The 10 best Carrollton restaurants?

We're going through the different parts of Metro New Orleans, giving our top ten restaurants in each. Last, it was River Ridge/Harahan's top ten restaurants. Today, we skip over Old Jefferson on our journey down the Mississippi River and reach the former Jefferson Parish town of Carrollton. The land originally formed part of Les Chapitoulas , a trade and travel way of the Chapitoulas Indians. Chapitoulas, from which we get Tchoupitoulas, means, "Those who reside at the river." No one knows what happened to those Indians - were they pushed out to the area near Houma, did they die away, or did they meld into a broader culture? - but we do know that by the early 1800s, the land had been converted to a sugar plantation. As New Orleans grew upriver, that plantation would soon be subdivided into a suburb or town called Carrollton. In the 1830s, Charles Zimple gave the area its rigid grid system of streets. As a result, it is much more similar in design to the French Quarter than to other previously suburban parts of Uptown. But it was every bit the suburb that Uptown was, with residents using the famed train to commute in and out of downtown. For many years, Carrollton was the parish seat of Jefferson. The former Ben Franklin High on Carrollton was the court house. In 1874, Carrollton and most of Uptown and part of the Garden District were annexed by New Orleans, ending that chapter in its history. Some people will classify Carrollton as part of Uptown, but that is a new development, and Carrollton historically has been differentiated from Uptown, drawing its western border at Broadway Ave. (although some place its border at Carrollton Ave.), its southern border at the Mississippi River, its northern border at Claiborne Ave., and its western border at the current Jefferson Parish border. Technically, these borders are imprecise, as it includes the land between Carrollton Ave. and Broadway, south of St. Charles, which is Black Pearl, but for this survey, those will be the borders.

Top Ten Restaurants by NOLA Metro neighborhood:
Kenner
Metairie
Lakeview
Gentilly
River Ridge & Harahan

As with all lists, you are invited, even encouraged to formulate your own list and critique this list.


10) Le Madeline - This choice over newly popular restaurants like Cowbell and Squeal will probably draw ire, but it is a consistent cafe that has a wonderful bakery. Again, if you put local ownership signage on it, U Mad would be considered one of the top pastry shops and bakeries in town.

9) Maple Street Cafe - I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this place. Maybe because it has all the greatness of some of the uptown bistros without the snootiness.

8) Chill Out Cafe - In a city that prides itself for fusion, saying Creole is at its core a fusion cuisine, there are few modern fusion restaurants in town that do what Chill Out Cafe does as well as it does. I have yet to have better spring rolls than the ones served beautifully here.

7) Vincent's - Solid Creole Italian makes the list again. Bread bowl soup.

6) Dante's Kitchen - To be honest, I don't like the much of the clientele here. It makes me feel like I'm at some Southern fraternity/sorority reunion, but the food more than makes up for it. Their fare has really improved over the years.

5) Panchitas - Between Panchitas and Casa Garcia, no other Mexican restaurant comes close. Panchitas serves a higher quality Mexican food, and for the same price, but its consistency has not reached that of Casa Garcia's. Therefore, it sits at #2 among Metro Mexican restaurants, but I could see it becoming #1 in the near future.

4) Cafe Nino - When Nino is in the restaurant, you will not find better pizza in the Metro. Perhaps you won't find better pizza outside New York. But sadly, he is not there all the time, and the quality greatly suffers when he is not there.

3) Tartine - There is not a better breakfast cafe in America. The sandwiches are good, but if you haven't had the eggs in brioche, you haven't had one of the best dishes in New Orleans.

2) Brigtsen's - Some people look at Clancy's or Gautreau's as the definitive Creole bistro. I look at Brigtsen's. For years, this was the #1 restaurant not only in Carrollton, but in the entire Metro. Perhaps the only reason it slips on the list is people love novelty.

1) Boucherie - Is there a bad dish at Boucherie? Boucherie is hitting its stride and the chefs are in the prime of their lives. Creative, new, inexpensive, Boucherie is everything that Cochon should be and gets credit for, but is not.