One thing we learned from our trip to New Orleans is that the locals really like their oysters. We had oysters in some way or form at nearly every meal: charbroiled oysters, oysters rockefeller, fried oysters, even the gumbo roux contained oysters.
In my research for my trip, I kept coming across Drago’s famous charbroiled oysters, so I made sure we made the time to go try them.
When we first entered the restaurant, I was immediately wary of the setting. It looked like a seafood tourist trap-type restaurant, like many of the ones in San Diego that I would not normally ever step foot in.
Shrimp Étouffée
We started with the Shrimp Étouffée, which unfortunately, was not very good. It was quite salty and the light brown roux tasted like a bean puree.
Charbroiled Oysters
Next, we had the legendary charbroiled oysters. The large platter arrived, with two giant French bread rolls. I removed the rolls so you could see the oysters better. We ordered a dozen and wondered if it would be too many for just the two of us, but we had absolutely no problems finishing these.
The charbroiled oysters are grilled over an open flame and topped with garlic, butter, herbs, and Parmesan and Romano cheese, creating a very flavorful bite. I did feel like the preparation seemed quite simplistic and would be fairly easy to recreate, but it was still extremely delicious and none of the other grilled oysters we had during our visit quite lived up to these, so there is something special in their methods.
Overall, if you are planning a trip to New Orleans, I definitely recommend you stopping here for the famous oysters, but skipping the rest of the food. I know we only tried one other item, but a few of my Chowzter friends dined here also and found the rest of the food underwhelming as well.
Drago’s Seafood Restaurant
2 Poydras St
New Orleans, LA 70140
https://www.dragosrestaurant.com/
Those oysters look so tasty! I would go crazy in New Orleans with all of the oyster places!
I’m so glad we learned to appreciate oysters before this visit!
Drago’s has the best garlic butter for dipping; I preferred the grilled oysters at Acme, and the ones at Cochon had a tasty chile garlic butter. I really want to learn how to make them! I also read that Sand Crab Cafe has them on the menu, but we haven’t tried them yet.
We had some bbq shrimp at Drago’s, which were really good (especially the sauce – perfect for bread dipping) but I felt they were kind of expensive for the amount of shrimp we got.
I have to say, NOLA was not high on my must-visit list before we went, but now I want to go back and spend more time there!
we didn’t go to acme. we did have them at cochon and I liked those too, but I preferred the drago’s. I felt like cochon’s version was a little more sophisticated, whereas drago’s is just pure simple addicting ingredients, esp with the Parmesan.
The reason so many of the French Quarter restaurants are so “meh” now is because after Katrina, many of the locals didn’t come back, including the cooks and servers who’d worked there forever. Add to that, the local owners couldn’t survive between the damage and lost business, and outside investors who knew nothing of the food and culture moved in. Before Katrina, you could go into just about anywhere and get a great meal.
It’s a shame your food there didn’t taste good. It look pretty!
aw that is too bad. the oysters were delicious though, just the rest of the food was meh.