Entry No. 101 — the New Orleans file — filed under: 24-hours
Clover Grill
Burgers go on the flattop under an actual hubcap, which traps the steam and domes the patty; the sign outside calls them the world's most delicious and nobody on staff has ever contradicted it. Twelve red stools run along the pink-tiled counter facing the grill, four tables sit under the windows onto Bourbon, and the menu reads like a monologue — "If you're not served in 5 minutes, it may be another 5. Relax. This isn't New York City." A sign by the door says Be Nice or Leave. It's been on the Dumaine corner since 1939 and runs three shifts around the clock like a hospital ward, scrubbing the grill at every changeover, which is why the 4 a.m. burger tastes like the noon one.
→ Three more weird eats & drinks in New Orleans — never the same twice
The story
The Clover Grill has held the Bourbon and Dumaine corner since 1939, and its one piece of proprietary technology is a hubcap. Burgers go on the flattop and an American-made hubcap goes over them, trapping steam and doming the patty; the sign outside declares the result the world's most delicious burgers, and nobody working there has been heard to disagree. The menu is written as a monologue — "If you're not served in 5 minutes, it may be another 5. Relax. This isn't New York City," "Dancing in the aisles only, please keep off the tables," "Have character. Don't be one." Customers stole the menus so persistently that the diner started printing take-home copies.
The room is twelve red stools along a pink-tiled counter facing the grill, plus four tables at the windows onto Bourbon — a "squeeze-by-excuse-me" space, in the words of a 1997 Mobile Register write-up the restaurant still hosts on its own website. A jukebox is wedged in the corner. A sign by the door says Be Nice or Leave; another announces that everyone brings happiness into this business, some when they come in and others when they leave. Staff wear shirts reading "We Love to Fry and It Shows."
It runs around the clock in three shifts — 7 to 3, 3 to 11, 11 to 7 — which one waiter described as working "just like a hospital," with the grill scrubbed down at every changeover. That is why the 4 a.m. burger tastes like the noon one. The diner shows up in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and its own site still keeps a page for the Mascara Race, a Bourbon Street footrace it has staged as a benefit for the NOCCA Foundation.
What it's like
You come in off Bourbon and there is nowhere to hide: twelve stools, four tables, sixteen seats total, and if they're full you wait in the doorway. Nothing is reservable and the aisle is too tight to loiter in politely, so take whatever opens. A waiter takes your order where you sit and the grill is four feet away, so you watch the hubcap go on and come off. Read the menu, then take the printed copy rather than the one on the table. Prices are diner prices — build-your-own burger $9.79, two eggs with toast $6.29, fries $2.99. The room is at its strangest between 2 and 5 a.m., when it fills with people ending their night, and the staff have unquestionably seen worse. Be Nice or Leave is posted as a rule, not a joke.
The move: Save this for 2 a.m., after the rest of the night has stopped being fun. Take two of the twelve counter stools so you're watching the grill instead of each other, order a hubcap cheeseburger with mushrooms plus one order of Clover fries to share, and read the menu out loud to each other until the food lands. Walk it off toward the river down Dumaine.
📍 Before you go 900 Bourbon at Dumaine, open 24/7 for dine-in and to-go per both the restaurant and OpenStreetMap — but it's Bourbon Street, so call (504) 598-1010 if you're making a special trip at 5 a.m. Twelve stools and four tables is the entire room: it's a squeeze-past space, listed as not wheelchair accessible, and nothing can be reserved. The pink menus are printed as take-home copies because customers kept walking off with the real ones. Ignore the placeholder menu on their website — cedar plank salmon is a web template, not the kitchen.
- 📍 New Orleans
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Up for anything
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 900 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA 70116
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- LaLaurie Mansion (exterior) — One block over and three up, at Royal and Governor Nicholls — a four-minute detour that turns a 2 a.m. burger into a walk past the Quarter's grimmest address.
- Bar Tonique — Three blocks straight up Dumaine to Rampart for a properly built cocktail on the quiet edge of the Quarter, then back down to the grill when you need something fried.
- The AllWays Lounge & Cabaret — The AllWays' shows let out late on St. Claude, under a mile away, and Clover is the kitchen that will still be running when they do.
More weird in New Orleans
Good to know
Is it genuinely open 24 hours?
Yes — the restaurant advertises 24/7 for dine-in and to-go, and OpenStreetMap records its opening hours as 24/7. It's still Bourbon Street, though, so if you're making a special trip at 5 a.m. it costs nothing to call (504) 598-1010 first.
Can I book a table, and how long is the wait?
Nothing can be reserved and there are only sixteen seats in the building — twelve counter stools and four tables. Waits are short in the small hours because turnover is fast; the slow times are Mardi Gras and festival weekends, when the window tables become parade-watching real estate.
What does it cost and what should I order?
Cheap. Build-your-own burger is $9.79 (bacon $1.99, mushrooms $1.99, cheddar $1.25), the 24-hour two-egg breakfast is $6.29, fries or tater tots $2.99, and the Breakfast Burger — burger, bacon, hash brown and an egg — is $14.59. Get the hubcap burger with mushrooms and one order of fries between two.
Is it wheelchair accessible?
No. It's mapped as not wheelchair accessible, and the room is a genuine squeeze-past between the counter stools and the tables. There's no back room or overflow space to seat you in instead.
Their website menu lists cedar plank salmon — is that real?
No. That's a leftover web template; the actual menu lives on the site's MENU page and is burgers, omelettes, waffles, sandwiches, a Clover Weenie and a pie of the day. If a dish sounds like a chain restaurant wrote it, the kitchen doesn't make it.
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Further reading: Official site · openstreetmap.org
last checked: 2026-08-26