Few cities celebrate daily life the way New Orleans does. Parades erupt without warning, brass bands rehearse on front porches, and a simple happy-hour round can turn into an all-night second-line. With 300 years of revelry stacked in its rafters, the Crescent City is overflowing with legendary cocktails, neon-lit dives, and rooftop champagne lounges. After chatting with dozens of local bartenders, musicians, and chefs, we narrowed more than a thousand watering holes to the 25 best bars in New Orleans right now. Use this list as your roadmap to the most memorable places to drink in New Orleans.
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Iconic Cocktail Lounges
Begin your crawl in the French Quarter at Jewel of the South, where Chris Hannah’s crystalline Brandy Crusta shows why many rank it among the best bars in NOLA for classic cocktails. A quick stroll away, the revolving Carousel Bar inside Hotel Monteleone serves a velvety Vieux Carré every quarter-hour as the room slowly spins. Over on Canal Street, the art-deco Sazerac Bar mixes its namesake rye-and-absinthe libation beneath gilded murals, while Bar Marilou hides behind a scarlet door in the Warehouse District, pairing French bistro bites with smoky mezcal riffs.
Historic and Haunted Watering Holes
If ghost stories are on your itinerary of bars in New Orleans, don’t skip Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop (circa 1722), candle-lit and rumored to be the oldest bar structure in the country. Napoleon House, begun in the 1790s as a proposed refuge for the Little Corporal, now pours Pimm’s Cups in a vine-draped courtyard. Over on St. Peter Street, the Old Absinthe House still flaunts its Belle Époque marble bar, while Tujague’s (1856) claims credit for the mint-green Grasshopper and houses a mirrored backbar shipped from France. Relative youngster Erin Rose keeps the night owls awake with frozen Irish coffees and 3 a.m. po-boys.
Live‑Music and Neighborhood Dives
Frenchmen Street’s postage-stamp stage at The Spotted Cat pumps no-cover jazz that spills onto the sidewalk. In Bywater, Vaughan’s Lounge hosts a legendary Thursday brass session, complete with free red beans and rice, and around the corner, R Bar trades in boilermakers, tarot readings, and a porch made for people-watching. Markey’s Bar mixes air-hockey clacks with an ever-changing craft-beer list, while Mid-City’s dog-friendly Pal’s Lounge slings potent frozen Irish coffees. When midnight hits, The Saint in the Lower Garden District morphs into a disco-ball cave awash in High Lifes and sweat.
Tiki, Theme, and Rooftop Bars
Rum evangelist Jeff “Beachbum” Berry anchors Latitude 29, where a chilled coupe of Missionary’s Downfall might be the freshest drink in town. Ten stories up, Hot Tin crowns the Pontchartrain Hotel with sunset views over the Mississippi and sparkling-wine spritzes. A CBD storefront blooms into a greenhouse gin bar called Nightbloom, while the petite Catahoula Rooftop serves slushy pisco punches against a skyline of art-deco towers. Near the Superdome, Fives stages tableside martinis with theatrical flourish, and the dirt-floored cottage known as Snake & Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge remains the city’s most notorious late-night grotto.
Craft Beer, Whiskey, and Distilleries
Beer pilgrims should chart a course to Avenue Pub on St. Charles, where 40+ taps pour rare sours and hazy IPAs until the wee hours. Down Magazine Street, Barrel Proof boasts a 350-bottle whiskey library plus an over-stuffed fried-bologna sandwich worth the cab ride. In Bywater, Courtyard Brewery experiments with nano-batches inside a graffiti-splashed warehouse that welcomes food-truck BYO, while Urban South stacks giant Jenga towers between gulps of its crisp Paradise Park lager. Spirits nerds can book a tour of Seven Three Distilling to taste Gentilly Gin, St. Roch Vodka, and Bywater Bourbon straight from the still.
Twenty‑Four‑Hour and Late‑Night Lifesavers
Some bars in NOLA never sleep, and neither do the patrons. Ms. Mae’s on Magazine sells three-dollar well drinks and racks of pool balls around the clock. Igor’s Bar & Laundromat keeps washers, burgers, and video poker spinning 24/7—ideal when your clothes smell like crawfish boil. Le Bon Temps Roulé keeps the funk flowing until sunrise and dishes out free Friday-night oysters. Over on Esplanade, Buffa’s serves Creole diner classics and after-hours jazz brunches, while The Dungeon lurks off Toulouse Street, forbidding photos and lighting its absinthe shots with black light.
Lunch Stops to Fuel Your Crawl
Every marathon drinker knows the importance of carb-loading. In the Lower Garden District, Turkey and the Wolf stuffs collard-green melts with gooey Swiss, while Warehouse District neighbor Cochon Butcher layers cracklin-crusted pork muffalettas. Willa Jean in the CBD smothers flaky biscuits with fried chicken and hot-honey drizzle. Uptown, Domilise’s shrimp po-boy drips hot sauce down the butcher paper, and Mid-City stalwart Parkway Tavern floods roast-beef debris onto Leidenheimer loaves.
Courtyards & Alfresco Dining
Turquoise-clad Commander’s Palace anchors Uptown with palm-shaded tables perfect for 25-cent martinis. Nearby, Shaya scatters Israeli mezze under a twinkle-lit pergola, and back in the Quarter, Napoleon House mixes Pimm’s Cups beneath crumbling stucco. Café Amelie’s 150-year-old brick garden plates shrimp and grits beside a gothic fountain, while Bacchanal Wine in Bywater queues nightly gypsy-jazz beneath Edison bulbs as patrons share cheese plates and browse a 600-bottle shop.
The Oldest Bar in New Orleans
Step inside Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop, order a lurid-purple Voodoo Daiquiri, and toast to nearly three centuries of mischief. Built around 1722, the candle-lit stone cottage once hid pirate contraband; today it remains essential on any quest for the best bars in New Orleans.
Final Toast
This snapshot captures the city’s drinking scene in 2025, but New Orleans will invent two more signature cocktails while you finish reading. Whether you chase craft beer, century-old absinthe bars, or rooftop fizz, remember: the best bars in NOLA reward a slow pace and plenty of water. Sip, stroll, and—as locals insist—laissez les bons temps rouler.
