Top 15 Best Bars in New Orleans
1 – Patty O’Brien’s: Listed number 1, not because it’s the best bar in New Orleans, but regardless of how touristy it is, I dare you to find a more quintessential New Orleans bar. Home of the original Hurricane Frozen Drink, this bar has a little bit for everyone. There is a bright open courtyard surrounded by vine covered crumbling brick walls, fountains and tables, where they serve drinks and food. It has a dark dive-y Irish pub with TVs on the wall playing most sports games. It has a tiki style outdoor bar where you can order frozen drinks while you stand. And, finally it has a German style beer hall that doubles as a fantastic dueling piano bar. It’ll always be crowded with tourists, but it’s popular for a reason. No trip to New Orleans is complete without at least one stop at Patty O’Brien’s…even if it’s just to grab a drink while you wait for your show at Preservation Hall next door.
2 – Napoleon House: It would be difficult to find a cooler bar to hang out at in the French Quarter. Decorated with pictures of Napoleon this classy, yet crumbling room features great standard cocktails like Old Fashioned and one of the best Reuben sandwiches in town.
3 – Carousel Bar: The Carousel is located in Hotel Monteleon. A local and tourist favorite it features an intricately detailed carousel at its center that slowly rotates around while you enjoy expertly crafted classic cocktails. Speaking of classic, this is actually where the Vieux Carré was invented. You can’t get any more classic than that.
4 – Bachannal: The strangest and most wonderful wine bar in the world. A spot that really could only exist in a place like New Orleans. It’s essentially a mash-up of wine store, bar, music venue, and restaurant. You enter this unassuming spot through what looks like a perfectly normal-looking wine, cheese and charcuterie shop. But once you pick out your wine and maybe some cheese and meat, and pay for it at the counter, you’ll be given a table number and told to walk through the back door and find a place to sit while they prepare your food. Once through that door the entire experience transforms as you’re suddenly in a firefly lit backyard jook with live music and multiple bars. It bills itself as the city’s “backyard party” and that description is apt as that is exactly what it is like. All the booze and food are at basic retail prices, not jacked up restaurant prices. So you literally just stop in at what seems like a simple local wine shop on your way to local backyard house party which just so happens to be right out back. Live music goes all night every night.
5 – The Sazerac Bar: Another classic hotel bar named after the classic American cocktail that was invented there. Seriously, is there anywhere as cool as New Orleans? This is your typical high end bar with fancy leather seating and dark manly decor. Stop in for their namesake Sazerac cocktails or if you’re lucky enough to show up around Christmas time, make sure to check out the Roosevelt’s stunning lobby decorations for the Holidays and the Sazerac Bar’s Holiday themed drinks.
6 – Belle Epoque: This is a super unique, super high end, super glamorous absinthe bar on Bourbon Street. It’s definitely out of place for Bourbon, but well worth your time if you’d prefer something more high end than an Lynyrd Skynyrd cover band. It’s located right behind the Old Absinthe House and serves sophisticated old-times cocktails, the kind that take a couple of minutes to properly prepare. Many of the drinks are made with absinthe, but this is more than just an absinthe bar. They have a strong lineup of cocktails whether you like absinthe or not.
7 – Arnaud’s French 75 Bar: A New Orleans Creole classic. About as upscale as you can get in the French Quarter, this old-school bar feels like the definition of old plantation money. Named for the champagne cocktail, it is yet another bar famous for starting a cocktail trend in the United States. Step back in time in this dimly lit French Quarter gem and cheers to whatever special event has brought you out for their iconic French 75.
8 – Manolito: This is an upbeat, Havana style Cuban bar serving up some killer daiquiris. These aren’t your standard Bourbon St fare frozen drinks. They are expertly crafted, with rich stunning flavors and quality texture that comes from superior ingredients.
9 – Saint Germain Wine Bar: This hidden bar with no signs out front has a charming backyard-style courtyard that provides the perfect escape from the craziness of the French Quarter. Look for the old Sugar Park neon sign out front and wonder around back to stumble upon a hidden world of hard to find wine varietals from all over the world. Get wines by the glass from all throughout the US, Europe and South America.
10 – Bar Marilou: This spot is over-the-top in every sense of the word. Your senses will be assaulted by bright, bold red colors and decor that screams Elton John meets Louis XIV. A fake bookcase door provides the entrance to this bar from the hotel it resides in giving it a bit of speakeasy vibe. The drinks are stellar, but it’s really the lush, seductive, ridiculous, sexy decor that really steals the show.
11 – Bakery Bar: The Bakery Bar is a bakery that serves cakes with their booze. If you need me to write anything more than that in this description to know that you need to go to this place, I simply don’t know what to do for you. Grab some doberge (a classic New Orleans cake made with layers of custard and icing) and a unique, inventive cocktail to pair it with.
12 – Barrel Proof: Are you looking for the perfect, dark, brooding whiskey bar that feels like a Tom Waits song come to life? Look no further. This no frills spot is the perfect place to drink from a limitless whiskey and scotch selection while chatting up an old bearded man with an anchor and the word mom tattooed on his forearm.
13 – Cure: This renovated fire station in Mid City has a really pleasing open atmosphere and some of the best cocktails in town.
14 – Mimi’s in the Marigny: If you go out drinking with a local in the Marigny you are 100% going to end up at Mimi’s at some point…probably very late at night as this is one of the few places in that area that stays open until 4am. This is your classic local joint with a pool table and surprisingly good food where locals basically live after the sun goes down and hangout with one another till all hours of the night.
15 – Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar: Claiming to be the oldest bar in America, Lafitte’s is a no frills dive bar, just outside the craziness of Bourbon Street’s string of strip clubs and cover band tourist trap bars. It’s the perfect place to grab a bucket of beers or a frozen cocktail while staying an arms length away from the rest of Bourbon Street.