New Orleans, LASteakhouse

Opened in 1998 inside a converted French Quarter garage, this Brennan-family steakhouse was cited by Southern Living for a classic steakhouse experience. USDA Prime cuts come with New Orleans touches, and the dark, clubby room fits the Quarter setting. A dependable choice for a special-occasion steak within walking distance of Jackson Square.

An Uptown institution that opened in 1932 as a hole-in-the-wall, restored in 2007 while keeping its old-school character intact. The kitchen still serves steaks the pre-Katrina way, sizzling in butter with creamed spinach and fried onion rings on the side. A throwback for diners who want the room to feel exactly its age.

New Orleans' oldest family-owned steakhouse, opened in 1934 on North Broad and still run by the same family after ninety years. The steaks arrive plated in sizzling butter, a New Orleans steakhouse signature, and the curtained booths carry the character of a Mid-City room that has changed little in decades.

An Israeli-rooted steakhouse on Chartres Street near Jackson Square, praised for beef dry-aged in-house and cut to order. The kitchen surrounds the steaks with Middle Eastern-flavored sides that set it apart from the old-guard rooms, and the modern dining room brings a different sensibility to the French Quarter steak scene.

An all-USDA-Prime steakhouse on St. Charles Avenue from Kenny Lobell and Desi Vega, plating hand-cut steaks in a polished Central Business District dining room. The menu keeps to the steakhouse canon of prime cuts, seafood towers, and classic sides, aimed at the business-dinner and special-occasion crowd downtown.