The flattop is a piece of theater when the cook works it in the open. These four kitchens put eggs, batter, and seafood on hot steel and let the griddle set the pace of the meal.
Camellia Grill — Uptown
The counter is the restaurant. Twenty-nine stools face an open kitchen at 626 South Carrollton Avenue, and cooks work the griddle a few feet from whoever is eating. The place opened December 19, 1946 and ran through three generations of one family before changing hands. It was among the first New Orleans businesses to staff both front and back of house entirely with Black employees. Servers wear bow ties and hand out linen napkins. Omelets come out enormous and run all day and night.
The chocolate pecan pie gets heated on the grill before it reaches the plate, which is the move most regulars order without reading the menu. Freezes, hand-made burgers, and po-boys fill out the rest. Staff razz customers in good humor while slinging food. Open daily 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Phone is (504) 309-2679.
The Ruby Slipper Café — Multiple Locations
Erich and Jennifer Weishaupt opened the first one in May 2008, turning a blighted Mid-City corner store into a café meant to pull neighbors back after Katrina. That single room became 26 restaurants, still owned by the founders, and the group won Nation’s Restaurant News’ 2025 Breakfast Showdown. The kitchen works from scratch.
The Peacemaker Eggs Benedict and Bananas Foster French Toast are the signatures, and the Chicken St. Charles puts a fried chicken breast on a buttermilk biscuit under two poached eggs and a pork tasso cream sauce. Eggs Cochon and Eggs Blackstone round out the benedict list. New Orleans locations include 200 Magazine Street downtown, 2001 Burgundy in the Marigny, 315 South Broad in Mid-City, and 2802 Magazine Uptown. Most run 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on weekdays and until 3 on weekends. Cocktails are available with breakfast.
Wakin’ Bakin’ — French Quarter
The Banks Street original has been running since 2010, and the kitchen makes its own sausage, bread, biscuits, and spices rather than ordering them in. The honey butter biscuit anchors everything. The Gravy Train puts two of them under house sausage country gravy with bacon and eggs. The Big John Platter stacks a sausage patty, a folded egg, and melted cheddar on one
Cajun smash hash, the Meat Monster omelet, pancakes, grits, and a queso burrito fill the rest of the board, and the orange juice is squeezed fresh. Voodoo coffee, half coffee and half chocolate milk, has its own following. The only remaining location, the French Quarter location, is at 900 Dumaine. Open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Phone is (504) 252-0343.
The Country Club — Bywater
Brunch here runs Saturday and Sunday only, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and every guest must be 21 or older. The restaurant occupies an Italianate raised center hall cottage at 634 Louisa Street that has been a neighborhood fixture for close to 50 years. Chef Chris Barbato’s brunch menu leans on the flattop. The crabcake and egg arrives griddle-seared with Louisiana blue crab, poached eggs, and ravigote. Fried green tomatoes come under poached eggs, cherry tomato salsa, tomato butter, and hollandaise. Shrimp and grits uses goat cheese grits, and the Norwegian salmon is griddled and served with squash and basil vinaigrette.
Drag brunch runs both weekend days with seatings at 10 and 1, billed as the longest-running in the city, and it books out well in advance. The pool is walk-in only and takes no reservations. Phone is (504) 945-0742.
