Best Desserts in the French Quarter
Every sweet spot worth knowing about
The French Quarter does dessert like nowhere else. This is a neighborhood where beignets are breakfast, pralines are a walking snack, and someone is probably flambeing bananas at a white-tablecloth restaurant right now. Every block has something sweet worth stopping for, and once you start paying attention you realize the variety is actually staggering. We're an ice cream shop on Decatur Street, so we think about this stuff a lot. Here's a category-by-category breakdown of where to satisfy your sweet tooth in the Quarter, from the classics everyone knows to a few spots that deserve more love.
Ice Cream
We'll start with what we know best. O.K. Ice Cream at 1129 Decatur Street is our shop, and we serve all-natural ice cream made by Quintin's, a New Orleans creamery that's been at it since 1998. No artificial flavors, no artificial colors, just real ingredients. We're known for our Screamers — ice cream sandwiches built to order with your choice of flavor between fresh-baked cookies, brownies, or cake. We also do thick milkshakes, frozen coffee, and a rotating lineup of flavors like Polly Praline, Cafe Au Lait, London Fog, and Bread Pudding Rum Ripple. If you're walking down Decatur and want something cold in your hand, come find us.
Angelo Brocato has been making Italian gelato and pastries in New Orleans since 1905. Their spumoni, cannoli, and lemon ice are the kind of thing people drive across town for. The shop is at 214 N Carrollton Avenue in Mid-City, so it's a trip outside the Quarter, but the whole place feels like stepping into a different era and is well worth the ride. If you love gelato and want to go deep on the ice cream scene in this neighborhood, check out our best ice cream in the French Quarter guide for the full breakdown.
Beignets
Cafe Du Monde is the classic, and for good reason. Three beignets come out piping hot, absolutely blanketed in powdered sugar, and you eat them with a cup of chicory coffee while watching the world go by on Decatur Street. They've been doing this since 1862, and the recipe hasn't changed. The cafe sits right at the edge of Jackson Square, open daily from early morning to late night, which means you can go in the evening when the crowds thin out and have the whole experience to yourself. The sugar will get everywhere. On your shirt, in your hair, on the table. You will not care.
Cafe Beignet on Royal Street is a quieter alternative with a courtyard setting. The beignets are a little different — slightly crispier on the outside — and the courtyard gives you a more relaxed spot to sit and enjoy them without the crowds. If you want the beignet experience without the line, this is where to go.
Pralines
Loretta's Famous Pralines makes them handmade in small batches with real pecans and brown sugar. Each one has that crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth texture that you simply can't get from mass production. You can usually watch them making a fresh batch while you wait, and the smell alone is worth the visit. They also do praline beignets, which is exactly the combination you think it is and every bit as good as it sounds.
Southern Candymakers on Decatur Street has been at it for decades, turning out pralines, chocolate, and fudge from their shop near the French Market. Their pralines have a slightly different take — a bit chewier, with a deep caramel flavor — and they offer enough variety that you'll walk out with a bag full of things you didn't plan on buying. Both are worth a stop, and honestly, both are worth buying from so you can compare on the walk home.
Snowballs
New Orleans snowballs are not snow cones. This is an important distinction. The ice is shaved paper-thin — so fine it's almost fluffy — and then packed tightly into a cup and drenched in flavor syrup. The result is something closer to sorbet than anything you'd get from a carnival machine. Seasonal stands pop up around the Quarter in the summer months, and tracking them down is part of the fun. If you're willing to leave the Quarter, Hansen's Sno-Bliz in Uptown is the gold standard. They've been shaving ice on a hand-cranked machine since 1939, and the syrups are all homemade. It's worth the streetcar ride, and you can make an afternoon of it by exploring Magazine Street on the way back.
Bakeries & Pastry Shops
Sucre is where you go when you want something beautiful. Their pastry case is full of French macarons in flavors you won't find anywhere else, chocolates made in-house, and seasonal tarts that look almost too good to eat. Almost. If you need a gift for someone back home, a box of their macarons or truffles is the kind of thing that makes people think you really know what you're doing. It's a treat-yourself kind of spot, and the attention to detail shows in every bite.
Brennan's is where Bananas Foster was literally invented, back in 1951, and they still make it tableside the exact same way. A server comes to your table, sautes bananas in butter and brown sugar, pours in the rum, and lights the whole thing on fire right in front of you. Then they spoon it over vanilla ice cream and you eat what might be the best dessert you've ever had. It's a little bit of a show, but the flavor backs it up completely. If you're going to splurge on one fancy dessert while you're in New Orleans, make it this one.
A Dessert Walking Route
If you've got an afternoon and a serious sweet tooth, here's a walking route that hits the highlights without backtracking too much. Start at Cafe Du Monde for beignets and coffee. From there, walk down Decatur Street toward the French Market, where you'll find praline vendors and local candy makers set up along the walkway. Keep going on Decatur until you hit O.K. Ice Cream at 1129 Decatur — grab a Screamer for the road (you've earned it by now). Then loop back up on Royal Street, passing Sucre for macarons or chocolates if you've still got room. The whole walk takes about 30 minutes at a casual pace, more with stops, and you'll cover most of the best dessert spots in the Quarter without needing a car or a rideshare.
The French Quarter has been making people happy with sugar for well over a century. Whether you're here for a weekend or you live down the block, there's always something sweet worth tracking down. And if you happen to be on Decatur Street, come say hi.