10 Iconic Restaurants In Louisiana With Steaks So Good You’ll Crave Them All Year
In Louisiana, a steak can land on your table still crackling in a plate of hot butter. That style dates back to the 1930s, and I’m choosing to be very excited about it.
Am I making too big a deal out of this? Possibly. But the butter is only one chapter.
One spot hands you no printed menu at all. Another serves steak inside a former jewelry store. A third pairs giant porterhouses with Delta hot tamales.
These steakhouses across the state earned a spot here, and each one brings its own twist to dinner. I stand by my enthusiasm.
So, which sizzle are you chasing first?
1. Crescent City Steak House
Butter sizzling on a plate is a sound this North Broad Street dining room has been making since 1934.
Crescent City Steak House helped establish the New Orleans tradition of presenting steaks in hot butter, and the spectacle still feels wonderfully theatrical.
The restaurant is Louisiana’s oldest family-owned steakhouse, with generations of the same family carrying forward its straightforward approach to beef. USDA Prime cuts lead the menu, including ribeye, strip sirloin, T-bone, and filet wrapped in bacon.
Big appetites can choose a porterhouse for two or even a porterhouse for three. Yes, three. Bring friends you trust to share fairly.
Sides stick to the classics. Potatoes au gratin, shoestring fries, sautéed spinach, and onion rings are all available, along with asparagus for something green. The kitchen also offers a Chateaubriand dinner for two with vegetables and potatoes.
The address, 1001 North Broad Street in New Orleans, puts this long-running restaurant in a neighborhood setting rather than an elaborate dining complex. Inside, curtained booths add privacy and preserve some old-school charm.
Save a little room for dessert, perhaps bread pudding after a particularly ambitious steak. Dinner is offered Tuesday through Sunday, with lunch service on select weekdays.
2. Charlie’s Steak House
Don’t bother asking for a menu here. Charlie’s Steak House keeps its longstanding tradition of explaining the choices at the table, even though its selection of steaks and sides can also be viewed online.
Opened in 1932, this neighborhood institution is older than many of the city’s other steakhouses. Its sizzling plates are part of the experience, so keep your napkin handy when the butter starts bubbling.
The main attraction is The Charlie, a substantial 32-ounce T-bone with a name as bold as its size.
A smaller T-bone, filet mignon, ribeye, and center-cut New York strip offer alternatives. Lamb loin chops, tuna steak, and a pork chop round out the main courses.
Sides deserve their own fan club. The onion rings are thin and crisp, while Charlie’s potatoes au gratin offer a richer companion to the beef. A wedge salad with blue cheese dressing brings some crunch before the main event.
Find the dining room at 4510 Dryades Street in Uptown New Orleans. The atmosphere stays relaxed and neighborhood-focused, with smart-casual clothing perfectly suitable for dinner.
For dessert, spumoni or tiramisu brings a sweet Italian finish. Dinner seating begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and reservations are recommended.
There’s also a parking lot entered from Dryades Street.
3. Doe’s Eat Place
Steak and hot tamales on the same table sounds like a wild idea until you learn the history. Doe’s Eat Place traces its roots to a grocery store that opened in Greenville, Mississippi, in 1941.
The Baton Rouge restaurant brought that pairing to Government Street in 2007. Its Delta-style hot tamales follow the original all-beef recipe and arrive with homemade chili, making a distinctive starter before the main course.
Now, about those steaks. Porterhouse, T-bone, ribeye, and filet mignon are all on the menu. The beef is aged for at least 21 days, and steaks are hand-cut in-house daily.
Large cuts can easily become the centerpiece of a shared dinner.
Each steak comes with a marinated salad, a choice of red potatoes or fresh-cut fries, and Southern-style drop biscuits. Those biscuits make the meal feel more like a generous family supper than a formal steakhouse ritual.
The restaurant occupies 3723 Government Street in Baton Rouge, where the casual dining rooms suit the neighborhood’s unhurried pace. Louisiana seafood gets a place on the menu, too, with Gulf shrimp and oysters prepared in different ways.
Lunch is available on weekdays, and dinner runs Monday through Saturday. Reservations can help with an evening visit, especially when friends are gathering around one of the larger cuts.
4. Superior’s Steakhouse
Chicago may be far from Shreveport, but Superior’s Steakhouse brings its style right to Pierremont Road. Dark wood, a polished dining room, and the sound of a piano set the scene for a classic steak dinner.
The menu offers aged beef, including filet mignon, New York strip, and ribeye, along with a particularly impressive Japanese beef selection. A grilled steak can also be paired with crabmeat or shrimp for a little Gulf Coast character.
The surprises keep coming outside the steak section. Char-grilled oysters, Louisiana crawfish cornbread, and shrimp and grits reflect the region, while a selection of sushi rolls gives the table something quite different to explore.
A spicy tuna roll makes an unexpected appetizer at a Chicago-style steakhouse. If you would rather stay traditional, there are baked potatoes, creamed spinach, and potatoes au gratin alongside the beef.
The restaurant occupies Suite 120 at 855 Pierremont Road in Shreveport’s Towne Oak Square, near the intersection with Line Avenue. A business-casual dress code suits the elegant interior, and valet parking is offered.
Dinner is served Monday through Saturday, with Sunday reserved for brunch. Live piano music on selected evenings adds to the atmosphere, while private dining accommodates celebrations and group gatherings.
5. 2Johns Steak & Seafood
A pianist playing, local art on the walls, and a steak in front of you make a fine evening in Bossier City. 2Johns Steak & Seafood combines an elegant dining room with a courtyard and an enclosed patio.
The steak selection includes filet mignon, prime ribeye, and a bone-in Kansas City strip. The ribeye is offered in more than one size, while the filet comes with whipped red potatoes and slender green beans.
Seafood gets just as much attention as beef. Gulf blue crab cakes arrive with remoulade, and shrimp and grits pair Gulf shrimp with tasso cream and stone-ground grits. Rainbow trout meunière is finished with brown butter, garlic, and lemon.
For anyone choosing fish, snapper Pontchartrain layers crawfish, crab, and shrimp Creole over a hearty plate. A blue cheese wedge salad makes a crisp starting point before those richer dishes arrive.
You’ll find 2Johns at 2151 Airline Drive, Suite 1500, in Bossier City. Live entertainment is part of the regular schedule, and the main dining rooms offer a setting for anniversaries, birthdays, and leisurely dinners.
Dinner is served Tuesday through Saturday, with an additional Friday lunch service. Reservations are required for full-service dining, though the courtyard has a more flexible arrangement.
6. Charley G’s
Southern hardwood smoke is the secret handshake at Charley G’s in Lafayette. The kitchen grills aged beef and fresh seafood over hardwoods, a technique that has helped define this restaurant since 1985.
The steak lineup includes a six-ounce aged filet, a larger filet, and an aged ribeye.
For something more elaborate, Steak & Cake combines filet mignon, a Béchamel crab cake, and Creole smashed potatoes on one plate.
There is also a surf and turf pairing with filet and lobster tail. Choosing between those combinations might be the hardest part of the evening, especially when the menu changes with the seasons.
Other dishes bring regional traditions into focus. Smoked duck and andouille gumbo has been a fixture for decades, while crawfish poutine layers seasoned crawfish over crisp fries with sauce.
The selection also includes fresh fish and vegetables when available.
Wood-grilled asparagus and Manchego corn grits make satisfying companions to the beef. Crispy duck with a blackberry-ginger glaze provides another option beyond steaks.
Find this longtime Lafayette dining room at 3809 Ambassador Caffery Parkway, Suite 120C. Live piano music fills the adjoining lounge seven nights a week, adding a soundtrack to the meal.
Dinner begins at five every day, with later service on Friday and Saturday. Reservations are available for gatherings and special occasions.
Four decades of hardwood grilling provide plenty of reasons to linger over that first smoky bite.
7. Mazen’s
French technique and Mediterranean flavors share one kitchen in Lake Charles. At Mazen’s, that combination shapes an elegant dinner built around grilled steaks, Gulf seafood, and richly seasoned specialties.
The restaurant’s history reaches back to 1995, when its first home opened on Enterprise Boulevard.
Its present dining room continues that focus on grilled meat and seafood, with a menu that ranges from familiar steaks to regional fish dishes.
Filet mignon and ribeye feature among the choices for steak lovers. A rack of lamb provides another substantial option, while the kitchen’s seafood preparations show off its wider influences.
Fish Aladdin pairs fresh fish with jumbo lump crabmeat in a lemon butter saffron sauce.
Fish Natchez brings toasted pecans into the picture, adding crunch and a Southern touch. On some evenings, a special may feature flounder stuffed with crab and shrimp.
The restaurant occupies 217 West College Street in Lake Charles. The dining room works for a quieter evening or a family celebration, and reservations are encouraged when planning a particular night out.
Lunch is served Tuesday through Friday, while dinner is available Monday through Saturday. The kitchen also offers executive menus for group dining, which can include a filet, seafood, or lamb course.
For a change from the steakhouse routine, the Mediterranean touches make this one especially interesting. One meal can travel between grilled beef, saffron, pecans, and bright citrus.
8. Doe’s Eat Place Of Monroe
Big appetites are welcome at Doe’s Eat Place of Monroe. The 20-ounce ribeye is one of the menu’s substantial choices, and it’s only one reason the restaurant makes such a convincing case for a steak dinner.
Like its Baton Rouge counterpart, this Doe’s serves steaks alongside Delta-style tamales. Start with a few tamales and add homemade chili if you want to bring that Mississippi Delta tradition to the table.
Then consider the beef. The selection includes filet, sirloin, T-bone, porterhouse, and bone-in ribeye. Larger porterhouses come with two sides and salads, making them suitable for sharing across the table.
Sides keep things hearty. Hand-cut French fries, loaded baked potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and potatoes au gratin give you plenty to choose from. A bowl of gumbo or a plate of meatballs offers another way to begin.
The restaurant’s address is 2230 Tower Drive in Monroe, where dinner service runs Monday through Saturday. Its casual atmosphere suits both family gatherings and a straightforward evening built around a generous cut of beef.
Seafood fans have choices, too, including catfish, shrimp, and mahi mahi. For something sweet afterward, there’s bread pudding, cheesecake, or a brownie served with ice cream.
9. Gallagher’s Grill
Woodsy charm and sizzling plates make a strong team in Covington. Gallagher’s Grill brings steakhouse traditions together with Gulf seafood in a comfortable dining room on South Tyler Street.
The filet is one of the main attractions, served on a sizzling plate that makes its entrance hard to ignore. There’s also a marbled ribeye, a USDA Prime New York strip, and an imposing bone-in cowboy ribeye for hungry diners.
Seafood makes the decision more interesting. Blue crab cakes arrive sizzling, while eggplant Orleans combines tender eggplant with lump crabmeat and lemon cream. Bacon-wrapped scallops offer another rich starter before the steak arrives.
Sides range from potatoes au gratin and creamed spinach to corn and cheese grits. A wedge salad supplies a crisp contrast to those buttery, comforting choices.
The restaurant has served Covington from 509 South Tyler Street since 2007. Its polished but approachable atmosphere suits a celebratory meal, a business lunch, or a quieter dinner for two.
There is lunch service Tuesday through Friday and dinner Tuesday through Saturday. Reservations are available, and private events can be arranged for gatherings that call for space.
Leave room for the ooey gooey cake, an especially fitting way to finish a hearty meal. Or choose fresh berries and sweet cream after a large steak.
10. Diamond Grill
Diamonds used to be the main attraction at 924 Third Street in Alexandria.
Now the sparkle comes from steaks, because Diamond Grill transformed a former jewelry store into an elegant downtown restaurant.
The building was home to a jewelry business for decades, and its Art Nouveau and Art Deco details give the dining room an architectural story of its own. The restored property even received a Louisiana preservation honor in 2006.
The steak menu is substantial. Ribeye, filet, New York strip, and a marinated bone-in ribeye provide different ways to enjoy a classic cut. That last option spends a full day in its marinade before reaching the grill.
Seafood gets equal consideration. Seared sea bass comes with lemon butter sauce and lump crabmeat, while the house crab cake combines crisp breading with shrimp and artichoke. Lamb pops with raspberry pepper jelly add another interesting starter.
Diamond Grill sits in downtown Alexandria, within walking distance of the riverfront and other historic buildings. The atmosphere leans toward special occasions, but a carefully cooked steak is reason enough to plan an evening here.
Dinner is served Monday through Saturday, beginning at 4:30 p.m., and reservations are strongly encouraged. Private dining is also available for celebrations and group meals.
