Broussard’s has occupied the same French Quarter address since 1920, and the courtyard out back is the reason most people book a table.
The restaurant started with a marriage. Chef Joseph Broussard wed Rosalie Borrello, and the couple moved into her family’s 1834 mansion at 819 Conti Street. They opened the dining room downstairs and lived in the apartment above it for the next forty-six years. Both died in 1966, one month apart. That founding puts Broussard’s in the company of Antoine’s, Galatoire’s, and Arnaud’s, the four Creole houses New Orleans calls the Grand Dames.
Ownership has changed hands several times since. The Broussard family sold in the early 1970s, and the restaurant went through a major renovation. Joseph Marcello and Joseph Segreto ran it from 1975 to 1984. Chef Gunter Preuss and his family took over for the next twenty-nine years. Creole Cuisine Restaurant Concepts, a local group, bought the property in 2013 and renovated again.
The buildings deserve a closer look than most diners give them. The main Napoleon dining room went up in 1920 alongside the restaurant’s opening. The adjoining rooms are older, built in 1831, and they served as stables and slave quarters for the property before anyone ate a meal in them. The restaurant seats around 380 across those rooms and the courtyard, which fills with tropical plantings and stays shaded through most of the afternoon.
Jazz brunch is the signature service. Live musicians play in the courtyard while kitchen sends out Oysters Broussard, Gulf shrimp remoulade, Eggs Josephine, and a fried chicken and waffles plate that reviewers single out repeatedly. Dinner leans more formal, with Creole cooking built on French technique.
The Empire Bar handles the drinking side, and the cocktail list runs deep on local classics. The Vieux Carré, the La Louisiane, and the Ramos gin fizz all appear, along with house recipes and bottled punches. Happy hour brings the prices down and puts a handful of cocktails, oysters, and small plates on special.
Private events are a serious part of the business. The Josephine Room handles gatherings of about 50. Broussard’s shares a wall with the Hermann-Grima House next door, and combining the two spaces opens capacity to roughly 650 guests, which makes it one of the larger wedding venues inside the Quarter.
Hours take some care. The restaurant’s own site lists jazz brunch Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., dinner Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m., and happy hour Thursday through Saturday from 3 to 6 p.m. Third-party listings show Monday service and slightly different windows, so call (504) 581-3866 before making the trip. Every source agrees the restaurant closes Tuesday and Wednesday.
Reservations are strongly recommended, especially for weekend brunch, and the restaurant takes them by phone or through OpenTable. There is no parking on site. Paid lots are scattered throughout the Quarter, and the Royal Sonesta next door runs valet service.
The address is 819 Conti Street, between Bourbon and Dauphine, about two blocks off Jackson Square. Dress leans toward casual elegant, which in practice means most people arrive in something a step above shorts.
Book the courtyard, order the oysters, and let the brass band do the rest.
