastries, as well as appetizer-style bites, flatbreads, and panini all day long. Not only that, but the restaurant has two happy hours a day, the first from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the second from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Beignets are served in a handful of ways at The Vintage. If you're in the mood for the classics, order a trio of traditional beignets or a bag of 10 (you can also order a single "simple beignet"). Additionally, they offer beignet bites, which are bite-sized beignets tossed in powdered or cinnamon sugar. Like some of the other more contemporary beignet makers in New Orleans, The Vintage has also gotten creative with their beignets, offering what they call "Fancy Beignets." These fancy beignets rotate flavors based on themes or seasons, and come stuffed and topped with mouthwatering fillings and garnishes. One look at The Vintage's Instagram page, and you'll see some of the impressive fancy beignet offerings, including some to celebrate Mardi Gras. If you happen to make it to the restaurant for breakfast, you can also order a beignet with bacon gravy and an egg, which sounds like a great way to start the day.

With a name like Stuph'd Beignets & Burgers, you should be prepared to come hungry. We were honestly blown away by the incredible range of beignet options, both sweet and savory when we took a look at the menu, and would have a hard time choosing just one or two flavors. Beginning with the sweet beignets menu, you'll find traditional beignets sold in threes, but you might want to be a little more adventurous here. There's also sweet beignets stuffed with apple, pecan pie, sweet potato pie, brownie and walnuts, berries, Oreo, cheesecake, berry cheesecake, and Oreo cheesecake. Specialty flavors come two pieces to an order, so we'd recommend bringing a friend and splitting a few different flavors.

That might be all some people need, but Stuph'd didn't stop with the sweet beignets. There are also afwithn extensive savory beignet menu that includes veggie, hot sausage and cheese, grilled chicken, BBQ Beeph, Philly cheesesteak, grilled shrimp, Surph and Turph, Creole Crawfish, and Creole Queen (which includes crawfish, shrimp, and crab meat — pastry-fried heaven). It probably goes without saying, but you'll need to make several trips to Stuph'd to sample everything they've got to offer. In 2020, the restaurant moved into a new location at 3325 St. Claude Avenue (via Eater), and is currently open Wednesday through Sunday.

At Luca Eats, you won't find a slew of beignet flavors, or even a traditional beignet offered. In fact, there's only one beignet on the menu — the Oreo beignet. But don't be fooled, lack of quantity doesn't equal lack of quality here. In fact, the Oreo beignet from Luca Eats won the New Orleans Beignet Fest Crowd Favorite award in 2016. For reference, it's sort of like a fried Oreo that you'd get at a state fair, but encapsulated in a beignet instead of batter. Besides this unique treat, the restaurant also specializes in pressed sandwiches for breakfast and lunch, as well as salads and soups.

While it's certainly possible to spend an entire trip to New Orleans eating nothing but beignets, you should do yourself a favor and try some savory food as well. There aren't any savory beignets offered at Luca Eats, but it might be the only place you'll find a shrimp and grits breakfast sandwich. Or, you can enjoy a hearty and delicious muffuletta sandwich (perhaps even with a cup of gumbo on the side) with your Oreo beignet for a real New Orleans-style lunch.

It's not just coffee shops and cafes making beignets in New Orleans — plenty of restaurants have gotten in on the beignet game as well. And while Bakery Bar may have started out as cake shop, it's since expanded into a full-service restaurant (with a nice selection of desserts to satisfy anyone with a sweet tooth). If you're looking specifically for beignets, there are currently three different flavors on the menu, including classic beignets, chocolate chip cookie dough filled beignets, and apple pie beignets stuffed with a spiced apple pie filling (add a scoop of gelato to round it out).

But while you're there, consider trying the specialty cake that Bakery Bar was originally created for, the Doberge cake. If you're not familiar with a Doberge cake, don't worry, neither were we. But according to Bakery Bar, it's essentially a traditional New Orleans birthday cake with seven thin layers of cake, a pudding filling between each layer, all frosted with poured fondant icing. Flavors change regularly, and a boozy option is also available by the slice.

After a night on Bourbon Street (which is just two blocks away), there's a good chance you're going to want to find somewhere that serves breakfast all day, perhaps with a little hair of the dog to get you moving. So if your hotel's continental breakfast isn't singing to you, Jimmy J's Cafe is ready for you, open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day but Wednesday. It's located at the edge of the French Quarter, close to many hotels and tourist spots, so you'll be ready to keep going after a good meal.

In addition to the appetizing breakfast options, Jimmy J's also offers beignet sticks, accompanied by creole cream cheese and chocolate dipping sauce for only $5. We'd suggest ordering a plate or two of beignet sticks to start with, before diving into a plate of Eggs Sardou or a Crawfish Benedict.

Maybe Bourbon Street isn't your scene, and you're looking to enjoy some of the flavors of New Orleans in style. Whether you're a guest of the hotel or not, you'll find beignets, as well as a tidy menu of locally-inspired dishes at Café Normandie and Rosie's on the Roof at the Higgins Hotel. The Higgins Hotel and Conference Center is just a block from the National World War II Museum, and offers admissions packages to the museum as well as a discounted rate for active and retired military families staying at the hotel.

Café Normandie is open for breakfast and lunch, although beignets don't hit the menu until lunchtime. There are both sweet and savory beignet options, with a crab-stuffed beignet appetizer, and a traditional beignet served with chocolate sauce for dessert. Rosie's on the Rooftop opens at 4 p.m., and serves the same crab beignet starters, as well as the dessert beignets with chocolate dipping sauce. The crab beignets run $14 to $16 per order and the dessert beignets run $7 to $8 per order, which is a little higher priced than beignets you'll find at some smaller cafes, but is commensurate with hotel dining prices in general.

As you've probably noticed by now, crab-stuffed beignets are a popular way to serve beignets in New Orleans, although La Petit Grocery is arguably the most well-known for the savory spin. In fact, La Petit Grocery's chef and owner, Justin Devillier, won the James Beard Award for Best Chef: South in 2016, in no small part to his innovative plates that include these blue crab beignets, as well as Turtle Bolognese and Panéed Rabbit. One look at the restaurant's Instagram page, and you know you're in for an absolutely gorgeous meal at La Petit Grocery.

The blue crab beignets themselves are smaller than the larger square versions of the pastry, about the size of hush puppies. They come about five to an order, and are served with a side of malt vinegar aioli and a wedge of lemon. The beignets are currently offered on La Petit Grocery's takeout menu online. While not currently listed on the restaurant's main dining room menu, we'd still ask if they were available to enjoy as a starter. And for those of us many thousands of miles away from New Orleans who get hungry just looking at photos of these luscious beignets, Chef Devillier has generously given his recipe to Garden & Gun for us to try to make at home.

Criollo Restaurant gets its name from the Spanish word for "Creole," and is located inside the Hotel Monteleone, alongside the famous Carousel Bar. As the name of the restaurant suggests, the menu blends influences from Creole, French, and Spanish cuisines. But we're here for the beignets, and Criollo offers them two ways.

To start, the restaurant offers blue crab and corn beignets, a delightful addition to the blue crab beignet lineup we've seen already. They're served with Cajun brown butter and remoulade sauce for $18. If you're in the mood for sweet beignets, they've got those too, made just like they do in the French Market and served with a side of praline sauce and fresh strawberries for $10. It's honestly hard to choose, so we'd probably just order both. The restaurant is open from 6:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., but you can also find both beignets on the menu at the Carousel bar, which is open from 11 a.m. to midnight.

Diverging from the crowd of crab-stuffed beignets, SoBou offers a different kind of savory beignet that you won't find anywhere else. Here they make a duck and sweet potato beignet that's served with chicory coffee ganache and foie gras fondue. With a description like that, we almost don't even care what's on the rest of the menu. But if you're looking for a little bit of tradition mixed with your contemporary meal, classic sweet beignets are available for dessert, served with caramel sauce and plenty of powdered sugar.

Not only does SoBou try something different with their duck and sweet potato beignets, but there are plenty of other inventive options on the menu as well. We've also got our eyes on the Cracklin Crusted Boudin, Crispy Oyster Tacos, and the Geaux fish a la Louisiane. While SoBou is open every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., we're especially excited to visit on a Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., when the restaurant presents their Burlesque Brunch.

Located inside the Royal Sonesta New Orleans Hotel, Restaurant R'evolution is without a doubt a luxurious dining experience. While still in the French Quarter, the dining experience feels worlds away from the tourist-heavy stalls at the French Market — but the chefs haven't forgotten the roots of the food they're serving. They still lean heavily on Cajun and Creole dishes, with some well-appointed upgrades. For example, the Death by Gumbo includes the usual andouille sausage, but also includes oysters and roasted quail along with filé rice. Not to mention the entire caviar menu, with caviars ranging from $85 to $350 per serving. They aren't too proud to serve shrimp and grits, but the dish includes Brick Oven pork belly, roasted fennel, pepper jelly, and hollandaise — a substantial upgrade from the way it's served at some of the local cafes.

With that said, the blue crab beignets seem almost commonplace on the menu, but we're glad they've been included. The dish comes with four rémoulades for dipping and will run you about $20. There currently aren't any sweet beignet options on the menu, but if you've still got room for dessert after an exquisitely rich meal at R'evolution, we'd suggest taking an after-dinner stroll to one of the original beignet stands in the market to satisfy that craving.

Last, but certainly not least, is Katie's Restaurant and Bar, located on Iberville Street in the Mid-City neighborhood of New Orleans. It's been in operation for nearly 40 years, first opening its doors in 1984. One of the many neighborhood restaurants affected by Hurricane Katrina, Katie's almost lost it all in the 2005 storm and was so damaged that it was forced to close. But luckily, the restaurant was able to reopen in 2010 after four and a half years of planning, renovation, and resilience.

As an eatery, Katie's Restaurant and Bar is a culinary icon, even appearing on an episode of Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. The restaurant serves New Orleans-style comfort food, and offers a truly unique seafood-stuffed beignet. Called the "Taeyo's Seafood Beignet," the fried pastry comes filled with crawfish, shrimp, cheddar, mozzarella, jalapeño, caramelized onion, and is topped with a jalapeño aioli — and it's an absolute must-try dish.