PRICE:
Frommer's Highly Recommended

For more than 40 years, breakfast at Brennan's has been a New Orleans tradition, a feast that has surely kept many a heart surgeon busy. Reopened in late April 2006 after a lengthy post-K renovation, in time to celebrate their 60th anniversary, Brennan's is a lesson in New Orleans survival, and, of course, diet. Don't expect any California health-conscious fruit-and-granola options here; this multicourse extravaganza is unabashedly sauce- and egg-intensive. It's also costly -- it's not hard to drop $50 on breakfast -- so you might be better off sticking with the fixed-price meal (though it often limits your choices). Breakfast at Brennan's has changed very little over the years, and that is part of the restaurant's charm, as is the building, constructed by Edgar Degas's great-grandfather and childhood home of tragic chess master Paul Morphy. Dine here and you will find yourself rubbing elbows with loyal locals and tourists in search of a classic. This is Special Event Dining, for Grandma's birthday or to celebrate an engagement, when it seems right to dress up in suits and even hats, and eat classically prepared eggs Benedict or eggs Portuguese (poached on top of a tomato concoction, served in a puff pastry with hollandaise ladled over the whole), very fine turtle soup, and the superb onion soup made with a roux. You can justify the outlay of cash by making this your main meal of the day. Breakfast and lunch are quite crowded; dinner is less so (head straight to the gas-lamp-lined balcony for dinner), probably due to a less-solid reputation for that meal. Even with a reservation, expect a wait.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New Orleans 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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