#2488 - French Market Restaurant and Bar, New Orleans - 3/24/2014

The French Market Restaurant and Bar claims to date back to 1803, "Twelve years before Andrew Jackson won the Battle of New Orleans, The French Market Restaurant & Bar began serving outstanding seafood and ice-cold drinks to visitors and natives alike." But I don't now what form(s) that would have been in, have not found any details, and it is not included in lists of the oldest restaurants in New Orleans. But it is, of course, on the edge of the French Market itself, the oldest in America and hosting a rich mix of culture and cuisines here since the 18th century:

"As for the confusion of tongues in the market, it was simply delicious. French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and “Gumbo” contended with each other for supremacy  … There are Gascon butchers, and the Italian and Spanish fruit vendors, and the German vegetable women; there are Moors, with their strings of beads and crosses, fresh from the Holy Land . . . Chinese and Hindu, Jew and Teuton, French and Creole, Malay, Irish, and English, all uniting in an ceaseless babble of tongues that is simply bewildering." (frenchmarket.org)

Some of the buildings, including the space occupied by the Cafe Du Monde, date back to 1813, after the previous structures were destroyed in an 1812 hurricane.

Whatever the history of the French Market Restaurant, it draws in tourists with a giant vat of crawfish steaming in the front window, and a menu full of Cajun and Creole dishes with an emphasis on seafood. This was our last bar and restaurant stop of this trip to New Orleans and it concluded nicely with the blackened alligator.


1001 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 525-7879
Web site: frenchmarketrestaurant.com
Reviews: anythingispossibletravel - neworleansonline - yelp - tripadvisor - neworleansrestaurant 

#2487 - Spitfire, New Orleans - 3/23/2014

The Spitfire bar, not to be confused with the coffee shop of the same name, is a funky, cozy, neighborhood dive that appears to host some good rock shows and alternative events. But this space has an even more colorful history, from the goth bar days in the 90s though the 00s with names like Blue Crystal, to hosting Dada art shows as the Whirling Dervish, to the last lesbian bar in the city of New Orleans as Rubyfruit Jungle.

During the goth days it hosted the Cure and dragged Trent Reznor out to meet Robert Smith, as well as witnessing Eddie Vedder and Cy Young award winning pitcher Jack McDowell in a bar brawl that left Black Jack unconscious after a bouncer's left hook knocked his head into the wheel of a jeep. Later Rubyfruit Jungle moved here, and when it closed in 2012 it was the last lesbian bar in a city that a few decades ago had nine of them -- the bars apparently no longer needed as hidden community centers and furtive social gatherings relived in the local play "Last Call."

Spitfire Bar, New Orleans, LA

The names change and the themes vary, but some spaces just seem destined to always host joints with real character, and whether there's high drama or just a chill crowd of interesting people, always feel like a good place to be.

Spitfire Bar, New Orleans, LA

1135 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 524-9822
Est. June 2013 - Building constructed: year
Previous bars in this location: Blue Crystal, The Crystal, Pendragon's, Crowbar, Whirling Dervish, Rubyfruit Jungle, 1135 Decatur,
Web site: facebook - facebook - twitter
Reviews: nola.com - yelp

#2486 - Vaso, New Orleans - 3/23/2014

This capacious "superlounge" is not among my favorites in the Frenchmen Street area, but a nice thing about this place, even more than most of New Orleans, is that you can stroll past, step into the open doors with no cover, take in a bit of the (blues, jazz or reggae) music, decide if you want to invest the time it takes to get a drink, listen to the band for a few minutes or a couple hours, then, drink in hand or not, stroll on down the road.

1407 Decatur St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 272-0929
Est. 2011
Previous bars in this location: Belle Forché Criolle
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp

#2485 - 13 Bar and Restaurant, New Orleans - 3/23/2014

Funky, vegetarian friendly cafe and bar open til 4am

13 Bar, New Orleans, LA

517 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 942-1345
Web site: 13monaghan.com - facebook
Reviews: nola.com - yelp - tripadvisor - thrillist - neworleansingreen - neworleansonline 

#2484 - Tiki Tolteca, New Orleans - 3/23/2014

Tiki Tolteca, New Orleans, LA

Tiki Tolteca is upstairs from Felipe's Taqueria in the Quarter, and, about eight months after this visit on the same block as famous tiki author Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29. Tolteca was a little spare, light, and commodious for a tiki bar, but that might be expected for a place that recently started out as a pop-up open a few nights a week.

It definitely delivered on the cocktails. We chatted with bartender Richard "Trader Dick" O'Dell, who had recently devised his Hurricane entry for Tales of the Cocktail. His "Subtropical Itch" was excellent -- a concoction I liked as much as any tiki cocktail I've ever tasted.

Trader Dick, Tiki Tolteca, New Orleans, WA

In 2014 the bar won a popular vote for Best New Bar in the Country run by Food & Wine, as well as a list of the 21 best new bars in America from Thrillist, a USA Today list of best tiki bars, and an award for 'Best Place To Make Out/Make Up/Have The “More Than Friends” Discussion/Go On A First Date/Go On A Third Date/Profess Your Undying Love/Propose.' From virtually no quality tiki cocktails a few years ago, the Big Easy now has at least three bars that focus on craft tiki drinks (Tolteca, Latitude, and Cane & Table) along with very nice tiki choices commonly offered at several other craft shops, including Sobou, Bar Tonique

Tiki Tolteca, New Orleans, LA

301 N Peters St (2nd floor), New Orleans, LA 70130 - (504) 267-4406
Est. May 2013
Web site: tikitolteca.com - facebook
Articles ranked: thetikichick - critiki - tikicentral - nola.com - nola.com - bestofneworleans - eater - gonola - yelp  - shermanstravel - sixtyhotels - wwno - bestofneworleans - frenchquarter

#2483 - 700 Club, New Orleans - 3/14/2014

 
 
 
   

This place is a notch less frenetic than the gay clubs at Bourbon Pub and Oz, but it's still a lively crowd. And while the cocktails are fruity and sweet like so many gay bars and bars on Bourbon Street, the versions here are a notch above, featuring actual fresh herbs and fruit. It's also apparently one of the larger gathering points for LSU and Saints games.

In case you don't get the irony of the bar's name matching the television program run by Pat Robertson -- who has explained why gay rights have resulted in hurricanes striking the city -- the bathrooms here are labeled "Adam" and "Steve."

We met some fun European guys here, but I've long lost their names and the exact country they were coming from.

700 Burgundy St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 561-1095
Web site: 700clubneworleans.com - facebook
Reviews: nola.com - gonola - yelp - tripadvisor

#2482 - Harry's Corner, New Orleans - 3/23/2014

Harry's Corner, New Orleans, LA

Harry's is a nifty neighborhood dive just beyond the super touristy parts of the quarter and popular with locals. "Harry's been around in some incarnation or another — Harry's Bar, Harry's Place or more recently, Harry's Corner — since 1942." (nola.com)  It has a nice selection of local beers and people recommend the Bloody Marys. It was even listed on the Esquires sometimes inscrutable list of the Best Bars in America

900 Chartres St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 524-1107
Est. 1942
Web site: facebook
Articles ranked: nola.com - frenchquarterviews - yelp - cityseeker - neworleansonline - bestofneworleans