Jewel of the South ★ 4.8
$$$French Quarter{'monday': 'closed', 'tuesday': '17:00-23:00', 'wednesday': '17:00-23:00', 'thursday': '17:00-23:00', 'friday': '17:00-00:00', 'saturday': '17:00-00:00', 'sunday': '17:00-23:00'}
Jewel of the South, by Chris Hannah and partner John Stubbs, runs the renovated 1830s Creole cottage as a World's 50 Best cocktail room with a stocked back.
Tip: Reserve via Resy; the garden tables sit two and four. The Brandy Crusta is the order, served at the front bar.
Cure ★ 4.7
$$$Freret{'monday': 'closed', 'tuesday': '16:00-23:00', 'wednesday': '16:00-23:00', 'thursday': '16:00-23:00', 'friday': '15:00-00:00', 'saturday': '15:00-00:00', 'sunday': '16:00-23:00'}
Cure on Freret Street, opened by Neal Bodenheimer in 2009, took the James Beard Outstanding Bar award in 2018. The room sits inside a restored 1905 firehouse.
Tip: Walk in for the bar, Resy for a back-room seat. The seasonal menu changes quarterly; the bartenders will riff if you give them a flavour to chase.
Cane & Table ★ 4.5
$$$French Quarter{'monday': '17:00-22:00', 'tuesday': '17:00-22:00', 'wednesday': '17:00-22:00', 'thursday': '17:00-22:00', 'friday': '17:00-22:00', 'saturday': '17:00-22:00', 'sunday': '17:00-22:00'}
Cane & Table on Decatur runs a rum-forward tropical cocktail menu inside a worn 1830s shopfront, with a courtyard out back and a small late-evening kitchen.
Tip: Open 17:00-22:00 nightly. Sunday dinner is the easier walk-in; weekend nights book the back courtyard via Resy.
The Carousel Bar & Lounge ★ 4.6
$$$French Quarter{'monday': '11:00-00:00', 'tuesday': '11:00-00:00', 'wednesday': '11:00-00:00', 'thursday': '11:00-00:00', 'friday': '11:00-02:00', 'saturday': '11:00-02:00', 'sunday': '11:00-00:00'}
The Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone opened in 1949 as the city's first rotating bar. The merry-go-round counter turns once every fifteen minutes.
Tip: Stools at the carousel itself rarely free up; arrive at 16:00 if you want one. The Vieux Carre cocktail was invented here in 1937.
Café Lafitte in Exile ★ 4.6
$$French Quarter{'monday': '24 hours', 'tuesday': '24 hours', 'wednesday': '24 hours', 'thursday': '24 hours', 'friday': '24 hours', 'saturday': '24 hours', 'sunday': '24 hours'}
Café Lafitte in Exile at Bourbon and Dumaine has run continuously since 1933, the bar that opened after Café Lafitte was evicted from 941 Bourbon.
Tip: Open 24 hours. The Sunday Napoleon House drag brunch carries on across the bar; Tea Dance Sunday afternoons are the institutional draw.
Bourbon Pub & Parade ★ 4.4
$$French Quarter{'monday': '12:00-01:00', 'tuesday': '12:00-01:00', 'wednesday': '12:00-03:00', 'thursday': '12:00-03:00', 'friday': '12:00-05:00', 'saturday': '12:00-05:00', 'sunday': '12:00-03:00'}
Bourbon Pub & Parade at Bourbon and St Ann is the corner gay bar with the open-balcony downstairs pub and the upstairs Parade dance floor, drag and DJ shows.
Tip: Downstairs open 12:00 onwards; the Parade dance floor opens at 21:00 weekends. Cover for some weekend nights, none for the pub.