These Are New Orleans’s Essential Bars

Carousel Bar in the Hotel Monteleone. | Josh Brasted/Eater NOLA

From posh to dissolute, here are New Orleans’s must-visit bars

With one of the highest bars per capita in the country, choosing New Orleans’s quintessential watering holes is no easy feat. This list represents a broad sampling of bars: iconic cocktail bars, neighborhood dives, hotel bars, beer bars, Irish pubs, and bars with live music — although the spots mentioned here are first and foremost bars, not music venues or restaurants.

Already well-versed in New Orleans’s essential bars? Check out the newest places to have a drink around town, or keep it lowkey with New Orleans’s essential dive bars.