Find Your Favorite French Quarter Hotel
The over-three-centuries-old French Quarter is located right in the heart of New Orleans, a tapestry of music, cuisine and cultures, and a testament to its colorful past. With its non-stop, 24/7 action, breathtaking architecture, world-class restaurants, outstanding music scene, and only-in-New-Orleans experiences, the French Quarter is irresistible.
And what better way to explore this one-of-a-kind place and one of the oldest neighborhoods in the U.S. than to stay right in the middle of the action?
These four historic boutique hotels are located in the French Quarter, so you are never far from all that the neighborhood has to offer. And when you’re done exploring, enjoy the welcome respite from the bustle and relax by the pool (French Market Inn, Place d’Armes Hotel and Hotel St. Marie have saltwater pools), hit a happy hour, grab a bite in one of the hotels’ bars and restaurants, or simply enjoy the view from your room or your balcony.
So, what makes these hotels outstanding? Read on!
Hotel St. Marie
Hotel St. Marie (827 Toulouse Street) features modern amenities combined with a classic French Quarter atmosphere. Its European-style decor delivers luxurious touches like chandeliers and period paintings, yet the extensive renovation added many modern updates.
The meticulously restored exterior is lined with wrought-iron balconies overlooking the action, only half a block away from Bourbon Street and mere four blocks from Jackson Square and the St. Louis Cathedral.
Many of its elegant guest rooms feature balconies overlooking the exciting streets of the French Quarter or the serene tropical courtyard with a saltwater pool. There are eight room types at Hotel St. Marie, with either one king or two queen beds.
The deluxe room, for example, features elegant antique reproduction furnishings, and the streetside balcony room features a balcony overlooking the French Quarter (great for people-watching!). Both the suite and the junior suite offer an elegant sitting area.
The on-site Vacherie Restaurant & Bar is three in one: restaurant, bar and cafe, which are all located next to one another on the first floor. The elegant yet low-key restaurant serves authentic Cajun cuisine with a few inventive twists, focusing on homestyle Cajun and regional Louisiana fare like BBQ shrimp and grits or crabcakes.
The cafe serves up snacks and things like sandwiches, perfect on the go. You can also hit the full bar for the daily happy hour 3-6 p.m. The $8 bar menu includes things like sliders of the day and boudin balls. To drink, $6 will get you a cocktail like rum punch, a glass of any of the house wines, or a draft beer flight (three half-pints of your choice).
Prince Conti Hotel
Prince Conti Hotel (830 Conti Street) features an old-world southern atmosphere with modern amenities. The Prince Conti Hotel is also very close to a plethora of renowned historic sites and fun destinations. The always-hopping Bourbon Street is only a block away, and the historic St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square are six blocks away.
The shopping and dining destinations of Canal and Royal streets are close by, and the museums and world-class restaurants of the CBD are a short ride away. New Orleans is also known for its exciting nightlife, and the Prince Conti Hotel puts you close to some of the best nightlife destinations, like Harrah’s New Orleans Casino, Pat O’Brien’s, House of Blues, and more.
The hotel is housed in a historic 19th-century townhouse, which sports a carriageway and plenty of European charm. Some of its rooms feature exposed brick and recent renovations updated the amenities and the interior’s rich colors and moldings, adding touches of opulence and the classic New Orleans charm.
Despite its proximity to the 24/7 action right outside its windows, Prince Conti Hotel offers a quiet respite from it all, an oasis with an elegant yet relaxed vibe.
The hotel also houses The Bombay Club, an elegant New Orleans favorite featuring creative cocktails and bar bites. The Bombay Club serves up dozens of varieties of martini and nightly live music.
In the morning and afternoon hours, dine in style at the Cafe Conti, also located in the Prince Conti Hotel. Serving a variety of breakfast and lunch fare daily, Cafe Conti’s menu gives special attention to Creole and French cuisine.
French Market Inn
The French Market Inn (509 Decatur Street) is located on the bustling Decatur Street, just steps away from the Mississippi Riverfront and within six blocks of renowned New Orleans attractions like Jackson Square, the French Market, Audubon Aquarium of the Americas (joined by the Insectarium in the Summer of 2023), Bourbon Street, and Harrah’s New Orleans Casino.
This historic hotel boasts a serene, private stone-paved courtyard with a saltwater pool, a fountain, and a beautiful tropical garden. Its antique brick facade opens onto a lobby adorned with period paintings, chandeliers, and columns, with period details throughout the building. The hotel’s balconies, overlooking Decatur Street, offer great views of the river and the vibrant neighborhood.
Since this historic property dates back to the 18th century, every guest room has its own distinct character. The first property records date as far back as 1722, and it was used in the past as a bakery and a family residence. In the early 1830s, the Baroness Pontalba y Almonaster bought the bakery and the surrounding lots and turned it into an inn.
If you’re in the mood for a comforting beverage, PJ’s Coffee is on-site and has something fresh brewing daily, from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Place d’Armes
Place d’Armes (625 St. Ann Street) is just two blocks from the historic Jackson Square (which used to be called Place d’Armes, hence the name), and an easy stroll away from Cafe Du Monde, the French Market and the Mississippi Riverfront. The excitement of Bourbon Street is only eight blocks away, too.
Place d’Armes Hotel embodies old-world charm inside and out. It occupies two restored historic townhouses dating back to the 18th and 19th centuries.
Guest rooms facing both the street and the courtyard have wrought-iron balconies, and feature exposed brick, conveying the traditional, old-world ambiance of the French Quarter. The hotel’s courtyard is particularly enchanting, showcasing a variety of tropical plants, fountains, and a saltwater pool under the magnolia trees.
Don’t miss out on all the excitement the French Quarter has to offer all year round, round the clock! Book your room at any of these historic hotels today.
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New Orleans’ Haunted History
The LaLaurie Mansion, photo by Tom Bastin
For the rest of the country, things that go bump in the night move to the forefront of the imagination for one month out of the year. But in New Orleans, often called the most haunted city in America, every day might as well be Halloween.
Stroll through New Orleans on any given night, and you’re likely to encounter these things: an above-ground graveyard. A cobwebbed 18th-century mansion. A tour guide telling stories about the city’s haunted history. Here are just a couple of true tales from New Orleans’ haunted past.
Yellow Fever Epidemic in New Orleans, 1817-1905
Perhaps the most gruesome tableaus ever to unfold in New Orleans took place during yellow fever epidemics, which peaked in 1853 (7,849 deaths), 1858 (4,845 deaths), and 1878 (4,046 deaths), according to the New Orleans Public Library. All in all, 41, 000 souls would lose their lives to yellow fever in the 19th and early 20th century.
The mosquito-borne virus, a member of the Flaviviridae family, ravaged the populations of immigrants new to the city in particular. Individuals became infected when bitten by a mosquito carrying the virus, so it was easy for multiple members of a household to succumb to the disease. Headaches, muscle soreness, fever, and jaundice (hence the name yellow fever) were followed by liver and kidney failure, hemorrhaging, seizures, coma, and death.
Yellow fever cases peaked during warmer months, when mosquitos are most active, and for years, families who had the means to flee during the summers did so. During the worst epidemics, one out of every 10 people who stayed behind would die.
In 1853, more than a thousand people died each week. Obviously, civil services were not equipped to deal with mass deaths of that magnitude, but they did what they could. Each day, corpse wagons circled the neighborhoods, drivers calling “Bring out your dead.” Mass graves lined the city’s perimeter.
Fortunately, early 20th-century scientists figured out that if they controlled mosquito populations by limiting their breeding grounds, they could control the spread of disease. New Orleanians joined forces to close their cistern, drain stagnant pools and create underground sewage systems. After 1905, yellow fever never again ravaged the Crescent City… but it still exists in other parts of the world.
The LaLaurie Mansion (1114 Royal Street)
The LaLaurie house is well-known both within and beyond New Orleans’ city limits. Kathy Bates portrayed Delphine LaLaurie in an episode of American Horror Story, and haunted house attractions frequently include homages to the grisly tale.
LaLaurie enslaved African American people, and she was a notoriously cruel mistress. After a 12-year-old girl fled LaLaurie’s bullwhip in terror, falling off the roof and dying from her injuries, the authorities were brought in to investigate.
Because cruel treatment to slaves was prohibited by law, LaLaurie’s slaves were taken away from the house and sold at auction. Unfortunately, one of LaLaurie’s friends bought them and gave them back to her. Whether LaLaurie’s famous temper lead her to act out in vengeance toward the slaves, or whether she was simply insane, no one knows, but the worst was yet to come.
Visitors to the LaLaurie house became fewer and fewer, as rumors of her cruelty spread and damaged her reputation. In 1834, a cook intentionally set the house on fire, hoping that it would bring civic intervention (at best) or the relief of death (at worst). Behind a locked door on the third floor, firemen discovered a scene described thusly by The New Orleans Bee on April 11, 1834:
“Seven slaves, more or less horribly mutilated, were seen suspended by the neck, with their limbs apparently stretched and torn from one extremity to the other. These slaves had been confined by the woman LaLaurie for several months in the situation from which they had thus providentially been rescued, and had been merely kept in existence to prolong their suffering.”
Subsequent retellings of the story included even more perverse and graphic forms of torture, but the Bee account is the most reliable version. LaLaurie managed to escape, and an angry mob destroyed her home’s interior, smashing furniture and ripping out doors and railings before order was restored.
The gutted house sat sealed for years and eventually returned to the market. It was purchased by actor Nicolas Cage in 2007 and sold in 2008. Word on the street is that he never dared to spend a night there.
Are you planning to spend some time in New Orleans soon? To stay close to all the action, book a historic boutique hotel in the French Quarter at FrenchQuarter.com/hotels today!
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Block Parties in Motion: The New Orleans Second Line Parade
Visitors experience a city’s culture on the walls of museums and galleries, on the stages of theaters and music halls, and even on the plates of local restaurants. But in New Orleans, culture also comes bubbling up from the streets and one of the most unique local expressions of this sort of culture is the second line parade.
Second line parades are the descendants of the city’s famous jazz funerals and, apart from a casket, mourners and a cemetery visit, they carry many of the same traditions with them as they march down the streets.
There are dozens of different second line parades put on throughout the year, usually on Sunday afternoons, and held in the French Quarter and neighborhoods all across the city. They range in size, level of organization and traditions, but in all cases, they will include a brass band, jubilant dancing in the street and members decked out in a wardrobe of brightly colored suits, sashes, hats, bonnets, parasols, and banners, melding the pomp of a courtly function and the spontaneous energy of a block party, albeit one that moves a block at a time.
The parades are not tied to any particular event, holiday or commemoration; rather, they are generally held for their own sake and to let the good times roll.
Zulu Social Aid and Pleasure Club photo by Zack Smith
Second Lines and New Orleans Festivals
One development in the past years has been to stage second line parades for festivals, and this is where visitors are most likely to encounter one. For instance, the Satchmo Summerfest organizes a second line parade through the French Quarter in early August (August 5, 2023), a second line parade kicks off the French Quarter Festival each April, and numerous second line parades accompany the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or Jazz Fest, held each spring at the Fairgrounds Race Course in Mid-City.
Heralded by the blare of an approaching trumpet or thump of a tuba, these colorful, vivacious parades appear and completely take over one or more blocks at a time, seeming to come from nowhere like a sudden downpour from a sunny summer sky, and disappearing almost as quickly around the next bend. Hosted by neighborhood organizations and composed of progressive generations of friends, family members and neighbors, they are nevertheless in most cases open to anyone who can find and keep up with them. A second line, by its very nature, invites crowd participation.
Indeed, the term “second line parade” refers to those who join in the rolling excitement. The people who are part of the hosting organization are the “first line” of the parade (at a jazz funeral, this would be family members of the deceased, the hearse and the band) while those who follow it along, dancing and often singing as they go, form what is known as the “second line.”
Second lining can also refer to the type of dancing that usually goes on at these parades — a wild, strutting dance step to carry participants forward in pace with the brass band — so one can go to a second line, be in a second line and do the second line all at once.
Baby Dolls and Treme Brass Band photo by Zack Smith
Deep Roots: The History of the New Orleans Second Line
Second lines trace their roots back to the 19th century and the fraternal societies and neighborhood organizations that collectively provided insurance and burial services to members, especially among the African American community. One of the earliest such organizations was the New Orleans Freedmen’s Aid Association, founded in 1865 at the end of the Civil War to provide loans and education to newly freed slaves. These organizations began hosting parades as neighborhood celebrations, to advertise their services and to honor members who had died.
As racial segregation slowly dissolved and insurance and other services became available to black New Orleanians from mainstream providers, the social aid aspect of these organizations diminished. The groups themselves persisted, along with their parades, and today new organizations continue to form with the primary purpose of holding a parade.
Reflecting their benevolent roots, however, these organizations are generally still called social aid and pleasure clubs. They have names like the Jolly Bunch, the Sidewalk Steppers, the Money Wasters, the Lady Rollers, the Perfect Gentlemen, the Devastating Men, and the Popular Ladies.
These parades are always propelled by a style of music that has rightly been called the street sound of the Crescent City — the New Orleans-style brass band, in all its thumping, syncopated, feet-moving glory. While the instruments used by these bands are familiar (always at least one of the following: trumpet, trombone, saxophone, tuba or Sousaphone, bass drum, and snare drum), they come together for a sound that is as different from contemporary jazz or even traditional Dixieland jazz as R&B is from heavy metal. Heavy on improvisation and funked-up interpretations of modern pop songs, brass band music sets a soundtrack for the second line party.
Second line parades traverse major thoroughfares only briefly, with their routes usually meandering through neighborhood side streets. They can pass antebellum mansions on one block and public housing projects only a few blocks later. Visitors should always use caution when traveling in unknown areas and be aware of their surroundings.
Also, these routes can change from year to year, and news of their schedules is usually spread on a grassroots level. All this means it can be difficult for visitors to find information about upcoming second lines, or even to catch up with a parade.
A great local resource for information about second lines, however, is the Backstreet Cultural Museum, located just outside the French Quarter in the historic Treme neighborhood. This small museum features exhibits on second line parades, jazz funerals and other realms of New Orleans culture.
If you’re planning a stay in New Orleans, be sure to check out our resource for French Quarter Hotels.
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Things to Do in New Orleans: Year at a Glance
Here’s a medley of annual events to look forward to throughout the year when you’re in New Orleans. Find a hotel and start making plans!
Photo by David Fary
January – March
Twelfth Night
Carnival season officially begins each year on January 6, known as Twelfth Night, or the Epiphany, and kicks off with three parades. Phunny Phorty Phellows board the St. Charles streetcar line Uptown at 7 p.m. and ride it to Canal Street and back, with toasts and revelry along the way.
In the French Quarter, the Krewe of Joan of Arc walking parade rolls at 7 p.m. from JAX Brewery and celebrates St. Joan’s birthday with medieval pageantry. Société Des Champs Elysée, Twelfth Night’s newest parade, traditionally rides the N. Rampart/St. Claude streetcar from Marigny to the CBD.
Mardi Gras
Though Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) always falls on, well, a Tuesday, the actual date of Mardi Gras Day changes every year. That’s because the beginning of Lent on Ash Wednesday is tied to the Catholic calendar, which itself incorporated elements of earlier, pre-Christian systems. Long story short: Fat Tuesday occurs exactly 47 days before Easter Sunday, which always falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.
Confused? Look up future Mardi Gras dates here. You’ll see Mardi Gras always falls in February and March, specifically between February 3 through March 9. So if you visit during that window, you might arrive in time to catch one of the great spectacles of American folk culture.
We could write a whole trove of separate articles on how to do Mardi Gras – heck, we already did! Check here to get started.
Tet Fest
New Orleans is home to one of the largest Vietnamese diaspora communities in the country. In Vietnamese culture, the Lunar New Year – Tết Nguyên Đán – is the largest festival of the year. The date of Tet celebrations is based on the lunar calendar, which differs from the contemporary Western calendar.
In New Orleans, the Mary Queen of Vietnam church in New Orleans East hosts an enormous public Tet celebration that includes games, lots of firecrackers, traditional dance, and a ridiculous amount of excellent Vietnamese street food.
Valentine’s Day
Of course, Valentine’s Day isn’t unique to New Orleans, but the restaurants and general vibe of the city make for a uniquely romantic atmosphere. There are plenty of cozy spots to dine with a sweetie in New Orleans and in the French Quarter in particular.
Wednesday at the Square
Nothing bumps us over the midweek doldrums of hump day quite like a free music concert, which is exactly what’s on tap with Wednesday at the Square. Beginning on a second Wednesday in March, hundreds of revelers will pack into Lafayette Square to enjoy a free outdoor concert series sponsored by the Young Leadership Council of New Orleans.
The 10-concert music series runs through May, so if you miss one, there’s always the next week. Each concert usually features two performers, who start playing at 5 p.m. and wrap up at 8 p.m.
Wednesday at the Square is pet-friendly, as long as your furry friend is on a leash, but no outside food or beverages are allowed. All food and drink are sold via ticketed concessions, which keep Wednesday at the Square free. Concert-goers can also buy cool local art and handmade crafts from on-site vendors.
St. Patrick’s Day
It often comes as a surprise to first-time visitors to New Orleans that this city has a deep Irish heritage. This history is tied to the city’s status as a Catholic port of call, which was one of the main entry points for immigrants coming to the USA.
Because of this heritage, St. Patrick’s Day is an important holiday in New Orleans, both on the holiday itself and the weekends closest to that day. Several parades roll, including the Downtown Irish Club procession from the Ninth Ward to the Quarter.
The king of ‘em all is the Irish Channel Parade, where tipsy Irishmen clad in kilts trade paper carnations for kisses in between floats full of riders tossing beads and passing cabbages to the screaming crowds. For details and this year’s dates, check New Orleans St. Patrick’s Day Parades.
NOLA on Tap
Hundreds of beers from large-scale breweries, microbreweries and homebrewers alike are tapped at this annual celebration of suds (March 18, 2023). Beer drinkers, dog lovers, and general party people flock to an event filled to the brim with good music, good food, and, of course, great beer.
Fun fact: Since 2009, over 20 new breweries have opened within the state, including several in New Orleans’ city limits: Port Orleans, New Orleans Lager and Ales (NOLA) Brewing, Courtyard Brewery, Second Line Brewing, Parleaux Beer Lab, and Urban South Brewery among them.
Super Sunday
On select days throughout the year, the city’s Mardi Gras Indian tribes parade through the city, chanting, shouting and challenging each other to determine who is “the prettiest.” While Mardi Gras Indians have their set routes and parade areas, no one event packs the tribes into one public space like Super Sunday.
On Sunday closest to St. Joseph’s Day (March 19), tribes gather at A.L. Davis Park, at the corner of Washington and LaSalle streets, and hit the streets of Central City around 1 p.m.
We can’t stress this enough: Be respectful if you go. Take pictures at a distance, and don’t get in the way of marching Indians or their friends, family and attached bands.
For visitors not familiar with this tradition: Mardi Gras Indians are African American New Orleanians who dress up (or in local lingo, “mask”) as stylized Native Americans. They take to the streets in fantastic costumes made of hand-stitched beads, feathers and sequins that cost thousands of dollars, weigh hundreds of pounds and require months of painstaking labor; no element of costume creation is automated.
There’s more background on this fascinating subject here, or at the Backstreet Cultural Museum in the historic Tremé neighborhood.
Tennessee Williams Literary Festival
The Tennessee Williams Literary Festival (March 22-26, 2023) celebrates the city’s love affair with the written word, as well as writers’ love affair with New Orleans. Notable authors will be in attendance, hosting seminars, workshops and lectures. Though only paid registrants can attend those events, anyone can participate in the annual “Stella” and “Stanley” shouting contest, and scream their lungs out recreating the iconic scene from A Streetcar Named Desire to appreciative crowds on Jackson Square.
April – May
These months sit in the sweet spot of New Orleans weather. It’s sunny and you can wear shorts on most days, but it’s (usually) not super hot yet. Come evening, when the thermometer starts to dip into the 70s, the air feels something like perfect.
Crescent City Classic
This annual 10K run is one of the largest athletic events in New Orleans. Held on the Saturday before Easter Sunday each year, this year’s race falls on Saturday, April 8, 2023.
Partly because it is open to all, the Classic attracts a wide swathe of runners, from casual beginners to world-class pros. (Everyone must register to run).
The race is also notable for its route, which winds through some of the best cityscapes New Orleans has to offer. Runners take off from in front of the Superdome, continue through the French Quarter and the Tremé, then up Esplanade Avenue – one of the most beautiful streets in the nation – all the way to City Park.
French Quarter Fest
French Quarter Festival is the largest free musical event on the New Orleans calendar, and according to organizers, the largest free music festival in the USA. As its name suggests, the entire festival takes place on stages throughout the French Quarter, where the streets run through one of the world’s great treasures of architectural preservation. This year’s FQF is scheduled for April 16-April 19, 2020, which tends to come with gorgeous weather.
Easter Parades
New Orleans is one of the most Catholic cities in the country, and it celebrates Easter in a big way, although that celebration isn’t always as traditional as one might guess. Long story short: When the 40-day Lent period of fasting ends, New Orleans says, “OK, that was enough self-denial,” and throws three big parades, which roll this year on Sunday, April 9, 2023.
The first parade of the day, the French Quarter Easter Parade winds its way from the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel via classic convertible cars and mule-drawn carriages, eventually returning to the Omni.
This procession is followed by the French Quarter Easter Parade (formerly the Chris Owens French Quarter Easter Parade named so for the late, great Bourbon Street entertainer Chris Owens, who also led the procession for decades). The parade also starts and ends at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel.
The final parade of the day is the Gay Easter Parade, which rolls from the Esplanade end of Rampart St. This family-friendly affair is a long-standing tradition of the New Orleans LGBTIQA+ community. The paraders ride in floats and horse-drawn carriages, rolling by many of the French Quarter’s most storied gay businesses. Be sure to bring the kids, as the Gay Easter Parade is famous for its generous throws and elaborate costuming.
Jazz Fest
The biggest music festival in the best music city in the USA, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival is one of the marquee events on the annual calendar. Every year, on the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May, the city hosts hundreds of bands and thousands of tourists, who stream into the Fairgrounds from around the world.
Dozens of food vendors serve up the best of local cuisine, while artisans create and sell Louisiana crafts. On the days between the two festival weekends, some of the world’s great musicians will be partying (and often, playing) at gigs all around the city.
Jazz Fest is a giant event, but once you find your favorite stage and the preferred food vendor, and sit down with a cold drink and the breeze blowing across the Fairgrounds, it can also be very intimate – a means of annually connecting to New Orleans at a deep level. Be sure to pack a hat, sunscreen and rain gear, because that warm spring sunshine can get mighty hot, and it’s a rare Jazz Fest that isn’t muddied by at least one shower.
This year’s festival opens on Thursday, April 28, 2023, and runs through Sunday, May 7, 2023.
Bayou Boogaloo
The Bayou Boogaloo (May 19-21, 2023) has become as much a fixture on the festival calendar as its Mid-City neighbor, Jazz Fest, and the city’s street-party season opener, French Quarter Fest. What started as a gathering of a few hundred festival diehards has grown into a massive event that attracts tens of thousands of guests.
Bayou Boogaloo is no longer free, but its bucolic setting as a floating party, with its flotillas of inflatables, paddle boats and kayaks, gives the three-day festival its own unique character, while its stellar lineup of local and visiting musical artists rivals those offered by its much-bigger older siblings. So does its ever-growing menu of fest-worthy food and drink.
June – August
Summer in New Orleans can be pretty tough to endure, but we’ve got a slate of festivals that will either cool you off, or at least keep your mind off the heat.
New Orleans Wine & Food Experience
The annual New Orleans Wine & Food Experience (June 7-11, 2023) provides local and visiting epicureans and hobbyists an extended weekend of libations and culinary indulgence in a style that is uniquely New Orleans. NOWFE is designed to encourage participation in the full gamut of food and wine-centered experiences. The event offerings include package rates, activities, and dinners with something at nearly every price point with attire ranging from costumed to cocktail depending on the event and venue.
Restaurant Week New Orleans
New Orleans loves to eat – and sometimes, its citizens live to eat. There were, at last count, over 17 James Beard award-winning restaurants in New Orleans, and many tourists and locals like to sample these spots during Restaurant Week New Orleans. Participating restaurants include James Beard luminaries like Bayona and Commander’s Palace, which offer set-course menus at a discount (often, a deep discount). The 2023 dates are June 19-25, 2023.
Independence Day
New Orleans celebrates July 4 like anywhere else in America, and also, with a flavor all her own. Of course, there will be fireworks and loud music, but the pretty lights pop off over the Mississippi River. There are plenty of great spots to watch the display, but a good French Quarter balcony is one of the most desired viewing spots in the city. You can also grab excellent vantage points along the Mississippi shoreline in the French Quarter, Marigny and Bywater, or across the river in Algiers Point.
There’s a lot to love about ESSENCE Festival, the largest annual African American music and culture event in the world. It brings a star-studded lineup of musical artists to a city already well-known for its gatherings of world-class musicians.
Beyond the marquee concerts that are held each night, ESSENCE Fest’s free daytime experiences include motivational seminars, beauty and style presentations, celebrity interviews, cooking demonstrations with top chefs, and lots more. Traditionally held over the long 4th of July holiday weekend, ESSENCE Festival is scheduled for June 29 – July 3, 2023.
San Fermin in Nueva Orleans
Plenty of people know that the Running of the Bulls is a major event in the Spanish tourism calendar, but not as many folks realize New Orleans hosts its own bull run. Except here, the “bulls” are roller derby girls who whack the participants – dressed all in white with red scarves and handkerchiefs – with wiffle bats. Good times!
The actual “bull run,” which now features thousands of participants, starts at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday, July 15, 2023 (location TBA). But the folks at NOLA Bulls have a full slate of events lined up throughout the weekend of July 14-16, 2023. Runners must register and buy tickets to participate in the Bull Run, with all proceeds from the event going to charity.
Tales of the Cocktail
Some of the world’s most famous cocktails were invented in this city: the Sazerac, Brandy Milk Punch, and Ramos Gin Fizz, to name a few. Having a drink in New Orleans isn’t just fun – it’s also a celebration of our unique history.
Still, New Orleans can’t just let a cultural touchstone lay without holding a festival: Tales of the Cocktail, a celebration of mixed drinks in all of their vast diversity. With tasting rooms and seminars held throughout the Quarter, Tales draws thousands of bar owners, distillers, mixologists, authors, and tastemakers who are interested in networking, sharing knowledge and showing off their skills. This year’s event runs from July 23-28, 2023.
Coolinary
Coolinary is simple: Dozens of participating restaurants offer prix fixe menus at a discount during the dog days of summer throughout the month of August. Sometimes, a significant discount. Interested? Just check out the Coolinary website and see what restaurants are participating (and for which meals; some spots, for example, only offer a Coolinary menu during lunch). You don’t have to do anything else but show up and get fed.
Satchmo SummerFest
An initiative from the folks at French Quarter Festivals, Satchmo SummerFest is a celebration of the city’s most famous musical son – Louis Armstrong, nicknamed “Satchmo” – and New Orleans music in general. As New Orleans festivals go, this one is pretty beloved; it’s family-friendly, kicks off within the French Quarter, and the lineup is truly local.
More than almost any other festival in this city of festivals, this one feels like a real New Orleans street party, and should definitely not be missed if you’re in town. Held the first weekend of every August, this year’s Satchmo SummerFest runs on August 5-6, 2023.
Fidelity Bank White Linen Night
Back in the days before air conditioning, New Orleanians kept cool and looked fresh in the face of August swelter by wearing light-colored linen clothing. In order to boost gallery attendance and showcase local summer fashion, White Linen Night was created. Held the first Saturday of every August, it’s since become a gala see-and-be-scene party.
This year, art galleries and restaurants in the Warehouse District will throw their doors open for a night of wine, art perusing, dining, and more wine on August 5, 2023. There’s also a free block party between the 300 and 700 blocks of the gallery-heavy Julia Street, with food and cocktail vendors and several stages of live music.
Red Dress Run
Probably the last thing any sane human being wants to do in the midst of a New Orleans August is run. Then again, the folks involved with the New Orleans Hash House Harriers (NOH3) have always been a little crazy; they’re a “drinking club with a running problem.”
Held the second Saturday of August, the Red Dress Run is your chance to see a bunch of locals of all genders don red frocks and go careening through the city on a madcap 2-3 mile course, kept secret until the day of the event. Registration for this year’s event, on August 11, 2023, opens in April, with all proceeds going to local charities.
Dirty Linen Night
The more rebellious sibling to White Linen Night, Dirty Linen is an evening of open galleries, but in this case, the galleries are located in the French Quarter along Royal Street. The vibe is a little looser and more counterculture, especially when Red Dress stragglers hit Dirty Linen to enjoy the wine gallery owners pour freely. Peruse art, grab a bite from food trucks, hit the bars for a cocktail, and enjoy an unbridled celebration of the creativity of the city.
September – December
Fall and winter bring cooling temperatures and a slate of events closely associated with the New Orleans cultural community.
Southern Decadence
Held over Labor Day weekend, New Orleans’ largest LGBTIQA+ event is a citywide party that celebrates the huge impact the local gay and lesbian community has on the city at large. The party kicks off within the Quarter on Thursday, August 32, 2023, and picks up steam throughout the weekend, spreading across New Orleans as more and more guests swoop into town for several days of… well, as the title says, decadence (including block parties and a parade).
Tremé Fall Festival
This is one of our favorite neighborhood parties in a city that knows how to throw a neighborhood party. Held in October (October 21, 2023), the event takes over the streets of the oldest African American neighborhood in the country.
Centered around the historic St. Augustine Church, the oldest African-American Catholic church in the United States, the festival celebrates a culture that’s produced some of the city’s most talented musicians, many of whom are among the event’s performers.
The family-friendly festival is free, but suggested donations help raise money for church repairs and historic neighborhood landmarks, like the Tomb of the Unknown Slave.
Halloween
Halloween in New Orleans is sort of like Halloween in your home city but multiplied by a few hundred degrees of awesome. We’re a city that likes to costume and make mischief, and if you’re going to miss Mardi Gras, you can get a taste of the chaos and costuming of that holiday – just head to the French Quarter and the Marigny on the Saturday night before Halloween.
Conveniently, this is also the evening of the Krewe of Boo parade (Saturday, October 21, 2023), which rolls from Marigny into the Decatur end of the Quarter and features a fine lineup of spooky floats and excellent throws.
Oak Street Po-Boy Festival
There is a po-boy for every budget and palate in New Orleans at this annual fest, typically held on the first Sunday in November between the 8100 and 8800 blocks of Oak Street in the Carrollton neighborhood. About 35 vendors will present more food that you could shake your fork at, while competing in several Best Of categories, with over 50 varieties of the delicious sandwich alone. Plus beer, specialty cocktails, and desserts.
Tremé Creole Gumbo Festival
The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation puts on plenty of events in New Orleans, but the Creole Gumbo Festival, combined in recent years with the Congo Square Rhythms Festival, is the perennial favorite. It’s not just a celebration of the city’s great contribution to the genre of stew; it’s a party that commemorates great music and culture – and the place (the Tremé) – that produced the dish. Held at Louis Armstrong Park (March 25-26, 2023), this free weekend festival features a stellar lineup of some of the city’s finest musicians. Really, you have no excuse not to attend.
Bayou Classic
You might wonder what holiday it really is on Thanksgiving weekend, when the Tigers of Grambling State meet the Jaguars of Southern University for the annual Bayou Classic in New Orleans. Each year, football crashes into the holidays for a four-day feast of events, starting with a massive Thanksgiving parade from the Superdome to the French Market, featuring some of the country’s absolute best marching bands.
Christmas in New Orleans
There’s a whole slew of events that accompany Christmastime in the Crescent City, from bonfires on the Algiers levees to City Park’s Celebration in the Oaks to Reveillon menus at some of the city’s classic Creole restaurants. But surely one of the most pleasurable events to be had during a New Orleans December is simply strolling through the French Quarter, marveling at the inevitably awesome light displays that are hung from wrought iron fences and elegant European-style balconies.
LUNA Fête
During the second weekend of December (December 7-10, 2023), the LUNA Fête light show illuminates the Convention Center, located a quick walk away from the Quarter. The annual large-scale light and sound installations are breathtaking, and the fest is free and family-friendly.
NOLA ChristmasFest
The annual NOLA ChristmasFest is the only indoor Christmas festival in the area. It takes place at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, starting in the third week of December and wrapping on New Year’s Eve.
Convention Center Boulevard is draped and dripping in holiday decorations with thousands of lights synced to holiday music, and the Convention Center itself is packed with attractions like giant slides, inflatables and rides. The focal point of the festival is New Orleans’ only ice-skating rink, which measures a whopping 52 x 140 feet.
Celebration in the Oaks
This beloved New Orleans tradition has been around for over 30 years. It’s a dazzling display of holiday lights scattered throughout the 25 acres of the City Park, including the Botanical Garden, Storyland, and Carousel Gardens Amusement Park.
Stroll through the magical grounds swathed in hundreds of thousands of twinkling lights, take a train ride or a holiday picture by the iconic Mr. Bingle, listen to the caroling, do some holiday shopping, or ride the historic carousel.
The event typically opens on Thanksgiving weekend and runs through January 1.
New Year’s Eve
From Dick Clark Rockin’ New Year’s Eve near the historic JAX Brewery, featuring a live fleur-de-lis drop at midnight to the countdown on Jackson Square (New Orleans’ version of the Times Square NYE party), it’s no surprise that New Orleans celebrates New Year’s Eve in a big way. Top it off with the fireworks over the Mississippi River and quite a few balcony bashes on Bourbon Street, and you’ve got yourself a night of revelry, New Orleans style.
If you’re planning to visit New Orleans anytime throughout the year, be sure to check out our resource for French Quarter Hotels.
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Celebrate Labor Day Weekend in the French Quarter
Photo by Miguel Discart on Flickr
Say goodbye to summer and ease yourself into fall by celebrating Labor Day (Monday, September 4, 2023) in New Orleans. Americans do travel a lot for this long weekend ending on the first Monday of September, and New Orleans is a top Labor Day destination.
There are great reasons for the city’s popularity, and don’t let the still-summery temps of early September deter you — the Labor Day weekend in New Orleans will deliver, and then some. Here are some suggestions on how to get the most out of your stay in the French Quarter, starting with the immensely popular Southern Decadence festival.
Southern Decadence
This massive four-day festival celebrates LGBTQIA+ culture and attracts participants from all over the world. Southern Decadence started as a humble going-away party but is now considered the fifth largest event in the city after Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, Essence Festival, and the French Quarter Festival.
Southern Decadence will be held from Thursday, August 31, through Monday, September 4, 2023. It kicks off and closes with dance parties. There will be lots of block parties and dance parties in between. This year’s theme is TBA.
The festival’s annual hub, Bourbon Pub Parade, will be open 24/7. Just like in previous years, it will serve as the epicenter of the annual Bourbon Street Extravaganza, a free show/block party happening on Saturday at the corner of Bourbon and St. Ann Streets. The annual Southern Decadence Grand Marshal Parade on Sunday will also end up there, stretching loosely one block over to its ending point at Bourbon and Dumaine Streets.
A lot of events are free, and you can buy passes online to access the events that do charge an entrance fee and may sell out. The VIP Weekend Pass covers all events; the Weekend Pass includes all events held Friday through Sunday.
The Oz dance club and Cafe Lafitte in Exile, both on Bourbon Street, will also host DJ’d shows and dance parties that weekend. Although not part of the Bourbon Street stretch, the 24/7 Good Friends bar at 740 Dauphine Street in the French Quarter also receives a fair share of the festival partygoers each year.
Musical Highlights
Your best bet would be to just head out to Frenchmen Street on any given evening and explore, and there’s something always going on at the iconic Tipitina’s. The Labor Day weekend’s musical offerings are usually excellent. Let the WWOZ Livewire Music Calendar guide you.
Eating and Drinking
For happy hour, various French Quarter bars are offering lots of great deals, including The Bombay Club. For more ideas, check out our guide to the best happy hours in the French Quarter. As for eating, the French Quarter is your oyster, and then some. Check out our dining guides and listings to reserve a perfect spot.
If you’re planning a stay in New Orleans during the Labor Day weekend, be sure to check out our resource for French Quarter Hotels.
Eat, drink, dance, stay cool, and happy Labor Day!
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Things to Do in New Orleans This April
Photo by David Fary
April is one of our favorite months in New Orleans. Between the usually warm winters and super-hot summers, April sits in the New Orleans climatic sweet spot. It’s sunny and you can wear shorts on most days, but it’s not impossibly hot yet. Come evening, when the thermometer starts to dip into the 70s, the air feels something like perfect.
Then there are the festivals, of course. In New Orleans, April is considered the start of the festival season, which lasts from now into the dog days of summer. On almost every weekend (and during the mid-week as well), you’ll find outdoor concerts, parties, live performances, and general revelry just dripping out of the city.
Plus, spring just brings out the love in people. Folks get down, hang out, and are just that much more at ease. In a city nicknamed the Big Easy (you’ll never catch us using that term, but we accept it is a title New Orleans must live with), that’s saying something.
Oh, there’s one other great thing about April: crawfish. Sure, they’re usually in season by March, but April is when the boils really start becoming a common sight citywide.
Here’s how we do April.
Bag of Donuts by David Fary
French Quarter Fest
French Quarter Festival is the largest free musical event in the New Orleans calendar, and according to organizers, the largest free music festival in the USA. For many, it has become a less crowded, less expensive alternative to the Jazz & Heritage Festival.
With that said, it’s not really fair to describe French Quarter Fest in relation to Jazz Fest. French Quarter Fest stands strongly on its own merits, rocking the city with a fantastic lineup of musicians and an unbeatable setting.
That setting is, as you may have guessed from the name, the French Quarter itself. Unlike so many music festivals around the world, French Quarter Fest eschews a huge grassy space for city streets. And in this case, said streets run through one of the world’s architectural preservation treasures. The festival goes off during the second weekend of April (April 13-16, 2023), which tends to come with gorgeous weather.
Despite featuring about 20 stages and a staggering amount of acts and food vendors, the fest is fairly easy to navigate. Here’s our guide to how to get the most out of the French Quarter Festival if you feel overwhelmed.
Photo courtesy of YLC Wednesday at the Square on Facebook
Wednesday at the Square
Free music? Good weather? Food stalls? Good folks? All this and more at Wednesday at the Square in downtown New Orleans, which continues for 10 weeks from March 15 through May 17, 2023. The concert series kicks off in Lafayette Square; music lasts from 5 to 8 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Crescent City Classic on Facebook
Crescent City Classic
This annual 10K run is one of the largest athletic events in New Orleans, partly because the race is open to all, and as a result tends to attract a wide swathe of runners, from casual beginners to world-class runners (many don a costume to run, this being New Orleans). You do have to register to run; the cost is $70.
Crescent City Classic is also notable for its route, which takes in some of the best cityscapes New Orleans has to offer. Runners take off from downtown in front of the Superdome, run through the French Quarter and the Tremé, then up Esplanade Avenue — one of the most beautiful streets in the nation — all the way to City Park.
If you’re around on the day of the run (Saturday, April 7, 2023), you’ll likely see crowds lining the route, but try not to drive anywhere near the running path, as roads will be blocked off.
Photo by David Fary
Easter Parades
New Orleans is one of the most Catholic cities in the country, and it celebrates Easter in a big way, although that celebration isn’t always as traditional as one might guess. Long story short: When the 40-day Lent period of fasting ends, New Orleans says, “OK, that was enough self-denial” and throws three big parades. Why? Because New Orleans.
The first parade of the day begins before Easter Mass services have even begun. Starting at 11 a.m. on Easter Sunday (April 9, 2023) with a hat contest and entertainment at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel Ballroom, the Historic French Quarter Easter Parade winds its way from there and back at 11 a.m. via classic convertible cars and mule-drawn carriages.
This procession is followed by the French Quarter Easter Parade (formerly the Chris Owens French Quarter Easter Parade named so for the late, great Bourbon Street entertainer Chris Owens, who also led the procession for decades). The parade also starts and ends at the Omni Royal Orleans Hotel, at 1 p.m.
The final parade of the day is the Gay Easter Parade, which rolls at 4:30 p.m. This one is also a family-friendly affair, and has been a long-standing tradition of the New Orleans LGBTQIA+ community.
The paraders will march with floats and horse-drawn carriages, rolling by many of the French Quarter’s most storied gay businesses. Bring the kids to this one, as the Gay Easter Parade is famous for its generous throws and elaborate costuming.
Crawfest
One of the surest signs of spring in New Orleans is the presence of crawfish on menus and at boils across the city, and one of the surest signs that crawfish are back in season is Crawfest. Held on Saturday, April 22 this year, this party, sponsored by Tulane University, features some 20,000 pounds of crawfish, thousands of pounds of vegetables, two main stages, a bunch of bands, and a heavy student presence. This year, Tank and the Bangas and the Honey Island Swamp Band are part of the lineup.
With that said, all are welcome — it costs $20 to get in, and kids 12 and under enter for free. (The fest is also free to Tulane students, with a wristband.) Crawfest kicks off on Tulane’s campus in Uptown, New Orleans.
Photo by David Fary
Jazz Fest
The biggest music festival in the best music city in the USA is one of the marquee events of the New Orleans calendar. For the last weekend in April and the first weekend in May (April 28 – May 7, 2023), the city hosts hundreds of bands and thousands of tourists, who stream into the Fair Grounds Race Course from around the world.
Dozens of food vendors will show off the best of local cuisine, while artisans create and trade Louisiana crafts. On the days between the weekends, some of the world’s great musicians will be partying (and often, playing) all around the city.
Jazz Fest is a giant event, and in some ways, all of the bands, shows and sheer entertainment options can feel intimidating. Yet once you find your favorite stage and preferred food vendors, and sit down with a cold drink and the breeze blowing across the Fair Grounds, it can also be very intimate — a means of annually connecting to New Orleans at a deep level that is exacerbated by the warm spring sun of April.
If you’re planning a stay in New Orleans, be sure to check out our resource for French Quarter Hotels.
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New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival Lineup
Image courtesy of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival on Twitter
It’s almost that time of year again — time to sip the iced tea, snack on crawfish Monica, and sway to the music of local and international musicians under the hot New Orleans sun. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, or Jazz Fest, is one of the most celebrated festivals in New Orleans and takes place every year during the last weekend of April and the first weekend in May. Jazz Fest has been around since 1970 and gets bigger and better every year.
During these two weekends, locals and out-of-towners get together to enjoy the culture of New Orleans with the various food, crafts, and performances that Jazz Fest has to offer. Contrary to the name, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival is more than just jazz music.
Various musical genres like hip-hop, zydeco, blues, tribal, and electronic music can all be heard live from Jazz Fest’s multiple stages. This year the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival will take place at its usual spot on the Fair Grounds Race Course starting on Friday, April 28, and ending on Sunday, May 7, 2023.
Some of the top headliners for the festival include Lizzo, Ed Sheeran, Mumford & Sons, Dead & Company, The Lumineers, Jon Batiste, H.E.R., and more. The music schedule is broken down by day in cubes with times for all the acts, which you can view here.
Of course, one of the best parts of Jazz Fest is the food. Some staples for food include Crawfish Monica, mango freezes, Ya-Ka-Mein, snoballs, poboys, and much more.
What’s new in 2023
Jazz Fest is going cashless this year! Ticket, food, beverage, craft, and merchandise booths will no longer accept cash payments. If you come to the event with only cash, the Festival will offer cash exchange booths near key vending locations so you can get a prepaid card for your cash.
Another change is that one of the longest-running Jazz Fest food vendors won’t be there, and neither will his famous and beloved crawfish bread. John Ed Laborde, who created this bread, has been selling it at the fest since 1987.
To view the complete 2023 Jazz Fest music and food lineup and purchase tickets visit the event’s website.
If you’re planning a stay in New Orleans, be sure to check out our resource for French Quarter Hotels.
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The Irish Pubs of the French Quarter
The French Quarter, despite its name, has quite a bit of Irish blood running through it.
Like old port cities of the East Coast, New Orleans saw a huge influx of Irish people in the 19th century, and for a time the Celtic brogue was heard as commonly on the streets here as the Creoles’ Francophone dialect. Both those mother tongues have assimilated into the modern New Orleans accent, but one contribution of the Irish to French Quarter culture is indelible and indispensable to this day: the pub.
As is true wherever they are found, Irish pubs serve as local watering holes and gathering spots for friends in the French Quarter. While the karaoke joints and dance clubs and theme bars shake, rattle and roll, these pubs are bastions of camaraderie and good cheer, places for locals to unwind after a shift, and for visitors to sit back and observe New Orleanians in their natural element.
The pubs are often found literally in the shadows of flashier establishments. There’s Molly’s Irish Pub (732 Toulouse St. — not to be mistaken for Molly’s at the Market, below!), for instance, an attractive, understated barroom of soft brick and polished woodwork the color of burnt sugar housed in an old Creole cottage. Regulars perch themselves on window sills or along the bar, while just outside the howls, chants and yelps of Bourbon Street are clearly audible and occasionally drown out the jukebox.
Erin Rose (811 Conti St.) offers a similarly dramatic transformation of the setting by taking just one step up and inside. Bourbon Street, in all its bead-flinging, feather boa-strewn glory, is merely two doors away, but Erin Rose seems like it’s in a whole different neighborhood — one where drink prices take a sharp turn downward and local color amps up pleasingly. Regulars make a clubhouse of the place, installing themselves at the bar with the predictability of a professor’s office hours.
Music: Traditional and Otherwise
In a city famous for its jazz and R&B, a handful of musically-inclined pubs provide a welcome alternative for fans of acoustic music and singer-songwriter genre.
Kerry Irish Pub (331 Decatur St.) hosts live music seven nights a week (traditional Irish music and acoustic harmonizing are well represented). With a street reputation for pouring the best pint of Guinness in the Vieux Carré, many an innocent Decatur Street stroll has been cut short by a stop inside this hospitable pub.
Have a Pint, Spin a Yarn
The entertainment provided by other French Quarter pubs is entirely in the hands of fellow patrons and passersby.
Just down the street from the Kerry is Ryan’s Irish Pub (241 Decatur St.), an unassuming picture of tranquility during the day but something else altogether at night. Fitted out with cozy booths and a beautiful antique bar, the pub can get quite lively after sundown depending on which nationally touring acts are performing at the adjacent House of Blues and the temperament of the crowd those acts draw to the neighborhood.
Those with the gift of gab will find a stable of regulars with plenty of stories to swap at Fahy’s Irish Pub (540 Burgundy St.), where a decidedly locals’ scene develops after restaurants and other bars begin cutting their shifts for the night. The popular drink at Fahy’s is a local version of the “mind eraser,” a sweet vodka concoction served in a pint glass and slurped quickly by two or more people simultaneously through straws in a race to the bottom. Pool is very popular here, as evidenced by the rows of small, wooden lockers for regulars to stow their personal pool cues and gear.
And if you find yourself at Molly’s at the Market (1107 Decatur St.) any day or night without an interesting yarn to share with a total stranger, just wait around a bit and you will likely witness the makings for a worthy story to tell the next time around. It’s hard to imagine a more variegated bar crowd anywhere than the one that develops at Molly’s, located just around the corner from the French Market.
For years, Molly’s served as the de facto press club for New Orleans, and journalists, political hopefuls and other local notables have spent honorary shifts behind the bar pouring drinks for their friends and critics alike. Every night, the place fills with a crowd of fops, bards, fancy ladies, punks, bankers, artists, students, tourists, and those best described as “open to suggestion.”
If for some reason, this social cocktail doesn’t spark things up for you, there’s always inspiration to be found in the collection of French Quarter stories and memories enshrined on the walls and behind the bar, which includes Molly’s founder, the late Jim Monaghan. His ashes have been interred in a place of honor above the bar ever since his jazz funeral disbanded outside the pub’s doors in 2001.
We’d also like to add these two Irish bars to the French Quarter lineup since this article has been written:
731 St. Peter St.
Tucked into a brick hideaway between Royal and Bourbon streets across from Preservation Hall, this intimate Irish pub was named after a movie that runs on the loop on the TV inside the bar (don’t worry, there’s a good jukebox too). The famously friendly bartenders serve Guinness and local beer on tap, as well as Irish car bombs. The prices are very, very good — so think of Boondock Saints as your perfect getaway from the 24/7 party happening just steps away on Bourbon St.
717 St. Peter St.
Another low-key Irish bar on the same block, Finnegan’s Easy is long, narrow, and more crowded, but with ample capacity to handle it thanks to its spacious courtyard. You could tell it caters more to the visitors as it serves as a stop on some of the walking tours in the French Quarter. Finnegan’s features sports on TV and cheerfully serves Irish grub along with more American fare, like wings. The drink menu also varies from the local beer on tap to Mai Tais and Hurricanes.
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The Best Happy Hours in the French Quarter
Finding world-class food and expertly crafted cocktails at beyond-reasonable prices is easy enough in New Orleans on any day, but who can resist the lure of trying the best cocktails this city has to offer at a deep discount, along with some refined bar food compressed to a bite size and a small plate?
In New Orleans, happy hours tend to start a little earlier and stretch a little longer. And, beyond the obvious pleasure of socializing and unwinding they provide, happy hours are a surefire way to sample the restaurant’s cuisine or bask in a place’s ambiance — at a fraction of the price.
The French Quarter-based bars and restaurants we recommend below take it up a notch in terms of the quality of the ingredients; the inventiveness of the dishes and the cocktails; the bargain factor compared to the regular price you’d pay for the same outside the happy hour; and, of course, the level of expertise that goes into the preparation.
You could order the “3-4-1” specials on Bourbon Street, but these deals generally prioritize booze quantity over quality. Fortunately, if you’re willing to venture outside of peak drinking hours, the world is your oyster (sometimes literally, as some places offer oyster-centric happy hours).
These guys below are serious about what goes into every glass and onto every small plate, and about who gets to make it and serve it. Cheers!
Broussard’s
819 Conti Street
Happy hour 3-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday
Broussard’s happy hour can be enjoyed at the restaurant’s Empire Bar and courtyard. The $5 cocktails include French 76, Pimms Cup, and Hurricane, plus Broussard’s own signature creations. You can also enjoy #3 beer and $4 wine. The bar menu of small plates, available Wednesday through Saturday, is elevated takes on oysters, gumbo, turtle soup, crab cakes, and other classics.
Kingfish
337 Chartres Street
Happy hour 2-5 p.m. Monday through Friday
To paraphrase Huey P. Long, who called himself the Kingfish, every man is a king during happy hour. You can get $4 draft beer, $6 wine, and $7 cocktails. The $9 small plates join the party (think gumbo, cracklins, and boudin balls).
Kingfish keeps it somewhat traditional with its focus on Louisiana cuisine like seared Gulf fish and gumbo, and classic cocktails like the Sazerac, Vieux Carré, and Mint Julep. The cocktail menu also goes beyond those with quite a few signature drinks. There’s a valiant effort to support local wineries, distilleries, and breweries, so Kingfish is a good choice to sample these Louisiana products at happy hour prices. The pressed-tin ceilings, large windows and brick walls give Kingfish an appealingly antiqued vibe.
The Bombay Club
830 Conti Street
Happy hour 4-7 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday
The Bombay Club inside the Prince Conti Hotel has more than 50 specialty cocktails on the menu. Happy hour features select $3 beer, $4 wine, and a $5 drink specials. The small plates are fresh takes on Cajun and European comfort food: meat pies, gumbo, grilled naan, and ploughman’s board. Come for the martinis, and stay for live music!
The Roost Bar at Brennan’s
417 Royal Street
Happy hour 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Thursday through Monday
Brennan’s elegant Roost Bar emphasizes the bubbles for its happy hour, with premium bottles and half bottles available at special prices, plus several specialty champagne-centered cocktails for $9 each, complemented by the bar menu in the $8-$18 range. The bar food includes crispy shrimp, pommes frites, and other takes on elevated Creole cuisine. There’s also champagne sabering at 5 p.m. in the lush courtyard, which is a sight to behold in itself.
Vacherie
827 Toulouse Street
Happy hour 3-6 p.m. daily
Vacherie’s restaurant, bar, and cafe are located next to one another on the first floor of Hotel St. Marie. Vacherie serves authentic Cajun cuisine with a few inventive twists. The $8 bar menu (4-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday) includes a slider of the day special, a chicken waffle, boudin balls, loaded fries, and more. To drink, $6 will get you a rum punch, a glass of any of the house wines, a cocktail like vodka soda or G&T, or a draft beer flight (three half-pints of your choice).
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Where to Dine During Lent Season in New Orleans
Tujague’s Crab Cake Benedict. Image by Sam Hanna.
Now, with Lenten season upon us (February 22 – April 6, 2023), some of New Orleans’ top restaurants are offering tasty and Lent-friendly dishes and specials. From Fish Fry Fridays at Mister Mao and seafood specialties at Compere Lapin to crawfish cakes at Birdy’s and house-made pasta at Jack Rose, restaurants are offering something for every palate. Check out our top picks of the Lent specials at New Orleans restaurants.
Bakery Bar
1179 Annunciation Street
The intimate eatery serving savory dishes is offering guests blackened tilapia tacos — three corn tortilla tacos served with squash, zucchini salad and patacones, plus moules mariniere — mussels steamed with banana leaves and candied oranges in white-wine cream sauce.
Birdy’s
1320 Magazine Street
Birdy’s serves up Southern-inspired, locally-sourced American cuisine. For Lent, try the crawfish cake — pepper jack cheese, crab boil aioli, dill slaw, and apple cider vinaigrette; or smoked salmon toast — whipped cream cheese, apricot marmalade, grapefruit, dijon vinaigrette, and smoked trout roe, with a farm salad.
Compere Lapin
535 Tchoupitoulas Street
For Lent, Compere Lapin, Chef Nina Compton’s award-winning restaurant located in the lobby of the funky boutique Old No. 77 Hotel in the Warehouse Arts District, offers a variety of seafood specialties including a crawfish roll on a milk bun with shrimp-fat aioli and celery salad; broiled shrimp with Calabrian butter; and scialatielli pasta with Gulf shrimp and butternut squash.
Jack Rose
2031 St. Charles Avenue
The culinary crown jewel of the Pontchartrain Hotel, Jack Rose brings an eclectic and exciting dining experience to New Orleans’ Garden District. For Lent season, relish in a variety of specials created by Chef/Owner Brian Landry including crabmeat mac ‘n’ cheese; bucatini verde (a type of pasta); gnocchi with shrimp; and squid ink campanelle (also a type of pasta).
Mister Mao
4501 Tchoupitoulas Street
Throughout the Lenten season, Mister Mao will be hosting Fish Fry Fridays. Each Friday during dinner, Chef/Owner Sophina Uong will offer fried masa harina fish with spicy shrimp in coconut milk sauce, red palm oil, and fresh coriander served with seasonal sides.
The Bower
1320 Magazine Street
Culinary darling The Bower will offer roasted Gulf shrimp and mushrooms (lion’s mane and chestnut mushrooms) with parmesan, orange compound butter, and miso broth; and the Gulf fish served with crispy basmati rice, mushrooms, lobster and tomato broth, citrus, and arugula salad.
Toups Meatery
845 N. Carrollton Avenue
While Chef Isaac Toups might be known for the melt-in-your-mouth meats that he serves at his Mid-City restaurant, the author of Chasing the Gator: Isaac Toups and the New Cajun Cooking has been fishing and crabbing since he was a toddler. For Lent, Chef Toups is featuring LA jumbo lump crab Nicoise salad with pickled green beans, spicy fingerling potatoes, olives, pickled quail, and boquerones vinaigrette; couvillion (a family recipe) with Louisiana Gulf fish, crab and crab-fat rice; and marinated crab claws with coconut lime vinaigrette and pickled pineapple.
Tujague’s
429 Decatur Street
The second oldest restaurant in New Orleans and the third oldest continuously operating restaurant in the U.S. invites guests to enjoy the seared Louisiana crab cake served with a bourbon corn sauce; and shrimp and grits — pan-seared Gulf shrimp simmered in a New Orleans-style BBQ sauce, served over stone ground grits.
