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New Orleans Nightlife Guide
While New York may be the city that never sleeps,
New Orleans is the city that doesn’t care about New York or
when it does or doesn't sleep,
nor does it care about much of anything else besides having fun
and enjoying life. You will find a year long party which starts
off with the world
famous Marti Gras and continues with all the fun you can imagine.
You can find great live music, bars, clubs, pubs, and just about
anything else
you can imagine after the sun goes down.
Bars
Acadian Brewing Beer Garden
201 N Carrolton Ave.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 483-9003
This pub offers some of the best beer in New Orleans. Live music
slides perfectly into the eclectic atmosphere. The crowd is generally
tame,
aged anywhere from 21 to 55. Try the award winning Acadian Amber
fresh off the brew line.
Butler's Restaurant & Bar
140 Millaudon St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 861-2326
Butler’s was opened recently by a former bartender at the famous
Snake & Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge. It retains the Snake’s
feel of being in
the dark basement of a pimp’s run-down abode in 1983. Patrons
can play an assortment of original Atari 2600 video games while
listening to one
of the best Jukeboxes in the city.
Ernie K-Doe Mother-In-Law Lounge
1500 N Claiborne Ave.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 947-1078
Here you may be lucky enough to hear Ernie himself utter one of
his many legendary self-indulgent catch-phrases (such as: 'I’m
Ernie K-Doe,
I know you want to touch me. Touch me!')
Cooter Brown’s Tavern
509 S. Carrolton Ave.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 866 9104
The ultimate beer tavern, serves over 425 brands of domestic and
imported bottled beers, as well as 42 different beers on tap. Certainly
New Orleans best place for a cold frosty beer. Video poker, pool
tables, 8 televisions and some really tasty food make this worth
the trip
uptown on the trolley line.
Pat O'brien's Bar
718 Saint Peter St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 525-4823
If you're a tourist, you are almost required to visit Pat O'brien’s.
Located directly off of Bourbon Street, Pat O’s is home to
the original New
Orleans Hurricane. The price of the souvenir Hurricane glass is
included in the price of the drink, so the next morning, you can
remember what
it was that got you so drunk. There are several bars, a water fountain
that spits fire as well as water, and great live piano-players.
Saturn Bar
3067 Saint Claude Ave.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 949-7532
At the Saturn Bar, you get the sensation of drinking in your Grandmother’s
garage. What at first glance appears to be clutter, is actually
a
room filled with strange artwork donated by some of New Orleans’s
best contemporary artists. The drinks don’t get very complicated;
it’s mostly
beers in bottles. There is a pool table that is currently being
used as a printing table for souvenir Saturn Bar panties. This bar
is not in the best
neighborhood, so park close to the door.
R Bar & Inn
1431 Royal St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 948-7499
Located in the Faubourg Marienui between Esplanade and Elysian Fields
Avenue, the R-Bar is as trendy as it is artsy. It is complete with
all the bar essentials (pool table, video poker, ATM, etc.) plus
an old fashioned dental chair and a Harley-Davidson above the bar.
The R-Bar
is a great place to spend happy hour.
Dance Clubs
Audubon Hotel & Bar
1225 Saint Charles Ave.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 568-1319
Quite possibly the strangest bar in New Orleans. If the sight of
400 pound prostitutes and transvestites in oversized diapers is
a retina-burning
turn-off for some potential patrons, this bar makes up for it with
some of the best mixed drinks in town. Comfortable sofas and chairs
line walls
and floor surrounding the dance floor where some of the best MC’s
in town can be heard. The Audubon Hotel is open 24 hours a day.
Audubon Tavern II
6100 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 895-9702
ATII’s is the polar opposite of the Audubon Hotel, so try not
to confuse the names. ATII’s is the college aged dance club
for rowdy, and occasionally
belligerent kids. The bar consists of one large main room/dance
floor where loud and popular radio songs set the ambiance of drunken
mayhem
(or boredom, depending on the night). If you like to drink domestic
beer from a can while screaming wildly until you lose the last of
your inhibitions,
visit the Audubon Tavern II.
Gold Mine Saloon
705 Dauphine St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 586-0745
Just a block off Bourbon Street, this is the perfect dance club
for the 18-25 crowd. Not a particularly fancy club, the Goldmine’s
patrons hold to no
particular dress code other than tight clothes that look good to
the opposite sex. The soundtrack, ranging from Euro to Latin to
Hip-Hop, is always grinding.
The Goldmine is a New Orleans staple for young locals and out-of-towners
to set their groove.
Rubyfruit Jungle
640 Frenchmen St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 947-4000 735
The Jungle is the only lesbian dance club in the French Quarter.
The Jungle offers drink specials nightly and excellent music. This
is not a women-only club,
but it is not rare for men to be made to feel uncomfortable. If
you’re a girl and you like to dance, check it out.
Nightclub and Bar
735 Bourbon St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 581-6740
The 735 Club is currently the most trendy dance club in town. This
is the kind of club where tall bouncers in dark sunglasses let you
in at their discretion.
The club is basically a small room with very high ceilings and smoke
machines. New Orleans wealthy young adults, complete with glow-sticks
in their mouths,
are the typical patrons. There is a $5 cover charge on most nights.
Cabaret
Columns Cabaret
3811 St. Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA
(504) 899-0308.
Columns Cabaret offers visitors a charming ambience and excellent
entertainment. Patrons of all sorts frequent this place, as it is
upscale nightlife in a relaxed atmosphere.
Cabaret Pontchartrain
2031 St. Charles Ave
New Orleans, LA
(504) 524-0581
Guests can experience the authentic atmosphere of New Orleans' nightlife
at the Bayou Bar, where cocktails and camaraderie combine crescent
city-style.
Added in 1947, the Bayou bar remains a popular meeting place for
local professionals as well as guests. (A favorite hangout for Frank
Sinatra and Frankie Laine
when they visited New Orleans, the Bayou Bar was also the place
where the New Orleans Saints NFL agreement was signed.)
Live Music
Dream Palace
532 Frenchman St
New Orleans, LA
(504) 945 2040
The music here is a bit of everything: New Orleans funk, Latin rhythms,
reggae and rock. The Dream Palace is the elder statesmen of the
Frenchman Street
music scene but don't let that fool you - the Palace, with its hallucinogenic
ceiling mural and multi-level stage, is as cool as ever.
Dragon’s Den
435 Esplanade St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 949 1750
Guests can experience the authentic atmosphere of New Orleans' nightlife
at the Bayou Bar, where cocktails and camaraderie combine crescent
city-style.
Added in 1947, the Bayou bar remains a popular meeting place for
local professionals as well as guests. (A favorite hangout for Frank
Sinatra and Frankie
Laine when they visited New Orleans, the Bayou Bar was also the
place where the New Orleans Saints NFL agreement was signed.)
Funky Butt
714 N Rampart St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 558-0872
A giant painting of an extremely large and naked woman adorns the
wall adjacent to the entrance, setting the mood for the Funky Butt
- an off-the-beaten-path
world-class jazz and blues club. Become witness to contemporary
jazz history in the making with Irvin Mayfield, Kermit Ruffins,
Jason and Delfalo Marsalis,
Clarence Johnson III and many other young jazz lions taking the
stage for two sets of incredible music every night. The bar is elegant
and comfortable and the
drinks are spectacular (try the Funky Butt Juice).
Le Bon Temps Roule
4801 Magazine St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 895-8117
This uptown bar features a stage known as the House of Dues upon
which is performed local blues, funk, jazz and R&B for a clientele
which includes undergraduates,
attorneys, and music freaks who enjoy a good brew. Free Barbecue
on Wednesdays as Kermit Ruffians tears it up.
Howlin' Wolf
828 S Peters St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 523-2551
The Howling Wolf just feels like a place to see live music. Located
in the Warehouse District, the Wolf’s low ceiling with exposed
beams and water pipes, gives
any show the proper ambiance. Despite the name (conjuring images
of Chicago blues), this club has a very cutting-edge booking policy,
keeping in touch with the
new eras in rock-and-roll as they crawl out of the woodwork.
Kerry Irish Pub
331 Decatur St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 527-5954
The heart and soul of Dublin has been transported to Decatur Street
in the French Quarter. This quaint Irish Pub has everything you
could expect, including
the best Guinness in town and Irish music (as well as folk, jazz
and blues) seven nights a week. On one night you hear Dave Sharp,
solo and acoustic, bellow
out traditional and contemporary Irish tunes, on another its Paddy’s
Lament, fast-paced almost punk form of Ireland, complete with mandolins
and fiddles.
Maple Leaf Club
8316 Oak St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 866-9359
Originally a chess and music club (a couple of chess tables are
still on the premises) and later famed as the site of poetry readings
and some of pianist James
Booker's most incendiary recitals, the Maple Leaf is still the place
to go if you're craving funky New Orleans music (brass bands, blues
and funk, usually) that
sometimes doesn't cease until sunrise. Cover charges range from
$5 to $15, depending on the act.
Vaughan's Lounge
800 Lesseps St.
New Orleans, LA
(504) 947-5562
Thursday nights at Vaughan's are currently the most happening thing
, jazz-wise, in New Orleans. Located in the 9th Ward, Vaughn’s
is not in a particularly
safe neighborhood, but Kermit Ruffins' sets on Thursdays are legendary.
There is free soul food and extremely cheap beverages.
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