Antoine's has served French-Creole cuisine continuously from this location since 1840, making it the oldest restaurant in the United States, a survivor of the Civil War, Reconstruction, two World Wars, a Great Depression, and multiple hurricanes. Antoine Alciatore founded the restaurant at this address on St. Louis Street, having trained in the finest kitchens of France before immigrating to New Orleans, where he recognized a city ready for serious French cooking applied to Louisiana ingredients. The menu has changed and grown over 180 years, but the kitchen is the true keeper of tradition.
Oysters Rockefeller was invented here in 1899 by Jules Alciatore, Antoine's son: baked oysters with a rich sauce of butter, herbs, and greens so indulgent that Jules named it after the richest man in America. The recipe remains a house secret to this day. Pommes de Terre Soufflées — twice-fried puffed potato slices — were another Antoine's creation, invented accidentally when a kitchen delay caused potatoes to be plunged into hot oil twice.
The restaurant has fifteen dining rooms, each with its own character and history, and the wine cellar holds bottles going back more than a century. The fifth generation of the Alciatore family still oversees the kitchen. To dine here is to eat in the oldest dining room in American culinary history.