TOP 40 RESTAURANTS IN THE U.S.
Commander's Palace

Commander's Palace
Chef Tory McPhail
New Orleans, LA
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The oldest restaurant on our Top 40 list, Commander's Palace has been a perennial Garden District favorite since it opened in 1880 on the site of an old plantation. The Brennan Family, legends in their own right in the New Orleans restaurant world, took over in 1974 and have helped to raise the bar on the Creole and American cuisine served here. Says Tory McPhail, who started his career here in 1993, and ultimately became executive chef in 2002, "I'm always thinking very forward when it comes to Creole food. There are so many restaurants here that use the same exact recipes as 75 years ago, and that's just not us."