Beignet sandwiches and the sweet potato flavor profile take center stage on the 2026 Beignet Fest menu

Written By Alicia Vial

9th annual festival offers 47 different beignet creations all in one place on one day

NEW ORLEANS – Beignet sandwiches are emerging as a defining theme of the 2026 Beignet Fest menu, alongside several variations featuring sweet potatoes, a familiar ingredient in Southern fall cooking. In all, Beignet Fest brings together 25 local food vendors serving nearly 50 different beignet dishes Saturday, Nov. 7, at New Orleans City Park’s Festival Grounds from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Fried chicken is another natural fit for the sandwich format. Ruby Slipper Cafe will serve a Nashville hot chicken beignet “sammie” alongside a version for younger diners while Southern’s will offer a hot honey fried chicken beignet. Loretta’s Authentic Pralines will serve a peanut butter and jelly beignet and a burger beignet, while NOLA Food Vault will offer a catfish po-boy beignet.

“We’re also excited to have Asian Outdoor Kitchen serve a beignet banh mi with grilled chicken, and Magasin Vietnamese Café a grilled pork beignet banh mi,” said Sherwood Collins, Beignet Fest Foundation executive director and event producer. “Both put a distinctly Vietnamese spin on the beignet, bringing the bright, savory flavors of a banh mi together with one of New Orleans’ most beloved foods.”

Sweet potatoes, which have a longstanding place in Southern cooking, provide another point of connection across the menu. Divine Cuisine will serve candied sweet potato beignets, while Monday Restaurant and Bar will feature its own take on sweet potato beignets. Real Clever Cuisine will offer a sweet potato puff puff beignet, and Viola’s Heritage Breads will serve sweet potato beignets with berry sauce and sweet potato calas, a rice-based fritter with a tradition of its own in New Orleans.

The menu also includes traditional powdered sugar beignets and a range of sweet and savory favorites. Cafe Beignet and PJ’s Coffee will serve traditional beignets, while Loretta’s Authentic Pralines will offer praline and chocolate praline beignets along with its famous crabmeat beignet. Other options include Asian Outdoor Kitchen’s passionfruit mochi beignets, Divine Cuisine’s Bananas Foster beignets and Sweet Legacy’s fried chicken and beignets with honey pecan glaze.

Beyond beignets, festivalgoers can find dishes including crawfish and crab corn bisque from 4 of Us Catering, red beans and rice with sausage from Blue Runner and filé gumbo from Tiger’s Creole Cuisine. The menu reflects both the creativity surrounding the festival’s signature dish and the broader food traditions that define the region.

Along with the food, attendees will enjoy live local music, a local Artist Market, a family-friendly Kids Village, the Abita Beer Garden and the PJ’s Coffee Café. New this year, The Porch will offer a gathering place where local chefs and food personalities will share the stories, traditions and people behind Louisiana’s celebrated culinary culture – all set against the backdrop of a welcoming front porch motif.

Proceeds from Beignet Fest benefit the Beignet Fest Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established to support the autism community in Greater New Orleans. Founded in 2016, the Beignet Fest Foundation has raised more than $3 million in support of its mission to celebrate, embrace, and empower the lives of children with autism and their families.

To view the menu and purchase tickets to the 9th annual Beignet Fest visit beignetfest.com.

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2026 Beignet Fest Menu

4 of Us Catering
Fried Chicken & Mac Sandwich; Strawberry Shortcake Beignets; Crawfish & Crab Corn Bisque

Any O’Cajun
Crawfish Beignets; Gumbolaya

Asian Outdoor Kitchen
Passionfruit Mochi Beignets; Beignet Banh Mi with Grilled Chicken; Grilled Lemongrass Chicken Skewers (GF); Korean Corn Dog

Biscuits & Buns
Beignet Bites; Crawfish Boudin Balls; Seafood Boil Mac; Peach Cobbler Wings

Blue Runner
Red Beans and Rice with Sausage (GF)

Café Beignet
Traditional Beignets; Chocolate Drizzle Beignets; Salted Caramel Beignets

Chubbie’s Fried Chicken
2-Piece Chicken Dinner; 3-Piece Chicken Dinner; 2-Tender Dinner; 3-Tender Dinner; Side of Fries or Dirty Rice; Jalapeño Peppers (V, GF)

Diva Dawg
Crawfish Étouffée Beignet Fries; Crown Apple Pie Bread Pudding Beignet; Crabmeat Grill Cheesy; Crawfish Étouffée Dawg

Divine Cuisine
Bananas Foster Beignets; Candied Sweet Potato Beignets; Cheesecake-Stuffed Beignets; Crawfish Roll with House-Fried Potato Chips

Jessie’s HuckABucks
Mrs. Jessie’s HuckABucks (GF); Big Eazy Beignet Fries; Bayou Smoothie Bowls; Brownie or Cookie à la Mode Cups

Lillie’s Cajun Kitchen
Seafood Beignet; Strawberry Shortcake Beignet; Mardi Gras Beignet; Boudin Eggrolls; Loaded Street Corn

Loretta’s Authentic Pralines
Praline Beignet; Chocolate Praline Beignet; The Famous Crabmeat Beignet; Burger Beignet; Peanut Butter & Jelly Beignet

Magasin Vietnamese Café
Cloud Beignet with Chicken Curry; Crab Rangoon Beignet; Grilled Pork Beignet Banh Mi; Shrimp Garlic Noodles

Monday Restaurant and Bar
Sweet Potato Beignets

NOLA Food Vault
Sweet Potato Praline ’n Cream Beignet; Stuffed Fried Catfish with Creamy Seafood Sauce; Catfish Po-boy Beignet

Oh Taste & See
Beignet Bread Pudding with Rum Sauce; Beignet Fries with Chicken Wings; Shrimp & Crabmeat Rolls

PJ’s Coffee
Traditional Beignets; Cinnamon Sugar Beignets

Real Clever Cuisine
Sweet Potato Puff Puff Beignets; Kouign Shrimp & Mirliton Puff Puff; Redfish Cake Po-boy on Leidenheimer Bun; Creole Seafood Gumbo with Super File; Brussels or Cauliflower Voorheese

Ruby Slipper Café
Nashville Hot Chicken Beignet Sammie; Fruity Lemon Berry Glazed Beignets; Kids Fried Chicken Beignet Sammie; Traditional Beignets; Side of Tater Tots

Southern’s
Hot Honey Fried Chicken Beignet; Glazed Beignets; Banana Pudding Beignet

Squeezy Street
Watermelon Bowl or Salad (V, GF); Pineapple Bowl or Salad (V, GF); Watermelon Pizza (GF); Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Sweet Legacy
Fried Chicken & Beignets with Honey Pecan Glaze; Honey Pecan Beignets; Chocolate Turtle Beignets; Birria Mac & Cheese

Tiger’s Creole Cuisine
Beignet Reagan with Crawfish Cream Sauce; File’ Gumbo; Beef Yaka Mein

The Vintage NOLA
Oreo Cheesecake Beignets; Beignet Bites with Powdered or Cinnamon Sugar; The Vintage Famous Parmesan Truffle Fries

Viola’s Heritage Breads
Sweet Potato Beignets with Berry Sauce; Sweet Potato Calas; Creole Corn Dog Bites

GF = gluten-free; V = vegetarian.

About Beignet Fest:

Named one of the Top 10 Specialty Food Festivals in the nation in 2026 by USA TODAY’s Readers Poll, Beignet Fest is a premier food festival in Louisiana that celebrates one of New Orleans’s most iconic dishes all in one place on one day. Proceeds benefit the Beignet Fest Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization established to raise awareness and support for programs in Greater New Orleans that serve autistic youth and their families.

Other honors for the Beignet Fest include:

Garden & Gun - Top Southern Fall Food Festival List 2024 and 2023

New Orleans Magazine - Tops of the Town Voter Poll Honoree 2023

Southern Living - Best Food Festivals in the South 2023

Tasting Table - 21 Bucket List Food Festivals 2023

Alicia Vial

Alicia Vial is a New Orleans native with more than a decade of experience elevating client stories and leading crisis response. As the senior director of strategy, Alicia acts as a leader within the Gambel Communications team ensuring each agency team member is positioned to deliver strategic public relations services that meet the highest standards of the industry. In addition to supporting the agency’s long-term business growth and development, she coordinates day-to-day account services and oversees strategic direction while staying abreast of best practices and industry trends to provide innovative solutions to meet client’s needs.

Before joining Gambel Communications, Alicia served as the communications director for the Louisiana SPCA, the oldest and largest animal welfare organization in Louisiana that impacts more than 74,000 animals per year. During her nearly eight-year tenure, Alicia oversaw numerous crises, served on national communication taskforces, oversaw all aspects of internal and external relations and worked alongside the development department to raise critical funding. Prior to that, she worked in the fast-paced New Orleans hospitality industry focusing on digital public relations for multiple hotels.

Alicia is a member of the Public Relations Association of Louisiana (PRAL), Southern Public Relations Federation (SPRF), a board member of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) New Orleans Chapter and a member of the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute. An accredited public relations practitioner (APR), Alicia is also certified in crisis communications, organizational leadership, content marketing and social media.

A well respected and trusted public relations practitioner, Alicia has been recognized by SPRF as a ‘Senior Practitioner of the Year’. Dubbed early on in her career as one to watch, she also received the ‘Rising Star’ award by PRAL and was profiled in St. Charles Avenue Magazine as part of their Young Bloods series. Most recently, she was recognized at PRSA’s annual Fleurish Awards and received four Awards of Excellence for her work along with the ‘Plate Spinner’ award for her efforts on the board of directors for the chapter.

An LSU graduate, Alicia received a bachelor's degree in mass communications with a concentration in public relations and minors in business administration and leadership development. She is a frequent speaker and presenter on public relations topics, most recently presenting at the Jefferson Economic Development Commission and SPRF annual conference.

When Alicia is not at work, you can find her at the ballpark with her three boys or cheering on the Tigers in Death Valley.

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