While New Orleans is known for its bars and nightlife, we are going to take you beyond Bourbon Street for this list. Off the beaten track tiny dive bars and historic locations mixed with a couple you may have heard of in the past.
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Sazerac House
Part history of cocktails museum and part distillery (with tastings). This is a great stop if you are interested in the history of New Orleans cocktails. It is a free stop, but you will need reservations. You will meet near their dangerously bougie gift shop, before heading up to three floors of cocktail history, discovering the customs and traditions of the New Orleans cocktails along the way.
Bombay Club
Tucked into the carriageway of the Prince Conti Hotel. The Bombay Club is said to have the best and largest selection of martinis in New Orleans. But we were there for their famed Sazerac. (Yes, it is odd that we didn’t get this at the Sazerac House or the Sazerac Bar, but we were following tips we received and we were not disappointed.)
The Sazerac is considered the world’s first cocktail. Created in New Orleans in the 1830s and credited to M. Antoine Peychaud. Peychaud used his French Quarter apothecary to mix the bitters from a Haitian family recipe. His bitters are a crucial ingredient to the cocktail and are still available today. Adding his bitters to Cognac with a splash of absinthe before garnishing the new cocktail with a lemon peel. However, phylloxera quickly wiped out the Cognac-producing grapevines in France. So the liquor switched to a locally produced rye whiskey. This is the recipe we know today and yes, it is very close to a traditional Old Fashioned.
Carousel Bar
Located inside the Hotel Monteleone. This unique hotel bar boasts seven decades of cocktails.
Yes, it is a real carousel.
Yes, it is still spinning after 70+ years.
You should make it a point to see the bar (it will be packed) and give the Vieux Carré a try while you spin. Often described as gumbo in a glass or what New Orleans would be if personified into liquid. The cocktail’s ingredients represent a different New Orleans culture. The French are represented by the Cognac and Benedictine. Sweet vermouth represents the Italian heritage while rye pours into the glass for the early Americans. Bitters round out the drink with Angostura representing the African people and Peychaud’s the Creoles.
Sazerac Bar
Not to be confused with the Sazerac House, the famous art deco Sazerac Bar is located in the Roosevelt Hotel. Named to honor the world’s first cocktail, the historic lounge was once the headquarters for the city’s governor, Huey Long.
Governor Long was so captivated by the Sazerac Bar that he chose to live on the 12th floor of the Roosevelt Hotel. The infamous governor conducted many of his meetings in the bar while sipping his favorite drink, the Gin Fizz. Legend has it that while on a trip to New York City, Long was dissatisfied with a Gin Fizz. He requested the Sazerac Bar send their “best gin fizzer” to New York so he could “teach these New York sophisticates how and what to drink.”
Hated by bartenders due to its labor-intensive twelve minutes of shaking. The Gin Fizz includes lemon juice, lime juice, gin, cream simple syrup, orange flower water, club soda, and the white of one egg.
The Sazerac Bar is decorated with a wall-length mural by Paul Ninas (1930s). Just below the Sazerac Bar sits the site of America’s first-ever nightclub, The Cave. It was flooded during Hurricane Katrina and did not reopen.
Antoine’s Restaurant
Still owned and operated by the original founder, Antoine Alciatore’s fifth generation of relatives. Antoine’s is world-renowned for its French cuisine. Most notably Antoines is the creator of Oysters Rockefeller (discover more in our New Orleans restaurant guide) and Café Brulot Diabolique.
The Devilishly Burned Coffee comes with a fiery show and delish end. The ingredients are combined at the bar and brought to your table in a beautiful silver bowl before being lit on fire by your server. Each server will have their own version of “the show.” But ladling the fiery liquid high into the air, into cups, and even to the shock of guests across the table are possibilities. In the end, the result is the same strong black brandy-spiked coffee flavored with the cinnamon sticks, cloves, and orange peel added to the bowl.
Be sure to tour the building. The wine cellar is the largest above-ground wine cellar with an estimated 22,000 bottles. Just outside the wine cellar, you will find a large selection of bourbons too.
Brennnan’s Restaurant
Brennan’s has been a New Orleans staple since 1946. Home to the original Bananas Foster, but is also known for their milk punch. While Brandy Milk Punch dates back to pre-colonial days, Brennan’s has been a favorite location for the drink for decades. A cousin to eggnog the drink combines brandy with milk/cream, vanilla, and simple syrup topped with nutmeg. The cocktail’s hangover-curing charm has made it associated with the New Orleans brunch.
You can try your hand at home with their Brandy Milk Punch recipe.
Old Absinthe House and Maspero’s Exchange
History gets a little clouded as we discuss the next two locations. The Old Absinthe House and Maspero’s Exchange claim to be the location where Andrew Jackson met with the Lafitte brothers to detail the defensive plan for the Battle of New Orleans. Both locations existed at the time of the battle. Old Absinthe House was a saloon known as “Aleix’s Coffee House” and Maspero’s was a slave exchange. Both locations would have been familiar to the pirate…errrr privateer Jean Lafitte and his brother Pierre. Old Absinthe House hung a commemorative plaque in 1950 for the event, but the owner of Maspero’s Exchange quickly filed a lawsuit to have it removed. In February 1951, the Civil District Court, Parish of Orleans dismissed the lawsuit with the following ruling. “Legend means nothing more than hearsay or a story handed down from the past. Both locations still claim to be the official meeting place of Jackson and the Lafitte brothers.
The only way to know for sure is to visit both! Maspero’s made a great Bloody Mary and Old Absinthe House is known for its variety of absinthe drinks. You will have trouble choosing just one absinthe cocktail, but two may just be too many.
Q&C Hotel Bar
Tucked into the gorgeous Q&C Hotel just off the French Quarter is a hotel bar with a historic drink. The French 75. While the exact origins of this drink are debatable. We do know the drink dates back to World War I and was named for the French 75mm field gun, which was the weapon of choice at the time in France. The cocktail combines either Cognac or gin with lemon, sugar, and Champagne. Admittedly not the manly soldier drink you might imagine, but a great drink!
Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop
With claims of being the oldest bar in the United States and the most haunted place in New Orleans, you have to swing in to give their “purple drank” a try. We promise this is the most sugary drink on the list and while we are fairly sure the pirate…errrr….privateer would not approve, you should see the location so why not sip their signature drink?
Discover more about Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop in our Party Like a Pirate article.
Snake & Jake’s Christmas Club
This isn’t the place you will find on most guides. You will still have to wander deep into New Orleans 16th Ward to find it, but if you’re up to the adventure you will find a truly unique place.
Tucked into an unassuming New Orleans neighborhood sits a small building. It almost appears like it is an old outbuilding or garage. It was too dark to notice if a proper sign was present. But you will know you are in the right place by the glow of the Christmas lights and a peeling sign advertising Regal Beer on tap. The dive bar brags that they are lit only by a few strands of Christmas lights. Offering cheap drinks, but a one-of-a-kind experience you will find chatty bar patrons and good conversation. If you’re not interested in the conversation you can sit back and cuddle one of the two dogs wearing glow collars. That is until they hop up to the bar for their own “shot” (shot glass of kibble).
Faubourg Brewing Co.
(formerly Dixie Brewing Co.)
New Orleans’ oldest operating brewery has survived the National Prohibition Act and Hurricane Katrina and now brews under the historic name, Faubourg Brewing. The brewery tour is a great one.
Discover more about the tour and our January 2021 visit here.
Abita Brewery
Heading across the Lake Pontchartrain causeway you will find another prominent brewery in Abita Springs. Brewing since 1986 with water from the nearby artesian wells. Often named a top beer in America, this brewery is worth the trip. Check their site for information on brewery tours. Be sure to try their Purple Haze!
While this isn’t a complete tour of the “cocktail capital of the South,” it will lead you to unique and historic spots for some great drinks. Did we miss a great place that you’ve found? Head over to social media to let us know.
Discover more about New Orleans in our additional articles.
- Let the Good Times Roll in New Orleans
- Eating your way around New Orleans
- Beignets of New Orleans
- Museums of New Orleans
- World War II Museum
- Battle of New Orleans – Chalmette Battlefield
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