The best bars in New Orleans have been here longer than most of the buildings in cities that consider themselves sophisticated. New Orleans invented the cocktail, invented the American concept of the bar as social institution, and has spent the past two centuries refining what it built. The best bars in New Orleans right now include rooms that have been operating for over a century and newcomers that have absorbed everything the old guard knows. Here's where to start.
The Best Cocktail Bars in New Orleans
New Orleans's cocktail culture is so embedded in the city's identity that it is possible to drink historically here in a way that isn't available anywhere else in America. The Sazerac was invented on Exchange Alley. The Vieux Carré was created at the Monteleone. The French 75 is named after the gun that felt like the cocktail going down. These are not trivial claims.
01
Cure
Freret Street$$$Modern Craft
The bar that brought the modern American cocktail movement to New Orleans and proved it was possible to respect the city's traditions while pushing them forward. Cure on Freret Street has been setting the standard for local craft cocktails since 2009. The programme draws on the city's canonical recipes as a foundation and builds upward from there. The bar staff are among the most knowledgeable in the South. Our first recommendation for anyone arriving in New Orleans with serious intentions.
The bar at Arnaud's restaurant on Bienville Street is the most civilised room in the French Quarter — which is saying something in a neighbourhood that tends to operate at maximum volume. The French 75 here is the definitive version: Cognac-based, as it was originally intended, finished with champagne and fresh lemon. The bar staff wear white jackets. The piano player is present most evenings. This is New Orleans at its most composed, and it is extraordinary.
Order: The French 75 — Cognac, lemon, simple syrup, champagne. The correct version.
03
Peychaud's Bar
Marigny$$Neighbourhood / Historic
Named for Antoine Peychaud, the pharmacist who invented the bitters that bear his name and — arguably — the cocktail itself, this Marigny bar takes its namesake legacy seriously. The programme centres on classic New Orleans cocktails made with genuine care, in a room that feels local rather than tourist-facing. The Marigny location means it draws from a more interesting crowd than most French Quarter alternatives. Go on a Thursday when the neighbourhood fills the bar.
Order: The Vieux Carré — rye, Cognac, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine, two bitters
The complete New Orleans bar guide
Every neighbourhood covered — French Quarter, Marigny, Bywater, Garden District. Our full guide with 90+ listings.
Frenchmen Street in the Marigny is where New Orleans locals actually go to hear live music. The scene here is nothing like Bourbon Street — the musicians are better, the venues are smaller, and the drinks are cheaper. Several blocks of bars and clubs run most nights until the musicians decide to stop, which is rarely before 2am.
04
Three Muses
Frenchmen Street$$Live Jazz / Food
The best combination of live music and food on Frenchmen Street — a narrow room with rotating jazz and soul acts performing on a stage barely larger than a kitchen table. The cocktail list is short but competently made; the small-plates food programme is better than anywhere you would expect to find it in a music venue. Arrive at 7pm for the first set, claim a table near the stage, and plan to stay for three hours minimum.
Order: The Gentilly Gin Fizz — gin, lemon, egg white, cream, club soda
05
Bacchanal Wine
Bywater$$Wine Bar / Live Music / Garden
A wine and charcuterie shop in the Bywater with a backyard that hosts live jazz most nights — one of those New Orleans experiences that could only exist in New Orleans. The wine list is genuinely good and surprisingly affordable. The outdoor stage draws local musicians and the occasional touring act. The crowd is neighbourhood-heavy and relaxed in a way that Frenchmen Street venues are not after 10pm. One of the city's most pleasant places to spend an evening.
Order: A glass of whatever the sommelier is excited about — the list changes weekly
06
Cane and Table
French Quarter$$$Proto-Tiki / Caribbean
A bar built on the idea that pre-Prohibition Caribbean and Gulf Coast cocktail culture deserves the same reverence as classic New York or New Orleans drinks. The programme draws on sugarcane spirits, house-made syrups, and recipes that predate the modern cocktail by decades. The room feels like a colonial-era trading post, which is entirely intentional. The Rhum Old Fashioned is one of the best cocktails in the Quarter.
Order: The Rhum Old Fashioned — aged rhum agricole, Demerara, Creole bitters, expressed orange
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Hidden Gems and Neighbourhood Bars
New Orleans has hidden gem bars in the most literal sense — rooms that have been operating for decades without ever attracting tourist attention, and newer spots that the local population has claimed before anyone thought to write about them. These are our picks from both categories.
07
Barrel Proof
Garden District$$$Whisky / Neighbourhood
A whisky bar on Magazine Street with one of the most carefully assembled spirits lists in New Orleans — over 300 expressions, organised with the kind of intelligence that suggests someone who actually uses the stock. The Garden District location means it draws from the neighbourhood rather than the tourist belt, and the atmosphere is accordingly more relaxed. The bartenders here can navigate anyone from beginner to expert through the selection. A consistent destination.
Order: A flight of American single malts — the staff here know the category better than almost anyone in the South
08
Chart Room
French Quarter$Dive / Old Guard
The smallest and most honest bar in the French Quarter — a narrow room on Chartres Street with six stools, a jukebox loaded with jazz, and no interest in anything that has happened in hospitality since 1970. The Chart Room has been here longer than anyone working the bar. The drinks are cheap, cold, and served quickly. There are no craft cocktails and no cocktail menu. There is, however, a functioning cash register and the best people-watching in the Quarter.
Order: A cold Abita Amber and whatever whisky is on the speed rail
09
Sylvain
French Quarter$$$Courtyard / Gastropub
Tucked into a Chartres Street courtyard, Sylvain manages to be a serious cocktail bar, a good restaurant, and a neighbourhood gathering place simultaneously — a combination that most places struggle with. The cocktail programme references New Orleans classics without being limited by them. The courtyard is shaded and operates year-round. The bar programme changes seasonally. The burger is, without qualification, one of the best in the city.
Order: The Creole Manhattan — local rye, house-made Herbsaint vermouth blend, Peychaud's
10
The Bulldog on Magazine
Garden District$$Beer Garden / Casual
The Magazine Street location of The Bulldog is the best of the group — a sprawling beer garden with 50 taps and the kind of relaxed, unambitious atmosphere that Garden District residents have been using as a third place for years. The draught selection covers Louisiana craft alongside established imports and domestic craft. The outdoor pool table fills up on Sunday afternoons. Not glamorous; entirely reliable; frequently exactly what the evening requires.
Order: A Abita Purple Haze or whatever Louisiana craft is on seasonal rotation
New Orleans hidden gem bars
Our editors' complete guide to the bars that locals love and tourists miss — across every New Orleans neighbourhood.
New Orleans is the only American city where the history of the cocktail and the current cocktail scene are impossible to separate. Drink the classics here — the Sazerac, the French 75, the Vieux Carré — because this is where they belong and where they taste best. Then go to Cure to understand what those classics look like when extended by people who love them. Then go to Frenchmen Street and let the jazz determine the rest of your evening.
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