NEW ORLEANS NIGHTLIFE - Bars List

KEEPING TABS - The Big Easy guide to bars and lounges.

New Orleans is to bars what Vegas is to casinos and Orlando is to amusement parks. The French Quarter alone has more than 300 bars. But this isn't just a city with plenty of drinks, it's got a history of drinking.

In the Big Easy, the bars don't ever have to close and they can serve you a drink to go. But the locals take their drinking so seriously that there is even a walking tour of bars and liquor history. A cocktail museum is on the way. Until recently, many parishes even allowed drive through daiquiri shops (although New Orleans has strict drunk driving laws just like every place else).

The only thing we can do is blame it on our ancestors. The city's French and Spanish settlers set a different social course than the other American colonies. The laissez faire attitude makes the city an oasis in the deep South. New Orleans lays claim to inventing the cocktail. The concept of mixing liquor with other ingredients started here, even if there are several different accounts of how the word cocktail came to be. Since then, the city has romanced absinthe, survived Prohibition, and evolved its own signature drinks.

Below is a guide to some of the hot spots for whatever drink strikes you:

URBAN LEGENDS
Bourbon Street demands attention from first time visitors. Although the street got its mystique from the heyday of the burlesque houses, it's now mostly dominated by bars. And the most famous one is Pat O'Brien's, located right in the middle of the street. The rest of the strip features everything from music pumping clubs and daiquiri shops to strip clubs and cubby holes serving huge beers to go.

Pat O'Brien's Bar - 624 Bourbon St. or 718 St. Peter St., 504-525-4823
The legendary Pat O'Brien's is the home of the Hurricane, New Orleans' best known cocktail. Since evolving out of a Prohibition era speakeasy, the 70-year-old bar has become an institution. The expansive bar features several barrooms including a dueling baby grand piano room and a courtyard with a flaming fountain.

Old Absinthe House - 240 Bourbon St., 504-523-3181
Absinthe has been illegal in the United States since 1912, and the Old Absinthe House only serves substitutes. But the liquor was very popular in New Orleans and Europe before that. The Absinthe House renamed itself for the liquor in 1874 when they created the Absinthe House Frappe cocktail.

Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop - 941 Bourbon St., 504-523-0066
While it's one of the most enduring bars in the Quarter, the Blacksmith Shop is popularly misunderstood. It's in a charming Creole cottage that likely dates back to the 1770s, but it's not the oldest building in the Quarter, as many tourists are told. There is also no proof that pirate Jean Lafitte ever owned it, but he certainly never ran his pirate operations out of the French Quarter or hid his money there.

LOUNGE CHAIRS
New Orleans is not all bucket-sized, portable cocktails. Many take the mixing craft quite seriously. Some of the plusher spots to lounge are nestled away in hotels just off the busiest streets.

French Quarter Bar (FQB) at the Ritz-Carlton - 921 Canal St., 3rd Floor, 504-524-1331
A couple of floors above the fray in the Quarter, FQB is a distinguished barroom with a top-notch bar staff. FQB has its own menu for lunch and dinner and on Thursday through Saturday nights, trumpeter Jeremy Davenport plays beginning at 8 pm.

Loa - 221 Camp St., 553-9550
Named for the voodoo spirits, Loa is a chic lounge nestled in the International House Hotel. It's a comfortable spot for a drink after work& an urbane spot for premium martinis later in the evening.

DIVE BARS
No bar scene is complete without a gauntlet of bars offering $1 and $1.50 cans of Schlitz and Pabst Blue Ribbon. For the dive bar set, New Orleans offers a wealth of joints with low frills, plenty of character and bargain basement prices.

Circle Bar - 1032 St. Charles Ave., 504-588-2616
The Circle Bar is a tiny, funky, bohemian dive with live music most nights. The bar goes from the top shelf on down to the $1.50 Pabst Blue Ribbon.

Checkpoint Charlie - 501 Esplanade Ave., 504-947-0979
There's no better place downtown than Checkpoints to hear a punk band while doing your laundry and comparing tattoos. It's a super-late-night bar with alternative rock, pool tables and washers and driers in the back and even a grill.

Lucky's Bar - 1625 St. Charles Ave., 504-523-8922
Lower St. Charles has a couple of funky dives that survived both rougher times and regentrification. Lucky's has a little porch on the Avenue and pool tables inside.

CORNER POCKET
Corner bars offer a genuinely local feel and sometimes they say a bit more about the surrounding blocks.

R Bar - 1431 Royal St., 504-948-7499
Just outside the French Quarter, the R Bar is a fun little bar, which seems to have an enduring charm and regular crowd no matter how often it changes hands. It's more remarkable than most corner bars but perhaps that's because it's in a fun neighborhood

St. Joe's - 5535 Magazine St., 504-899-3744
With a strangely religious theme, St. Joe's is a cozy Uptown bar popular with Tulane students and Uptowners.

Mimi's - 2601 Royal St., 504-942-0690
Just on the edge of the Marigny sits Mimi's, a relatively new bar which has drawn a bohemian crowd. The bar extends upstairs where tapas is available late into the night.

Bridge Lounge - 1201 Magazine St., 504-299-1888
By itself in the Lower Garden District, the Bridge Lounge is a local's bar in spite of being in a no-mans' land stretch among warehouses and I-10 on and off ramps.

UNCORKED
Louisiana isn't wine country but the wine selections are typically very good. Though restaurant bars have been the better hunting grounds for fine wines, recently several wine bars have attracted attention. While every bar in the city offers a full bar, these spots also have many wines by the glass, and some unfamiliar names to boot.

Delachaise - 3442 St. Charles Ave., 504-895-0858
Delachaise is a cozy wine bar, shaped like a railroad car with a fishbowl-like front window overlooking St. Charles Avenue. There are 20 wines by the glass and an interesting assortment of imported bottled beers.

Wine Loft - 752 Tchoupitoulas St, 504-561-0116
Perched among some of downtown's most notable restaurants, the Wine Loft offers a rather extensive list of wines by the glass. There's plenty of space and a small gourmet menu.

BEER HALLS
Local breweries have been left to nostalgia while microbrewers have taken their place. Locally, Abita has good offerings in many different styles of beer. They never had the good fortune, however, to have one of their brews banned in Texas, which was a marketing godsend for Dixie Brewing Company's Blackened Voodoo Lager. Local beer halls have both local brews and a global outlook on premium beers.

Crescent City Brewhouse - 527 Decatur St., 504-522-0571
Bavarian brewmaster Wolfram Koehler crafts German style beers at Crescent City. The gleaming copper kettles are at the heart of the two-story restaurant and pub. The selections typically include a Viennese-style ale, a pilsner, a Munich-style dark beer, a wheat beer and a seasonal beer, with a sampler option offering good tastes of all the beers. The bar is also an oyster bar and the menu offers a full selection of eclectic choices from sandwiches to entrees of Gulf seafood.

d.b.a. - 618 Frenchmen St., 504-942-3731
The creators of d.b.a. wanted to focus on a wide array of Belgian-style beers but the selections are deep in many categories including all top shelf spirits. Located in a popular strip of clubs in the Marigny, it has become very popular while skipping beers by Bud, Miller and Coors. Instead there’s Chimay, Hoegaarden, locally brewed Abita, and a wide selection of American microbrewers are well represented.

The Bulldog - 3236 Magazine St., 504-891-1516
A neighborhood pub with plenty of outdoor seating, the Bulldog has a very deep selection of beers. There are 50 on tap, and hundreds of bottled beers in the coolers. They try to reach every corner of the globe in their selection. A small grill offers bar munchies and some sandwiches and quesadillas.

O’Flaherty’s Irish Channel Pub - 508 Toulouse St., 504-529-1317
O’Flaherty’s is a true Irish pub in that it is a center of Celtic music. Danny O’Flaherty is a professional musician and Irish native who came to New Orleans, stayed and opened the pub to bring together various Irish cultural elements. He leads annual trips to Ireland as well. O’Flaherty’s has a music room, which is open to all ages, and a large pub room with dart boards. The pub has several Irish pub beers on draft, a good selection of imports and Irish whiskies.

Cooter Brown’s - 509 S. Carrollton Ave., 504-866-9104
While Cooter’s looks like a college saloon with its rough-hewn interior and array of flat screen televisions offering pro-sports at all times, the bar offers one of the city’s largest selections of beers from around the world. There’s even Framboise on tap besides the hundreds of bottled choices. Cooter’s also features an oyster bar and a grill.

The Delachaise - 3442 St. Charles Ave., 504-895-0858
The Delachaise is, in fact, a wine bar. But for beer lovers in search of a more elegant setting, the beer list is eclectic and fun. There are different styles of beers from Germany and other European countries from Ireland to Spain. From the United States, there are microbrews like Rogue Dead Guy Ale. The wine list offers more than 20 by the glass and there is a kitchen serving gourmet tapas and small plates.

Brewhouse Grill - 201 N. Carrollton Ave., 504-484-0525
In Mid-City, the Brewhouse Grill is a new addition to the city and easy to reach since it’s right on the recently restored Canal Street streetcar line. Brewmaster Doug Lindley brews an amber lager called Lagniappe and a Czech-style beer.

CONVERSATION PIECES
If you're looking for a place with a little character where you can carry on a conversation without competing with the entertainment, try these spots.

Napoleon House- 500 Chartres St., 504-524-9752
The Napoleon House may and may not have been offered to Napoleon as a residence if he could escape to Louisiana. But the bar retains a distinguished air and charming old French Quarter décor.

Columns Hotel - 3811 St. Charles Ave., 504-899-9308
The Columns is a distinguished old hotel on St. Charles Avenue where Brooke Shields and Susan Sarandon shot the film Pretty Baby. There is a popular barroom and plenty of space to settle in.

FREELOADING FOR THE DOWNLOADING SET
Everyone wants free music now. So for those who don't want to pay a cover but love live music there are a few shifty options. Many music clubs have bars separate from the club room. So you may get a little extra by hanging out there.

House of Blues - 225 Decatur St., 504-529-BLUE
The House of Blues is one of the top local venues for music. The schedule is eclectic and features mostly touring acts, almost all of which can be overheard from the bar that separates the dining room from the club.

Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro - 626 Frenchmen St., 504-949-0696
Snug Harbor is the top local spot for modern jazz but you'll also hear some traditional New Orleans jazz and R&B in the mix. There is a restaurant and a bar, where the club room music is generally piped in.

Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville Cafe - 1104 Decatur St., 504-592-2565
Jimmy Buffett got his start playing on Bourbon Street before he made it big and he's kept ties in the city. Margaritaville features live blues in the Tavern everyday with no cover, generally from 3 pm to midnight.

THE SPINS
Revolving lounges seem like a relic of the 70s, but New Orleans has a few to discourage you from leaving the spins till later.

Monteleone Hotel Carousel Bar - 214 Royal St., 504-523-3341
The historic Monteleone features a bar overlooking Royal Street. The bar is actually a spinning carousel, with the chairs revolving as well. A piano bar is also set up for regular requests.

360° - 2 Canal St., 504-595-8900
Above it all is 360° with its revolving lounge. The plush lounge sits on the 33rd floor of the World Trade Center. It's a got a central and stationary dance floor and DJ booth. The lounge offers excellent views in every direction.

LOCAL PRIDE
There is something for everybody on Bourbon Street, and the gay and lesbian friendly bars sit in the middle of the French Quarter. While Oz is one of the city's larger dance clubs, the surrounding blocks are concentrated with open-minded bars and clubs.

Bourbon Pub - 801 Bourbon St., 504-529-2107
Downstairs, Bourbon Pub is a saloon but upstairs is Parade, a dance club with a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street. The mix includes a heavy slant towards disco, soul and techno music.

ALMOST FAMOUS
While plenty of celebrities own French Quarter homes, you might not get an invitation in even if you can find them. But here are some almost famous addresses.

Ernie K-Doe's Mother-In-Law Lounge - 1500 N. Claiborne Ave., 504-947-1078
Though Ernie K-Doe passed on in 2001, his widow still runs the bar as a shrine to his larger than life personality. It's named for the R&B legend's 1961 #1 hit Mother-In-Law. Some of his most recent music is on the jukebox. And there's a life-size wax replica of K-Doe which reigns over the bar when not out making public appearances.

Gennifer Flowers' Kelsto Club - 720 St. Louis St., 504-524-1111
Gennifer Flowers holds court in her own piano bar in the French Quarter across from Antoine's Restaurant. It's a stylish lounge and Flowers frequently mingles and presides at the baby grand piano.

Coyote Ugly - 225 N. Peters St., 504-561-0003
Well, there are no movie stars here, but the movie might as well be the training video. You can expect bartenders dancing on the bar and offering body shots.

PUB CULTURE
It's hard to find a city without Irish pubs. New Orleans had major waves of Irish immigration early in the 19th century. But the Irish Channel neighborhood where many of them lived only has one remaining pub, Parasol's. Most of the others are in the French Quarter, and feature regular Irish and Celtic music.

O'Flaherty's Irish Channel Pub - 514 Toulouse St., 504-529-1317
O'Flaherty's is a center of Celtic heritage complete with live Irish folk music. The pub is lively and features darts and a good selection of Irish beers and whiskey. Bar owner Danny O'Flaherty is an accomplished musician and leads annual trips to Ireland.

Parasol's - 2533 Constance St., 504-897-5413
Parasol's is less of an Irish Pub than the neighborhood bar in what used to be an Irish neighborhood. But it's still the site of St. Patty's Day's biggest block party.

Vic's Kangaroo Cafe - 636 Tchoupitoulas St., 504-524-4329
Aussie ex-pats have settled into Vic's for a wide array of Australian beers and wines. It's a popular bar with pool tables, some live music and a small menu from the kitchen.