Bacchanal Wine sits on Poland Avenue in Bywater, in a shotgun double that was originally a neighbourhood grocery store. The front room sells wine by the bottle — around 200 labels, heavy on natural and low-intervention producers from France, Italy, and Georgia. You pull a bottle off the shelf, pay the retail price plus a corkage fee, and take it through to the back courtyard where a band plays every evening without a set list.
This is what New Orleans nightlife looks like when it is not performing for an audience. The crowd at Bacchanal is a perfect mix of neighbourhood regulars, young professionals from the surrounding streets, and visitors who have found their way down here and cannot quite believe their luck. The courtyard holds around 80 people, there are no velvet ropes, nobody is checking your social media following, and the music starts when the musicians decide it is time.
The kitchen produces a short menu of cheese and charcuterie boards, Louisiana-sourced small plates, and a handful of mains that shift with the season. We recommend ordering the cheese plate with whatever bottle catches your eye on the shelf — you will spend two hours here without noticing. Bacchanal also makes a perfect companion to a night that starts at Cure on Freret Street for cocktails. For more live music options, the best live music bars in New Orleans guide covers the full city picture.