Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Sorry! We don't have any recommendations for New Orleans right now.
No American town places such a premium on pleasure as New Orleans. From swank hotel lounges and refined jazz halls to sweaty dance clubs and raucous Bourbon Street bars, this city is serious about frivolity—and famous for it. Partying is more than an occasional indulgence in this city—it's a lifestyle. The bars and clubs that pulse with music are the city's lifeblood, and are found in every neighborhood. Like stars with their own gravity, they draw people through their doors to belly up to their bars or head feet-first onto their dance floors. Blues, jazz, funk, R&B, rock, roots, Cajun, and zydeco—there are many kinds of music and nightlife experiences to be had in New Orleans. On any day or night of the year, the city is brimming with musical possibilities.
The French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny are the easiest places to find great music and nightspots. The venues are numerous and all within easy walking distance of one another. In the nearby Warehouse District, New Orleans institutions like Howlin' Wolf, Mulate's, and Circle Bar have been joined by scores of new bars, clubs, and restaurants. Moving upriver through the Garden District and Uptown, you'll find some of the most famous music spots in the city, such as Tipitina's and Maple Leaf. Bywater, Mid-City, and Tremé are residential neighborhoods with fewer commercial strips, but they too have their crown jewels, like Vaughan's, Bullet's, and Rock ’n’ Bowl.
Serious music lovers converge on this intimate lounge with a modern aesthetic. Top-notch local jazz and brass acts like the Glen David Andrews Band and the Brass-A-Holics are a refreshing change from the loud rock and blues cover bands that have become the Bourbon Street norm. There are multiple sets of local talent daily between 5 pm and midnight. There's no cover, but you can pay $20 in advance for guaranteed preferred seating.
Deep-red walls and a velvet Elvis lend this Uptown spot a touch of kitsch, but the friendly atmosphere, jukebox stocked with vintage soul and modern rock, and young, fun crowd keep people coming back nightly. It's a frequent destination for food trucks and a favorite place to cheer on the city's beloved Saints.
This historic building—with a sprawling three-story floor plan, interior balconies, and a terrific kitchen, plus multiple bars, stages, and dance floors—has become one of Frenchmen Street's most popular destinations. Live music every night of the week (normally with no cover) make it inviting, and the managers skillfully weave local and touring DJs into their lineup of parties and events.
One of the most famous bars in Louisiana, this art deco gem and slinger of fine libations has a pedigree that dates back to the mid-19th century. Drawn to the signature Sazerac cocktail and Ramos gin fizz, a famous and intriguing clientele has graced this hotel bar over the years, including Governor Huey P. Long, who in the 1930s built a 90-mile highway between New Orleans and the state capital, just so, many believe, he could get directly to the hotel lounge for his signature drink.
This cavernous sports bar and neighborhood pub comes with a backstory. The owners used to manage Parasol's, a nearby dive famous for its roast beef po'boys. When new owners at Parasol's forced them out, they took their recipe and most of their regulars around the corner to this larger location on Magazine Street. And, well, now the neighborhood has two great bars with stellar roast beef po'boys.
This neighborhood joint might be off the beaten path, but it's worth the trip for its unlikely combination of an innovative cocktail menu and barbecue. This place compares favorably to swanky wine and cocktail bars like Cure or the Delachaise, yet it offers a decidedly down-home vibe with its pulled pork and brisket, its run-down exterior (a contrast with the nicely done interior), and reasonable prices.
Legendary Thursday night live music sets (served up with free red beans and rice late in the evening) are the big draw at this ramshackle place in the Bywater's farthest reaches. At other times, the place is an exceptionally friendly neighborhood dive.
Amid the city's drab business district hides another entry in the growing list of craft cocktail bars. Named for Daniel Victory, one of the city's best mixologists (and an owner), it draws a young professional crowd to its dimly lit, vaguely industrial space for drinks that push the boundaries of traditional cocktails. A cozy room in the back is available for private parties and intimate sipping. At Drink Lab (343 Barrone St.), cocktail novices can take mixology classes from Victory's experts.
Sign up for Travel Tips & News
Thank you for your interest!
