The New Orleans Underground Gourmet: Where to find great meals in the city and environs or less than $3.75 and as little as 50c by Richard H. Collin – New Revised & Up-to-Date Edition – A Fireside Book Published by Simon and Schuster (1973)
I’ve had this book for quite some time. I can’t remember where I found it, but it was inexpensive at the time.
Wherever I am, I’m always on the lookout for New Orleans-themed books — fiction, non-fiction, and especially cookbooks — and this one looked interesting enough, even for its age and outdatedness. And I guess that’s the major charm of this book. While much of it is no longer relevant, it’s a fascinating read and a nostalgic glimpse into the past for any New Orleans foodie and restaurant lover.
Richard H. Collin published the first edition of The New Orleans Underground Gourmet in 1970, and as far as I can tell, it’s the first true guidebook dedicated to the city’s dining scene. In the book, he reviews over 250 restaurants, highlighting both renowned establishments and hidden gems.
He used a distinct rating system for his reviews, with his favorites labeled as “platonic dishes” — a term inspired by Plato’s philosophy. This accolade was reserved for menu items that, in his view, represented the pinnacle of culinary excellence.
Overall, the details of each restaurant and their menu items are often brief, but Collin covers a wide variety of dining options. The chapters are organized into categories like The Grand New Orleans Restaurants, Oyster and Seafood Houses, Creole Restaurants, Neighborhood Restaurants, Italian Restaurants and Pizzerias, Poor Boys and Workingman’s Restaurants, Soul Food, Coffeehouses and Pastry Cafes, Ethnic and Specialty Restaurants, and even Country Dining.
This is what Collins said about red beans and rice at the beginning of the book:
Vegetables that are essential and central to Creole cooking include red beans, which form the basis of one of New Orleans’ most popular dishes, red beans and rice, a bean dish as important to New Orleans as chili to Texas, feijoada is to Braszil, cassoulet to France, and baked beans to New England.
As someone who loves New Orleans food, I think this book is an absolute gem. I enjoy flipping through its pages, discovering restaurants, researching their history, and learning about old menu items. Collin often mentions recommended dishes, and I’ll occasionally try to recreate them in my own kitchen.
If you can find a copy of this book or even the original 1970 edition, it’s well worth adding to your collection. It’s not just a guide — it’s a snapshot of a bygone era, a love letter to the city’s culinary soul, and a source of inspiration for anyone who appreciates the rich food culture of New Orleans.
Recipes inspired by The New Orleans Underground Gourmet:
- Classic German Apple Pancakes (coming soon)
More book reviews:
If you’ve read The New Orleans Underground Gourmet by Richard H. Collins, please let me know in the comments below. What did you think of it? And take a picture of it and share it on social media tagging me! I’d love to see it!
HUNGRY FOR MORE? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram for all the newest recipes, interviews, and more!
Eric Olsson is the food blogger of RedBeansAndEric.com. He publishes new recipes and interviews weekly. He has developed recipes and written articles for the famous Camellia brand in New Orleans, Louisiana. He has been mentioned in Louisiana Cookin‘ magazine and has had recipes featured in Taste of Home magazine – with his Creole Turkey recipe being runner up in their annual Thanksgiving recipe contest. He lives outside of Detroit, Michigan, with his wife and four children.
Tommy Centola
I have a copy of every guide he published. I love looking through them for inspiration.
Red Beans and Eric
They are great for inspiration!
randy
Collin’s and his wife Rima Reck wrote one of the all time best New Orleans cookbooks. But they had a game going on in the New Orleans restaurant scene. Richard would give a restaurant in a good review (5 beans), then in the next edition, wouldn’t you know it, you’d lose a couple beans. Richard would approach the restaurateur and suggest that his wife Rima probably could fix what was wrong with the rest Restaurant. For a few.
He tried to play this game on my mother Ruth Fertel of Ruth’s Chris Steak House.
Here’s what my aunt Helen, who was the great cook at my Uncle Sig’s restaurant in Happy Jack, Louisiana had to say in my book, the Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak, “Helen allowed herself a chuckle. ‘Ruth sure hit the roof when that Underground Gourmet fella gave Sig’s restaurant a better review than hers. Collins said our steaks were as ‘platonic’ as Ruth’s used to be, when all the time we were getting the meat out of her walk-in cooler. Boy, she was hot!’ Helen has a great laugh. Gifted with great Croatian bones, now in her eighties she is still a beauty.” p. 8.
Red Beans and Eric
WOW that’s a great story, Randy. I couldn’t imagine you mother’s reaction! I didn’t know Collins had a quite the racket going on.
The New Orleans Cookbook is an excellent book, too. I learned a lot about New Orleans cooking with it.
Thank you very much for the comment!
Eric