Every August, dozens of New Orleans restaurants offer specially priced, multi-course menus to get locals and visitors through the sweltering dog days of summer during COOLinary Restaurant Month. It’s a win-win: you get to try incredible food at a fraction of the usual price, and these restaurants get a much-needed boost during one of the slowest months of the year. This year, that support matters more than ever.
If you’ve been following the news out of New Orleans lately, you know it’s been a tough stretch for the restaurant community. Losing a spot like Gris Gris is shocking. Chef Eric Cook had a great thing going, but these slow months are killers. I spoke with him last summer, and he told me, “Summer is going to be the worst in NOLA history; the last two ranked one and two of the worst economic seasons in the last 50 years. My best summer in the last eight years was only losing 600k.”
These places aren’t just where we eat, they’re part of the city’s identity. So this year, for me at least, COOLinary feels like more than just a deal on a dinner, it’s a chance to show up for the restaurants that are still fighting to keep the doors open.
What Is COOLinary in New Orleans?
COOLinary is an annual restaurant month presented by the New Orleans & Company (the city’s tourism board) that runs every August. It was created to give locals and visitors a reason to keep dining out during the city’s hottest — and traditionally slowest — month for restaurants, after the summer travel rush dies down and before football season and the fall event calendar picks back up.
Participating restaurants — usually well over a hundred of them, ranging from casual neighborhood spots to fine dining institutions — offer specially priced, prix-fixe menus for the entire month. Deals typically fall into a few tiers:
- Lunch: usually a 2 or 3-course menu, often $20–$29
- Dinner: usually a 3-course menu, often $39–$59
It’s a genuine win-win: diners get to try higher-end menus at a discount, and restaurants get a reliable boost in covers during a month that’s historically brutal for foot traffic.
COOLinary 2026 Restaurant Picks
Here are four spots serving up something special for COOLinary 2026. Go eat, tip well, and tell them Red Beans & Eric sent you.
Compère Lapin
3-course dinner — $58 per person (plus tax & gratuity)
Compère Lapin blends Caribbean flair with New Orleans soul, and their COOLinary menu is a great way to experience that fusion without the full splurge. Start with Curried Beef Meatballs with plantain crisps, an Heirloom Tomato & Peach salad with coconut dressing, or a Chilled Melon Soup with marinated vegetables and pickled shrimp. Move into Buttermilk Gnocchi with corn and coconut, or Snapper in a rich tomato-okra choka. Finish with a Sweet Potato Parfait or Spiced Chocolate Semifreddo with passionfruit and mint.
📍 Old No. 77 Hotel & Chandlery, 535 Tchoupitoulas Street 🔗 comperelapin.com
Read my How Do You Red Bean? interview with Erika Flowers, the acclaimed Bar Lead at Compère Lapin.
The Bower
3-course dinner — $52 per person (plus tax & gratuity)
LGD’s lush, local-centric restaurant is bringing seasonal, chef-driven flavor to the table this COOLinary. The meal opens with honey thyme biscuits for the table, followed by your choice of Squash Carpaccio, Calabrian Pesto Shrimp with avocado mousse and smoked trout roe, or Whipped Feta with house pickles. Entrées include Conchiglie with veal meatballs and smoky vodka sauce, Pork Milanese with olive salad and grilled mortadella, or Basil Spaghetti with burrata and preserved lemon. Cap it off with Mississippi Dirt Cake or an Orange Blossom Cheesecake with local honey and Biscoff crumble.
📍 1320 Magazine Street 🔗 thebowernola.com
Birdy’s Behind The Bower
2-course lunch — $25 per person, Monday–Friday (plus tax & gratuity)
For a lighter, midday way to join in, Birdy’s is offering a two-course lunch special all month long. Pair a house-made drink — the tropical Lazy Tiger, the Lil’ Pretty (tequila, peach, Aperol, lime), or an Ube Matcha — with a main like Chicken & Waffles with Creole hot maple syrup, a Green Remoulade Shrimp Roll, or the Huli Huli Cauliflower & Portobello Mushroom Bowl.
📍 1320 Magazine Street 🔗 birdysnola.com
Tujague’s
3-course dinner — $48 per person (plus tax & gratuity)
Tujague’s is celebrating its 170th year in 2026, and their COOLinary menu leans into the Creole and Southern classics that have kept them a French Quarter institution for a century and a half. Start with Fried Eggplant Fingers, Crabmeat Ravigote, or a Summer Salad. Entrées include Seafood Stuffed Gulf Fish, Pork Escalope Panné, Marinated Grilled Flank Steak, the famous Chicken Bonne Femme, or a Vegetable Risotto with grilled balsamic portobello. Finish with Blueberry Cobbler or Crème Brûlée. Bonus: validated parking for up to two hours at nearby lot P401.
📍 429 Decatur Street, French Quarter 🔗 tujaguesrestaurant.com
For the complete listing of the restaurants involved in COOLinary Restaurant Month, here is the list: https://www.neworleans.com/coolinary/listings/
Why COOLinary Is Worth It
COOLinary isn’t just a discount — it’s one of the easiest ways to actively support the restaurant industry that makes this city what it is. Every reservation this month helps keep kitchens full and staff working during a month that’s historically tough on business.
So round up a few friends, pick a night (or four) this August, and go eat and support your favorite restaurant so we don’t hear the shocking news like we did with Gris Gris.
Where are you looking to visit this COOLinary Restaurant Month the most? Let us know in the comments.
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.
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