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Places

Drink Through New Orleans Like a Local

March 12, 2024

Story: Punch Staff

photo: Randy Krause Schmidt

Places

Drink Through New Orleans Like a Local

March 12, 2024

Story: Punch Staff

photo: Randy Krause Schmidt

From a 24-hour dive to one of the best jazz venues in the city, these are some of NOLA’s most beloved haunts.

In a city where drinking is such a part of the fabric of local life—and tourism—there’s no shortage of places to grab a drink, whether it’s the venerated cocktail bars, historic spaces, bachelorette party venues or, simply, the street, Hand Grenade in hand. With so much at the fingertips of visitors, where do locals actually grab a drink? We asked NOLA bartenders, writers and friends of Punch for their favorites. Here are some of the city’s most beloved local dives, neighborhood spots and late-night haunts.

Bullet’s Sports Bar

In the 7th Ward, Bullet’s Sports Bar is a space with “a particular kind of genuine bear-hugging warmth that’s unique to New Orleans,” according to Punch contributor Sarah Baird. The unassuming sports bar is, unsurprisingly, a place to watch football and boxing from a bar TV, but it also hosts some of the best of New Orleans jazz. It’s the ideal place to grab food from a nearby truck, pull up a seat and enjoy a drink “set-up”—a New Orleans style of serve where you get your choice of spirit, a can of soda, ice and a plastic cup to mix yourself.

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Twelve Mile Limit

For “chill neighborhood vibes,” head to Twelve Mile Limit, says Kirk Estopinal, founder, partner and owner of Cure and Cane & Table. Located in the Mid-City neighborhood, the bar’s house cocktails riff on the classics, like a Whiskey Sour made with rhubarb liqueur, or a Manhattan made with fernet. But one of the best parts about Twelve Mile Limit is its daily drink specials, where you can get a different rotating cocktail for $5.

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Pete’s Out in the Cold

“Pete’s Out in the Cold is one of those old-school bars embedded on a sleepy corner in the Irish Channel that was once a boarding house for sailors and longshoremen, and more recently a solid dive for cold beer, jukebox serenades and poker machines,” says Leslie Pariseau, owner of two new NOLA spots, Patron Saint and St. Pizza, and a founding editor of Punch. “On any given night, you can play bingo, drink a frozen, and see everyone you know sitting at the bar, singing along to Hall & Oates and snuggling Foxy the cat.”

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Black Penny

“Resting on the outskirts of the French Quarter, Black Penny is a local watering hole for much of the service industry who work within it,” says Erika Flowers, bartender at Cane & Table and one of the Best New Bartenders of 2023. The dive is an excellent place for fans of craft beer—it houses around 100 local and imported options. For non-beer drinkers, Black Penny also has an impressive selection of canned cocktails that are harder to find in the city, according to Flowers, like Luxardo’s Bianco Spritz.

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The Saint

Chris Hannah, owner of New Orleans’ iconic Jewel of the South, sums up The Saint in the Lower Garden District: “Proper dive, no windows, inexpensive drinks, television shows and movies with no sound—that no one is watching—on repeat.” What more could you ask for?

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Snake and Jake’s

“If it’s past midnight or 2 a.m. or even 4 a.m., and you’re still feeling it, Snake and Jake’s is here for you,” writes Pariseau. The Uptown neighborhood dive sits quietly on a residential street. It’s open from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and it’s a favorite among folks in the industry and other night owls, who all gather under the moody red string lights—the bar is loosely a Christmas lounge; there is also a wreath—after a long night or a show at the Maple Leaf, a nearby music venue.

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Holy Diver

The 7th Ward space currently occupied by Holy Diver, a newer venue that opened in 2023, has been home to several beloved bars, including now-closed Sidney’s Saloon. It’s quickly become a local favorite, living up to that legacy. The dark bar houses a pool table, and local legends play live music in the back. And, crucially, the drinks are good, too: “The cocktails are outstanding, with classics like the Sazerac deftly prepared under the guidance of proprietor and revered drinks commandant, Nick Jarrett,” says author and drinks writer Wayne Curtis.

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Brothers Three

One of the few places that you can pull up a barstool at any time of day, Brothers Three, which has been kicking for more than 50 years, “is a living, breathing relic,” according to Baird. The 24-hour Uptown dive offers a little something for everyone, around the clock: a secret-recipe Bloody Mary for the early birds, and for everyone else, a pool table, jukeboxes and video poker machines to linger over all night long.

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