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French Quarter
With its elegant, understated Caribbean decor, dim lighting, and low volumes, this rum house is a refreshing relief from the general chaos of the neighborhood. The friendly barkeeps love making "ProtoTiki Cocktails" (specialty rum drinks with modern twists), but there's a sophisticated list of Spanish wines to choose from as well. The space offers a large marble bar, charming courtyard out back, and small tables for intimate dining. Come for the cocktails and atmosphere, but don't miss out on the food: the menu combines Caribbean and Southern culinary traditions, and the dishes are inventive and intensely flavorful.
1113 Decatur St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter
A favorite New Orleans drinking destination since 1949, the revolving bar has served the likes of Tennessee Williams, Truman Capote, and Ernest Hemingway. If the famed carousel bar is too crowded, there's a second (stationary) bar and a stage that hosts free shows by local musicians Wednesday through Saturday.
214 Royal St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130, USA
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French Quarter
Before you see it, you'll hear this Bourbon Street landmark, New Orleans's most popular karaoke bar. Given an ideal corner location, the bar's tall doors and windows open onto two streets, luring undergrads, conventioneers, and bachelorette parties to hit the dance floor and grab the mic. High-energy MCs and DJs keep the night spinning along, but get on the sign-up sheet early if you want a chance at French Quarter fame.
701 Bourbon St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter
This is a must-visit for any who love to submerge themselves in old-time elegance. Adjoining Arnaud's, the classic New Orleans Creole restaurant, this dark-wood bar is complete with leather-backed chairs and imposing columns. The bartenders work magic with their encyclopedic knowledge of cocktails and arsenal of ingredients. Be sure to venture upstairs to the free Germaine Wells Mardi Gras Museum, a slightly bizarre showcase for memorabilia and ball gowns worn by the original owner's daughter.
813 Bienville St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA
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French Quarter
Perhaps the most photographed building in the Quarter after St. Louis Cathedral, this 18th-century blacksmith shop was once a front for the eponymous pirate's less legitimate business ventures—or so says local legend. Today, it's an atmospheric piano bar with a rustic, candlelit interior and a small outdoor patio shaded by banana trees. Despite the addition of a few flat-screen TVs, a drink here just after sundown, under the soft glow of candles, lets you slip back in time for an hour or so. It's also known as the oldest bar in New Orleans as well as one of the most haunted.
941 Bourbon St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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Recommended Fodor’s Video
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French Quarter
It's a living shrine to what may be called the semiofficial New Orleans school of decor: faded grandeur. Chipped wall paint, diffused light, and a tiny courtyard with a trickling fountain and lush banana trees create a timeless escapist mood. The house specialty is a Pimm's Cup (here they top Pimm's No. 1 with lemonade and 7-Up). This vintage restaurant and watering hole has long been popular with writers, artists, and other free spirits, although today most customers are tourists. But even locals who don't venture often into the French Quarter will make an exception for Napoleon House.
500 Chartres St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130, USA
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French Quarter
An eclectic spot on North Rampart Street, this brick-walled room with private nooks and intimate corner booths looks like a cross between a dive and a lounge on the Riviera. The book-length drinks menu, with everything from pre-Prohibition classics to modern creations, practically recounts the history of the cocktail. The talented staff can turn out any of those offerings with aplomb.
820 N. Rampart St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter
It's impossible to miss this 24-hour video bar at the corner of St. Ann and Bourbon streets, especially in early evenings, when the doors are open and the dance crowd spills into the street. There's usually a cover charge on Friday and Saturday nights after 10 pm; Sunday afternoon is devoted to vintage videos by assorted gay icons.
801 Bourbon St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter
This Bourbon Street stalwart attracts a somewhat older and very casual group of gay men. The second floor has a pool table, pinball machine, and wraparound balcony with a bird's-eye view of the lively street scene below. Sunday afternoon, when the oldies spin and the paper-napkin confetti flies, is especially popular.
901 Bourbon St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter
Unpretentious even by New Orleans standards, this little dive not far from Canal Street draws a good number of locals from the Quarter and beyond for inexpensive drinks and wide-open doorways that offer table seating just off the sidewalk. Note that it's cash-only.
300 Chartres St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130, USA
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French Quarter
Filmmaker John Waters reportedly counts the Pocket as a New Orleans favorite, and with skinny, tattooed strippers on the bar and an inebriated drag queen emcee, it's easy to see why. Sleazy fun on a good night, but keep your wits about you.
940 St. Louis St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA
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French Quarter
Few tourists make their way to this hip neighborhood hangout, in a far corner of the Lower Quarter. A short flight of stairs leads to a darts and billiards room. Quirky wagon wheel–shape ceiling fans, ample windows, and a friendly vibe make it a low-key place to wind down. Food options include pizzas, burgers, and Cosimo's famous fried green beans.
1201 Burgundy St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter | Live Music
These swanky digs in the Ritz-Carlton are home to their namesake, Jeremy Davenport, an old-school crooner in the mold of Sinatra and Crosby. With a hot trumpet, Davenport plays Wednesday through Saturday and draws a mixed crowd of visitors and locals to the swinging dance floor.
The Ritz-Carlton, New Orleans, 921 Canal St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70112, USA
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French Quarter | Live Music
An old-school gem in the midst of Bourbon Street's many venues with bad cover bands, this Dixieland music club, built in the style of the old jazz halls, has tight rows of seating close to the stage and floating barmaids. Drinks cost a little more, but there's never a cover charge. Shows nightly.
733 Bourbon St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, United States
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French Quarter
With its tasteful decor and reasonable volume level, this is a slightly more upscale, sedate alternative to the blasting disco bars down the street. The Queen's Head Pub on the second floor, open weekends, has darts, a wraparound balcony, and respectable martinis. Brush up on your show tunes at the popular Sunday afternoon piano sing-along.
740 Dauphine St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter | Live Music
Despite its name, blues rarely makes the bill at this Decatur Street link in the national chain. The midsize venue embraces rock, country, soul, funk, and world music, and it's one of the city's most reliable destinations for national touring acts. The adjoining restaurant hosts a popular gospel brunch. The Parish, a more intimate offshoot upstairs from the main house, books edgier, up-and-coming groups.
225 Decatur St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130, USA
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French Quarter
This well-worn favorite has a pool table, a jukebox stocked with the Pogues and Flogging Molly, and, of course, Guinness on draft. A small stage at the back hosts Irish musicians, singer-songwriters, and R&B or jazz musicians nightly with no cover charge. It's one of the last venues for Irish music in the Quarter.
331 Decatur St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130, USA
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French Quarter
Like its sister restaurant Sylvain, this cozy tavern converts a historic French Quarter location into a stylish hang-out where old-world charm pairs with a creative cocktail menu and good ole fashioned beer-and-shot combos. Come for the cocktails, but stay for the snacks, which are just as exciting; caviar, charred vegetables, crab claws, and housemade aiolis elevate a classic pub menu into something else entirely.
719 Toulouse St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70130, USA
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French Quarter
Grab a perch almost any time of day at one of the best-known and most popular bars along the far stretch of Decatur Street, where you'll find perfect pints of Guinness, generously poured cocktails, and gregarious bartenders. From a window seat, you can watch the crowds of shop-goers, sightseers, and all-day revelers. Everyone from politicians to punk rockers eventually drifts through these doors.
1107 Decatur St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
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French Quarter
The only gay bar in New Orleans that's also attached to a large hotel, this narrow space is in the heart of St.-Ann-and-Bourbon gay central; it's a must-visit during the annual Southern Decadence festival. The comfy sofas and handsome bartenders are a plus, and the crowd tends to be a bit dressier than at similar venues.
734 Bourbon St., New Orleans, Louisiana, 70116, USA
