Ian McNulty: New Orleans area restaurant picks for casual group outings at the holidays

Here’s one scenario: All year, you said you’d get together with the old gang, and now in the final days of the year, you’re determined to make good.

Here’s another: Your house is full of holiday guests and you need to get everyone out, at least for a meal, something easy and accommodating.

In either case, you need a restaurant suited for a group, but casual enough for seat-of-the-pants planning. We’re not talking private dining rooms and parties you should have booked months ago.

Below, I’m recommending some spots that set just that framework nicely, all well equipped for bigger tables across a range of styles and (including breakfast).

St. Roch Market, 2831 St. Claude Ave., (504) 267-0388

Dining with bigger groups can mean indecision or compromise between competing tastes.

The answer could be this food hall, where today nine different vendors serve a global harvest of flavors. That goes from old school New Orleans (gumbo from Genevieve’s, muffulettas from Nuccio’s) to Burmese and Malaysian dishes (Laksa NOLA) Egyptian style Middle Eastern (Dolma) and Vietnamese blended with American barbecue (Slow & Pho).

The communal seating is open and easy, and there’s both a coffee bar and a “bar” bar.

9 Roses, 1100 Stephens St., Gretna, (504) 366-7665

This Vietnamese restaurant has the noodle house standards (pho, spring rolls) but 9 Roses can show you much more, with a rich roster of dishes meant to be shared.

There are “thin soups” (canh) that can serve half a dozen people, and beef dishes you cook yourself on tabletop grills to make your own rolls.

This is banquet-style food, and the premises are designed for the same style, with long tables and plenty of room for bigger gatherings.

And if your group includes varying levels of adventurousness, Nine Roses serves a Chinese menu too, so the sweet and sour chicken has your back.

The Delachaise, 3342 St. Charles Ave., (504) 895-0858

Sometimes getting people together this time of year means trying to mesh busy schedules, or even sneaking in a little time off the clock.

That’s when it’s helpful for everyone to just order on their own, and come and go as they must, rather than be tied to the final bill for all at the end.

This casually worldly wine bar fits that call nicely, falling somewhere between a bistro and a dive. Order at the bar on your own and the food comes out deli style as dishes are ready. You certainly want a bouquet of goose fat fries and the flank steak bruschetta, some of the best bar bites in town.

Ruby Slipper Cafe, multiple locations in New Orleans and Metairie, see rubybrunch.com

Sometimes meeting for breakfast is easier than after hours. The Ruby Slipper is built around brunch, and between the mimosas and bloody marys and regional Southern flavors, it shows that the breakfast meeting need not always be about business.

What started on a Mid-City back street is now a regional brand with more than 20 locations. That includes outposts in the CBD, in the French Quarter and the Marigny, in the Lower Garden District, in Mid-City (a much bigger one than the original here) and two in Metairie, so there’s a good chance one is convenient for you.

Middendorf’s Restaurant, 30160 U.S. 51, Akers (985) 386-6666; and 1951 Oak Harbor Blvd., Slidell, (985) 771-7777

Middendorf’s has always been a road trip destination, and for decades, the original by the Manchac marshes has also made it an ideal meeting point for people coming from the northshore in the south shore, even from New Orleans and Baton Rouge. They converge at this halfway point for thin fried catfish, stuffed flounder and a menu full of other regional specialties (I love the “barbecued” oysters).

Always set up for groups, Middendorf’s has only grown more accommodating and even festive after a series of overhauls in recent years. The Slidell location follows suit near a different intersection of regional travel routes.

Las Cruces Tex Mex, 2935 Airline Drive, (504) 383-6800

Las Cruces Tex Mex is a large restaurant with outdoor and indoor spaces, a private room designed to accommodate teams (whether Little League or big business) and a bar that is really three bars, zigzagging its way around banks of TV screens.

It’s all but hidden between the railroad tracks and the Causeway cloverleaf at Airline Drive, but it’s right on target for groups with a crowd-pleasing Mexican menu augmented by smoked meats and anchored by good tortillas.

Brewery taprooms with food

The city’s craft brewery scene provides a good option for all-ages outings with easygoing outdoor/indoor settings. It has also proven fertile ground for diverse and delicious food pop-ups. Some have regular schedules for certain pop-ups, others are changing all the time, and these are always worth a look.

A few have permanent restaurant-style options built in.

Port Orleans Brewing has Avo Taco for tacos and sandwiches; NOLA Brewing has excellent New York-style pizza and subs from NOLA Pizza Co.; Urban South Brewing has burgers, sandwiches and snacks from its Urban Smash trailer; and Zony Mash Beer Project has northeast-style Italian sandwiches (what I grew up calling grinders) from Sanguiche, with a trailer on long-term residency in the beer garden.

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