Dooky Chase's Restaurant Is The Best Place For Gumbo In Louisiana, According To Our Readers

If it’s the Thursday before Easter Sunday in New Orleans, there’s no hotter dish in town than the gumbo z’herbes at Dooky Chase’s. The legendary restaurant is busy year-round, but on this day lines stretch down the sidewalk. Known by Catholics as Holy Thursday, this is the only time of year that the legendary restaurant serves its special green gumbo, as it has done since the late chef-owner Leah Chase started the tradition in 1973.

Today, her grandson Edgar “Dook” Chase has taken the mantle in the kitchen, along with other family members who keep the place running up to Leah’s standards. And they're clearly doing it right. In our 2024 South’s Best Awards survey, Southern Living readers said Dooky Chase's is the best restaurant for gumbo in Louisiana.

What Is Gumbo Z’Herbes?

Unlike most gumbos, which range in shade from deep red to rich brown, gumbo z’herbes gets its verdant color from a massive amount of leafy vegetables. Chase’s recipe in The Dooky Chase Cookbook calls for mustard, collard, and turnip greens—plus spinach, beet, radish, and carrot tops, romaine lettuce, and green cabbage (along with meats like sausage, brisket, and ham). Although the mix might vary a bit at the restaurant, traditionally nine types of green ingredients are added to the pot.

Cookbook author and New Orleans native Kevin Belton—who has eaten nearly every type of gumbo—says the dish is layered and complex. “Every bite, you're tasting a whole meld of flavors. You wouldn’t go, ‘oh, this is carrot, or this is kale,’” he says. “It’s almost like mixing paint colors to create a new color.”

A Dooky Chase’s Tradition

Although the meal has religious significance (it’s the last day that Catholics observing Lent can eat meat before Easter), the crowds come for the gumbo z’herbes itself—the dish is that good. “No matter your religious beliefs, or what you have going on that day, this is a day people say ‘I have to be there,’” Belton says. 

With a constant wave of customers coming and going, Belton says the atmosphere at the restaurant feels like an open house, or a family reunion. “It’s a lot of folks getting together. Some know each other, and some don’t, but you’ll know each other by the end of the meal,” he says. “You weren’t going to her restaurant, you were going to her kitchen.”

Things To Know About Dining At Dooky Chase’s

Dooky Chase’s is in a special category of New Orleans restaurants because it attracts as many locals as it does tourists (plus big names like Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, Beyoncé, and more). Reservations are recommended, and essential for Holy Tuesday, although they tend to book up far in advance. The restaurant serves lunch Tuesday through Friday and dinner on weekends. The dress code is “business casual,” so reserve your shorts, hats, and tank tops for Bourbon Street.