Red Fish Grill is credited with revitalizing the once sleepy block that is now the lively ‘gateway’ to the French Quarter, and continues to provide a welcome oasis from the Bourbon Street mayhem. Casual and cool, funky and fun, this is the place for straight-up Gulf seafood.
Chef Chris Vazquez, a New Orleans native, relies on local farmers and fishermen to provide its kitchen with the freshest possible seasonal bounty for the raw bar and the New Orleans classics on the menu, as well as his more exotic creations. Red Fish Grill has earned its stripes as a master in coastal cuisine. The BBQ Oysters, flash fried, and tossed in a Crystal BBQ sauce, have been named a “Most Memorable Meal” according for Forbes.com and USA Today, and the restaurant in itself was named one of the 2012 “Best Seafood Restaurants in the U.S.” by Travel + Leisure. The signature Hickory Grilled Redfish ‘on the half-shell’ is the restaurant’s worthy namesake, and the Shrimp Po’Boy has been voted the best in town.
Bare tables, a cement floor, and exposed brick form the industrial chic backdrop for the colorful décor commissioned of local artist Luis Colmenares, who has embellished just about every surface of the main dining room and bar with sea creatures: giant pearl-bearing oyster sculptures preside over the oyster bar; a monumental red fish defines the predominant wall; scores of painted metal fish swim overhead – and an octopus clings to a pendant light. Smaller private rooms depart from the theme, but are no less vibrant, painted in cheery mustard yellow.
