New Orleans is renowned for its drinking culture. After all, it’s the birthplace of numerous iconic cocktails (Vieux Carré, Grasshopper and Café Brulot, among others) and home to ingredients from Peychaud’s bitters to Herbsaint.
For those lucky enough to be NOLA-bound, here’s a guide to 10 don’t-miss bars around the city. It’s not a comprehensive list, to be sure (we could devote an entire story to NOLA’s dive bars alone), but consider this a handy checklist to some of the best watering holes and drinks around the Big Easy.
French Quarter
The revolving bar within the Hotel Monteleone, built in 1949, celebrates its 75th anniversary this September. Snag one of the hand-painted bar stools beneath the brightly-lit canopy; one full revolution takes about 15 minutes, the perfect length of time to enjoy a Vieux Carré, a quintessential New Orleans cocktail. The stiff rye whiskey-and-Cognac sipper was created by Walter Bergeron at the Monteleone in the 1930s, pre-dating the Carousel Bar.
French Quarter
In 2021, the Four Seasons hotel opened within a landmark building along the Mississippi riverfront. The focal point of the lobby is a glittering chandelier that seems to waterfall from the ceiling over a petite rounded bar.
The Israeli-born NOLA restaurateur Alon Shaya helms the food menu and Beverage Director Hadi Ktiri designed the drinks menu; their work is like alchemy. Where else will you find Galilee caviar served on heirloom milled cornbread hot cakes? It’s an ideal high-roller pairing with Champagne or the Chandelier Martini, served with a few dashes of Herbsaint-spiked “Chandelier Magic.”
Garden District/Uptown
Some of the best bars in New Orleans (Cane & Table, VALS, Peychaud’s) are owned and operated by the team behind Cure, which opened in 2009 on Freret Street, revitalizing the Uptown neighborhood. (There’s even a Cure outpost at the Louis Armstrong airport.)
All of their bars are worth a visit, but if you can only do one, Cure is it. Grab a seat at the long, spacious bar or a table by the window, and order a Gunshop Fizz, made with a whopping two ounces of Peychaud’s bitters (created in New Orleans) and topped with Sanbitter, a Campari-like non-alcoholic Italian soda. But if bracing and bitter drinks aren’t your style, there’s a deep menu of craft cocktails to choose from.
French Quarter
This raucous dive, walls covered in bumper stickers and Sharpie scrawls, is where you’ll find the locals at all hours of the day or night (well, almost; it’s open 21 hours a day, closing between 7am-10am), including bar and restaurant staff off the clock. The IYKYK order is the Frozen Irish Coffee, and there’s a window for the renowned sandwich shop Killer Poboys inside the bar too.
French Quarter
Technically, this is a restaurant, not a bar, and a fancy one at that (dressing up is encouraged; no tank tops or flip-flops allowed, and jackets required for gents after 5 p.m.). But this grande dame is one of the best places in the city to order a Café Brûlot, assembled tableside. Brandy infused with spices and citrus, is set aflame as it hurtles down a long, winding piece of orange peel, then extinguished with coffee. It’s both a drink and a pyrotechnics show.
French Quarter
You’ll want to linger a while at this gracious tavern housed in an 1830s Creole cottage, especially if you snag one of the seats in the outdoor garden. Co-owner Chris Hannah presides over the bar, where he’s perfected the art of the Brandy Crusta, a 19th-century drink crowned with a “crust” of sugar and graceful drape of lemon peel. You also won’t go wrong ordering a French 75 here; Hannah previously manned the bar at Arnaud’s French 75, where his version of the effervescent classic has become the gold standard.
French Quarter
Co-owner Jeff “Beachbum” Berry is a renowned tiki historian; fans of tropical drinks applauded when he opened this French Quarter bar in 2014, now considered one of the best tiki bars in the country. The menu is full of exotic libations Berry once unearthed as “lost,” so you know you’re in good hands here.
It’s easy to lose track of time in the dimly-lit space with Polynesian touches like bamboo and grasscloth walls, a tiki mug seemingly in every hand. Opt for rum-soaked classics like a Mai Tai or a Zombie (for the latter, Berry has his own bespoke rum blend). Arrive hungry to enjoy South-meets-tropical dishes like pimiento cheese Rangoon and catfish bao.
French Quarter
A 200-year-old French Quarter landmark with weathered walls, classical music soundtrack and a bust of Napoleon, this is the place to post up for a Pimm’s Cup and muffuletta. The property earned its name from the mayor’s offer, in 1821, to provide refuge to Napoleon Bonaparte during his exile.
French Quarter
The name says it all: if you’re heading to this clubby, walnut-paneled bar within the historic Roosevelt hotel (once the de facto headquarters of Louisianna’s notorious governor Huey Long), you’re ordering a Sazerac. But if you have time for a second round, order a Ramos Gin Fizz and admire the Paul Ninas murals, painted in 1938.
French Quarter
Laying claim as the second-oldest restaurant in New Orleans (behind only Antoine’s), this is also the birthplace of the Grasshopper, a cooling, pale-green mix of crème de cacao, crème de menthe and cream, fortified with a splash of brandy. It drinks like a decadent milkshake with a boozy punch. In 2020, the establishment relocated a few blocks from its original home. While it no longer has the time-worn bar it was known for (originally shipped from Paris in 1856, it was too fragile to move) the proprietors managed to salvage the famous foot rail, light fixtures and portrait of Otis Guichet, the bar’s original co-owner.
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Published: August 15, 2024
