#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