#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

#2481 - Buffa's, New Orleans - 3/22/2014

Buffa's is a neighborhood dive in front, but better known for the backroom, accessed from a narrow doorway, hosting jazz and mostly locals of the widest variety of ages. The white stucco exterior with oval windows look like some touristy submarine themed attraction, but inside it is classic mid-century roadhouse. They used to have music six nights a week and weekly open mike comedy, but I believe the entertainment schedule has been cut down in some noise disputes with some of the neighbors in their residential neighborhood. Buffa's has been here since 1939 and had live music since at least the mid-1980s, but apparently before the current owners purchased it in 2010 the music was confined primarily to weekends. "Some Like It Hot" at 10:30 a.m. Sundays is particularly popular.

They are open 24 hours and serve a mix of standard tavern food and local standards (crawfish, jambalaya, red beans and rice, shrimp and grits, etc.)

Buffa's is currently trying to raise money for legal fees and sound-proofing improvements.

1001 Esplanade Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 949-0038
Est. 1939
Web site: buffasbar.com - facebook
Articles Ranked: dailysouth - tebeau - jimleff - wgno - bestofneworleans - nola.com - neworleans.com - yelp - tripadvisor - neworleansonline 

#2480 - R Bar, New Orleans - 3/22/2014

R Bar, New Orleans, LA

The R Bar is the beverage part of the Royal Street Inn "bed and beverage." If you stay in one of the inn's five rooms here you will receive some free drink tokens for the lively bar on the ground floor (although it appears the Bukowski Suite no longer exists?). The B&B is part owned by Greg Dulli, who started to grow fond of it when he and the rest of the Afghan Whigs spent considerable time here during the recording of their album "1965" in 1998, and it played a significant part in the revival of Frenchmen Street.

R Bar, New Orleans, LA

The bar has a pleasantly dark and intimate interior, and much of it resembles a fairly typical neighborhood dive except that it is so lively in the evenings. There are lots of chaotically collected artifacts, without being too kitschy, and various weekly events. On Mondays you can get a $10 haircut with a free shot. On Fridays there is a crawfish boil. On other days there are pig roasts and Paint Along With Bob Ross nights. The crowd is fun and it's yet another bar in this city that could be your absolute favorite in virtually any other town.

1431 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 948-7499
Est. 1995
Previous bars in this location: Griffins
Web site: royalstreetinn.com - facebook  
Reviews: roadtrippers - noladefender - yelp - bestofneworleans

#2479 - Melvin's Bar, New Orleans - 3/22/2014

Melvin "Grease" Hoerner, namesake and long-time owner of Melvin's Bar, passed away in April of 2011 at the age of 72. His classic dive bar in Marigny remains, although it can appear to be closed and the front screen door is locked, requiring you to buzz the doorbell and have someone let you in (such precautions did not prevent it from being burglarized in 2015). In virtually any other city it would be the best dive in town, but here in the Big Easy it has to settle in somewhere in the top 10 or 15.

2112 St Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 944-0088
Web site: facebook
Reviews: nola.com - instagram - yelp - thrillist - yahoo - neworleansonline

#2478 - Vaughan's, New Orleans - 3/22/2014

Vaughn's, New Orleans, LA

The legendary Kermit Ruffins gigs here ended in August of 2013, but the jazz still flows on Thursday nights (and only Thursday nights, by virtue of an agreement with the residential neighbors). On other days, if the door is locked you can ring the buzzer to have someone let you in.

Of the 20 years when Ruffins held court here the Times-Picayune notes: 'Such celebrities as Lenny Kravitz, Wynton Marsalis, members of the Rolling Stones, and Harry Connick Jr. -- who played nearly an entire set on piano one night, wearing a T-shirt and jeans -- turned up to sit in with Ruffins and his combo, the Barbecue Swingers. The first-season premiere episode of HBO's "Treme" featured a scene in which Elvis Costello shows up at Vaughan's to hear Ruffins. Basin Street Records released a live album recorded at the club that was as loose and raw as the show.' (gonola)

Vaughn's, New Orleans, LA

Night+Day New Orleans added, "With a swaggering style and a mission to make people dance, Ruffins plays like the reincarnation of Louis Armstrong. A sweaty crowd of young and old, black and white, crams into Vaughan's, singing along and shaking to the beat until the band goes home. Get there early to sample Ruffins' barbecue, which he cooks on a grill that he keeps in the back of his truck."

I'm sorry I missed them -- I mean, just listen to a few samples of cuts off of Live At Vaughan's. But this is still a lovely bar. Thursday nights have been taken over by Corey Henry and the Great Treme Funktet. On the the 3rd Friday of each month, drag queens take over. And on any afternoon you can enjoy its grand, ramshackle charm.

Charles and Edith from England -- Edith to be married in
half an hour, Charles her father, at Vaughns in New Orleans

4229 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70117 - (504) 947-5562
Est. 1959
Articles ranked: facebook 
Reviews: thelens - nola.com - gonola - gonola tv (video) - nolabeat - yelp - 10best - offbeat - artinfo - traveladvisor - neworleansonline - bestofneworleans

#2477 - The Joint, New Orleans - 3/22/2014

The Joint, New Orleans, LA

This is not a great bar, but they serve terrific BBQ, widely considered the best in New Orleans, and is well worth making your way out to Bywater neighborhood.

The Joint, New Orleans, LA

The Joint, New Orleans, LA

                

701 Mazant St, New Orleans, LA 70117 - (504) 949-3232
Est. 2004
Web site: alwayssmokin.com - facebook
Articles ranked:  thedailymeal - bbaee - curvymamapies - heavenisabuffet - jesspryles - 10best - yelp - tripadvisor - thrillist - nola.com - gonola - movoto - neworleansonline

#2476 - Gold Mine Saloon, New Orleans - 3/21/2014

This is not a type of bar that I particularly like (the crowd was loving dancing to "Footloose" when I arrived), but if you are looking for basically a crowded frat party, this would be a good option for you.  You will wait for what seems like an eternity for each drink and the focus is on shots and candy-flavor cocktails (it is known for, and apparently proud of, the invention of the Flaming Doctor Pepper).

Granted, before going I could have read the thrillist article that notes "The word “douchebag” gets thrown around a lot when people talk about this place ..."  Then again, they once had a poetry reading series on Thursday nights.

701 Dauphine St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 586-0745
Web site: facebook
Reviews: yelp - nola.com - tripadvisor - cityseeker - bestofneworleans

#2475 - Flanagan's Pub, New Orleans - 3/21/2014

Flanagan's Pub, New Orleans, LA

Flanagans closed Nov 9, 2014.  It was a nice, neighborhood joint, with a lightly applied Irish theme, where tourists would gather for ghost tours and locals would play cards and board games.

Flanagan's Pub, New Orleans, LA

625 St Philip St, New Orleans, LA 70116 - (504) 598-9002
Web site: flanagans-pub.com - facebook - livejournal
Articles ranked: gonola - nola.com - yelp - tripadvisor - bestofneworleans

#2474 - Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge, New Orleans - 3/21/2014

Snake & Jake's Christmas Club Lounge, New Orleans.LA

A few years ago, in a dive bar in Renton, Washington, I was discussing our mutual love of dives with a fellow there and he told me, "I like bars that have Christmas lights up all year round." That struck me as pithy and particularly evocative description of these places we both liked. I'm quite confident that this fellow never went to Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge, for otherwise he surely would included it at the top of the list of suggestions he gave me.

For people like me and my fellow barfly of that night, one look at a photo of Snake and Jake's guarantees that we will be there some day. How to describe it? Let's allow the owner have a go: "Decrepit chic is the best I could describe Snake and Jake's Christmas Club Lounge. It's really a tin shack. I would call it the tin shack shit hole or late night bar." (Owner Dave Clements)  A lot of the descriptions include "shed, "shack" or "garage," but from the outside it looks less like any of those than like a loosely assembled fort thrown together by 12-year-olds in a junkyard. A bartender explains that the bar is held together with "nicotine and regret." (ibid)

Snake & Jake's Christmas Club Lounge, New Orleans.LA

And despite that -- let's be honest, largely because of that -- the bar is said to have hosted Anthony Bourdain, George Clooney, Jude Law, Quentin Tarantino, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and erstwhile nextdoor neighbor Dr. John. Inside its dark confines they mix with students from nearby Tulane, slackers, rockers, artists and old fogeys -- although it can be hard to recognize any of them in the dim glow of the red Christmas lights that account for most the visible light.

The bar is well off the beaten track in a residential neighborhood in the Uptown area. It opens at 7pm, doesn't close until 7am, and doesn't really get going until 1am or 3am ("Snake-o-clock"), depending on who you talk to. If you are bar hopping it is sure to be your last stop of the night. The regulars are eclectic, funny, and sardonic. This character was even on display after Hurricane Katrina, when TV news showed the roof of the building with a message for the FEMA rescue helicopters, "NEED ICE." Their house drink is called a "Possum Drop," an homage to a night when a ceiling tile with a live possum crashed onto a patron's head.

Snake & Jake's Christmas Club Lounge, New Orleans.LA

The bar and house behind it once belonged to Richard "Snake" Brown. It was called the “S&J Lounge" back then, and the current name is simply a combination of this and an even earlier one. Dave Clements has explained, "When my partner and I bought the property many, many years ago, it was an existing bar called S&J. It had a sign up. We also had the sign from the previous bar, which was The Christmas Lounge, named after a man called Sam Christmas. They had Christmas lights in there, but it was actually his last name. I didn’t find that out for years until he was riding down the street one day, and some guy went, ‘There goes Sam Christmas!’ And I go, ‘What?’ I really can’t remember who came up with the combination, but ‘Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge’ sort of rolled off the tongue. So that’s what we named the bar.”

The secret has long been out. Snake and Jake's is commonly included in lists of the country's best dive bars and best bars in New Orleans. Several call it the best dive bar in the world. And I can't think of any compelling argument to the contrary.


7612 Oak St, New Orleans, LA 70118 - (504) 861-2802
Est. 1994
Previous bars in this location: The Christmas Lounge, S&J Lounge
Web site: snakeandjakes.com
Articles ranked: huffpo - bucketlist (video) - fridayatfive - vice - mcclainjohnson - medianola - nola.com - noladefender - nola.com - stereophile - eater - nolaspeax - twistedsouth - whereyat - ipi.mobi - yelp - tripadvisor - daringpenguin - laskowitzpictures - notesonneworleans - bestofneworleans - flights.com - pastemagazine