New Orleans' Best Bars

The city that care forgot can't be forgotten. Or remembered, if you play your bar cards right

By Marty Padgett

Arnaud's French 75 bar, in New Orleans' Vieux Carré.

You may have heard: New Orleans got trashed. Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina demolished wide swaths of the city. And still today, the perception of most of America is of a shattered demi-monde, with zombie locals wandering through debris-littered streets, wondering when the next storm is coming.

None of that is true anymore, if it ever was. Parts of the city stayed open through the storm—and if not, quickly came back to life. Of course, we're talking about the bars. While most of the city ditched for the Interstates or rode the storm out in the Superdome, at least two establishments kept their doors open. Both were bars.

It's like nowhere else on earth, when it comes to booze. The cocktail may have been invented here, and in New Orleans drinking isn't just entertainment, it's subtext. It's a way of life. In the 85 blocks that make up the French Quarter, there are at least 100 places licensed to sell you alcohol, and maybe as many without a license. It's so ingrained, the city's annual Tales of the Cocktail event draws more than distillers showing their wares: it attracts droves of enthusiasts in what has been compared to a "Star Trek convention for drunks."

With the cultural embargo lifted on the city—if the Southern Baptists' women's convention can come back, so can your annual meeting—you'll need some back-pocket advice on the right places to drink, and what to imbibe. And since it's still New Orleans, it's still good to know the places within safe staggering distance back to your hotel.

The horrors of hurricanes, the frozen Pat O'Brien's ones, are better left to underage lushes in the making. There are hundreds of places to indulge in the French Quarter alone—but a great handful not to miss. Take your clients to the first set, and once they're put to bed, check out the second set on your own:

Arnaud's French 75: A visit to New Orleans should include one of the old-line Creole dining rooms, and Arnaud's is one of the most convenient and least dated of the group that includes Antoine's, Galatoire's and Commander's Palace (a cab ride away in Uptown). The bar, French 75, wears its lush mahogany fittings as if they'd been there since the 1800s, when in fact it has been open only a year. Servers wear black jackets and crisp white shirts, and the air conditioning is set to subzero, a nice respite from the occasional hot and humid December day. Dimly lit in the evenings, it's a cozy setting for small groups with some appreciation for old New Orleans.

When to go: Before dinner at Arnaud's

What to drink: Something stiff to gird yourselves for tomorrow's meeting—or the bar's eponymous brandy-and-champagne cocktail

Find it: 813 Bienville St., just north of Bourbon

http://www.arnauds.com/bar.html

Boondock Saint: For the after-work hours, it doesn't get more focused than the Saint. Come to drink and talk over the fierce "Irish Car Bombs" served up by Ukrainian barmaids who give expert instruction, in case you don't know the means of consumption: drop the shot glass of whiskey into the pint of Guinness, and quaff it all at once. Repeat. Repeat until the British have left the area, or maybe just until they leave the bar in disgust. Friday afternoons, linger until the bar crawls begin—bartenders from other places wander through in pajamas on their own circuit, and usually have a few extra Jell-O shots to dole out if you're good. Like any good Irish-flavored place, there's cops involved: an NOPD officer's a part-owner.

When to go: Friday evening as the pours get longer—or any midnight, really.

What to drink: An Irish Car Bomb, if you're free of a politically correct mind

Find it: 731 Saint Peter St.

Carousel: Conveniently sited in the Hotel Monteleone, the Carousel is close enough but just far enough away from the Bourbon Street gutter. The name comes from the actual revolving carousel that functions as the bar.

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