The Best Bars in the French Quarter in New Orleans

Not only does this unassuming, dark den have one of the finest drinking atmospheres in the French Quarter, it also serves some of its finest cocktails. With drinks served in plastic cups, it’s a no-frills, cash-only affair at Chart Room. This bar somehow finds a way to strike a balance between locals and tourists, with a crowd that’s never too rowdy but never boring either. Spend an evening putting tunes on the jukebox and striking up friendly conversations. It’ll be 4am before you know it.

In a city as definitively eclectic as New Orleans, it takes a lot to stand out when it comes to kitsch. Yet the Dungeon occupies a genre all of its own. The secretive vampire bar hidden down a dark alley off Toulouse is something akin to a mashup between a rock-fueled late-night bar and a horror theme park. Equipped with coffins, Halloween-style decor and with everything drenched in sinister red light, this will be your new favorite bar if you’ve always wanted to drink in a cage.

While New Orleans is known for cocktails like the Hurricane and Sazerac, the city has been building up its beer scene in recent years as well. Nowhere in the Quarter is that more apparent than at Black Penny, a hip beer-centric local neighborhood hangout tucked away on the outskirts of the tourist district. Opened in 2015, this bar feels like it’s been around much longer. Beloved for its 100-strong craft beer offering, it’s the perfect place to chill with friends for a few cold ones to start the night.

New Orleans is well known for its party-centric ethos, but what is less commonly known is that the city is also one of the few places in America to house 24-hour bars. Like Vegas, New Orleans is home to a number of bars that simply never close. Among them is notorious Quarter dive Aunt Tiki’s. Not actually a tiki bar, it is a place to drink cheap drinks well into the bright sun of a new morning.