🎉📿 Beyond Bourbon Street – New Orleans Cocktails 🎉📿

 

When you think of New Orleans, you probably have images of Mardi Gras revelers on Bourbon Street drinking “Big Ass Beers” and doing creative things to get beads from the balconies. There are lots of places to get a decent hurricane and bourbon milk punch. But for those of us who have been to the city a few times - and are maybe of an age where we prefer quality over quantity, here are some thoughts about our favorite places for a good drink in the Big Easy.

We’ll start by mentioning some of the classics – the places that everyone talks about and should be on your list. A Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s is a rite of passage. Just do it. But also note that the ones you get these days are from a premade mix here. Still, lots of booze and worth knocking it off your list! We took one of the many bar tours during our most recent visit, which we highly recommend if you want a shot of history with your drinks. That’s where we learned that an authentic Hurricane will be made with a shot of high proof (i.e., 151) rum on top!

Get your Vieux Carre (a classic Bourbon cocktail invented here) from the Carousel Bar and hop on for a slow spin around history at the Hotel Monteleone. Go to Napoleon House for the Pimms Cup (invented here) and some fantastic Louisiana fare - the Muffuletta is excellent. Get your Sazerac (one of Scott’s favorites) from the Sazerac Bar at the Roosevelt Hotel and your French 75 from Arnaud’s.

Now, for some options a bit more #offthetipsypath -

With so much consumption out in the open (yes, you can drink on the streets), there aren’t many authentic speakeasies in New Orleans. Of course, we found one! Double Dealer is a relatively new spot underneath the Orpheum Theatre. It used to be their basement ice storage room – literally how they would cool the theater in the warmer months! Today they’re serving fantastic cocktails and live jazz with the atmosphere you’d expect underground.

 

If you’ve been following us, you know we like craft cocktails heavy on the Bourbon. Bar Tonique has all that plus the classic NOLA drinks like Sazerac, Vieux Carre, and French 75 with their own twists on them all. This spot is on the edge of the quarter just across from Louis Armstrong Park, so it’s an easy walk or ride. We highly recommend this one as an escape from the madness.

And just down the street is another unique spot, especially for day drinking or night pizza. Rampart Treehouse looks like you are stepping into a Peter Pan novel. There’s art, booze and pizza! It’s a bit more of a dive bar, but worth visiting if you are already headed to Bar Tonique.

The appropriately named 21^st Amendment bar is another great location we’ve found. We spent a wonderful New Year’s Eve here a few years ago and have never forgotten it. This is a classy stop off of Bourbon Street with a great wine and cocktail list and live jazz most nights.

Laffite’s Blacksmith Shop - The oldest structure in the U.S. that’s currently a bar! It’s a bit far down Bourbon for most people, but worth the stroll! Their purple frozen Voodoo Daiquiri just might change your life … or ruin your night because they’re dangerously good. Pair it with some food from the deli down the street for a late snack.

Pirate’s Alley Café – Located in (gasp) Pirate’s Alley right off Jackson Square, this one is worth just dropping by for a drink. If you’ve ever been curious to try Absinthe, this is the place to do it!   They also have a fantastic Pirate’s Punch - as you might expect. 

We realize that with a city that has a drinking pedigree like New Orleans, new bars are opening all the time and we haven’t begun to cover all the options, especially outside the French Quarter. Places like the Garden District, the Marigny and Frenchmen Street are always on our radar. And we’re always looking for a good spot for live jazz! We’ll just have to keep going back for an update!

We started this blog for people like us who like to travel, like a good cocktail and are at a point in their lives where they can enjoy both. Hope you are enjoying our adventures and find this helpful to you!

Still in the City – NYC Take Two

 

Our adventures in the Big Apple continued after we made our last post, so let’s catch you up on the rest of the story! There are just too many great spots not to keep sharing with you.

We spent most of our week in lower Manhattan but ventured one evening to Chelsea (See previous post) and another evening up to Times Square. We’ll pick up there.

Bar Centrale – Located in an unmarked brownstone along “Restaurant Row” near the theater district, this was a true gem. We had tried to reserve tables the last two times we visited NYC without success. This time, we took a chance and walked over from Times Square and got in!  The Manhattan was one of the best presentations of the cocktail we’ve seen and the food was excellent. Very classy and worth the wait! Apparently, this is a popular spot after the theaters let out, especially for VIPs.

Dear Irving – We took another chance on this one after we went “uptown” and lucked into Bar Centrale. Dear Irving is tucked away in the Gramercy district. You go behind the curtain to find lots of dark wood, mirrors, candles … and fantastic cocktails! We enjoyed sitting at the bar and watching the experts work.

 Backroom – It’s hard to imagine talking about NYC speakeasies and not coming here. This is one of the original operating speakeasies from Prohibition, and it’s still going. True to the theme, it’s not marked, other than the “toy company” sign on the gate, and down a dark alley to a door where you ring the buzzer. Inside, the décor is classic 1920s and the cocktails are served in teacups, just like Prohibition. They have jazz dancing on Mondays, but we didn’t make that.  Maybe next time!

Little Branch – This speakeasy on a corner in the West Village has some of the best jazz in the city Sunday - Thursday with no cover. We visited last fall and returned for the drinks and jazz. We even managed to snag a table toward the end of the set.

As we mentioned in our last post, we also made time to try out some local establishments and classic pubs that we couldn’t resist.

White Horse Tavern – This is not a speakeasy, but a cool old tavern where writers used to hang out in the West Village. We visited during Happy Hour, and it seems every young professional in the village was at the bar. We scored a table and soaked it all in. 

McSorley’s – How can we not include this classic beer hall that hasn’t changed much in 100 years? We sat by the coal stove to warm up and had our beer and cheese … light and dark beer only, the way it has always been!

Whiskey Ward – A neighborhood bar below Houston with a huge selection of bourbon and whiskey. It was very crowded but we got a table by the window and enjoyed our drinks. Scott was surprised to get a pour of Elmer T. Lee for $16 … the best price we’ve seen anywhere for it!

Jadis - Gets the award for one of the only “twofers” on this trip … we liked it so much we went back twice in the same week! It’s a classic European wine bar with a great happy hour between the East and West Village.

Goodnight Sonny – Speaking of great Happy Hours, this one was another repeat from our last trip in September. Conveniently located in the East Village, they have great specials on drinks and a fantastic east coast oyster sampler platter for Happy Hour. The vibe is laid back and perfect after a work day.

Jackdaw – This one was on our list previously, and we are glad we made it this time! Great Old Fashioned cocktails and guacamole for a reasonable price at Happy Hour.  Another fantastic location in the East Village. 

Just so you don’t get the wrong idea about us (gasp 🙈), we did more than just drink for the entire week, to be sure! 

We highly recommend Free Tours by Foot. We took two of their tours on this trip and have used them before. The guide, Lori, was personable, organized and an excellent storyteller. Any of the tours with Lori are going to be worth the time and anything you pay.

We are also history nerds, so no surprise that we took a tour of the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, including the catacombs beneath. This was a wonderful experience and a great way to learn about the old Five Points neighborhood and the Irish ghetto. Also not far from our hotel, we visited the New Museum. While it’s four stories high, the museum is an easy walk-through of exhibits highlighting contemporary art. We went on Thursday night when it was “pay as you wish.”

Both times we went “uptown” we had a reason. First, we went to the Summit One Vanderbilt. We’ve done most of the other observation decks like the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock and One World Trade. But this one is another level, literally. The experience we booked included art installations, a glass bottom observation window, a cocktail at the top and a ride even higher on the glass elevator. The views of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building, and upper Manhattan were incredible at night.  The second time out of our neighborhood we went to the Stranger Things experience just off Times Square. For fans of the show, this was absolutely worth it!

And finally, a shout out to some of the other small businesses we visited later in the weekend, including Taverna di Bacco, an authentic Italian restaurant near our hotel, and El Sombrero, where we got some of the best margaritas around late on a Saturday night. Can’t wait to try the food next time.

What’s even more exciting – there are new speakeasies popping up in the city every day, so we have plenty to visit the next time around!