Cooter Brown's Tavern sits at 509 South Carrollton Avenue in the Riverbend, the Uptown corner where the streetcar turns, and has poured beer and shucked oysters since 1977. It is a sports bar and oyster bar in one, stacking more than 400 beers against a raw bar and a wall of televisions.
Who would love it: anyone who wants to watch a game with a po-boy, a dozen raw oysters and a beer list that runs into the hundreds. Who would not: a cocktail drinker after a quiet room, since Cooter Brown's runs loud, casual and game-day focused.
The space is a sprawling, well-worn tavern with TVs angled for every seat, a long bar and the oyster station working in the open. The bar's own site puts the beer count at over 400 domestic and imported bottles, and the room is decorated with its famous Celebrity Beer Dolls, caricature figures of public figures rendered in beer-can bodies. The vibe is neighborhood institution rather than slick sports lounge.
The order is raw oysters from the bar paired with a beer pulled from the deep list, with a roast beef po-boy as the heavier backup. Weekends bring boiled crawfish and shrimp in season, which the regulars time their visits around. The kitchen leans Gulf seafood and pub plates rather than anything fancy, and the value is the breadth of the beer fridge.
Marcus Webb's read for the curious drinker: grab a seat near the oyster bar, order a dozen and ask the bartender to steer you through the beer list toward something local. The 400-plus beer selection is the citable headline and the reason the room rewards a slow afternoon. Oysters, a po-boy and a beer flight is the full assignment.
The crowd is Tulane and Loyola students, Riverbend locals and out-of-towners who found the Carrollton streetcar, and it swells on game days for Saints and college football. Quiet afternoons make for easy oyster sessions; kickoff turns the room into a full sports bar. Service stays quick even at the peak.
What regulars say, across Yelp, where it is listed under sports bars, and the New Orleans bar guides, is steady. The beer selection and the late hours draw the most praise, the oysters get named as a reliable Riverbend pick, and the game-day atmosphere is the most-cited reason to come. The crowds on a Saints Sunday are the only common warning.
The Riverbend setting puts Cooter Brown's at the end of the St. Charles streetcar line, which makes it an easy stop on an Uptown crawl rather than a place you have to drive to. The room keeps long hours seven days a week, so it works as a late stop as readily as an afternoon one, and the oyster bar runs through most of them.
Best time to go: a weekday afternoon for an easy oyster-and-beer session, or a Saints Sunday if you want the full sports-bar roar. It rewards beer drinkers and game watchers alike. See where it sits among the best sports bars in New Orleans, and read our wider guide to sports bars by city for the national picture.
Pair this bar with
For another casual neighborhood beer room, compare The Bulldog Mid-City New Orleans. For an outdoor beer garden nearby, try Bayou Beer Garden New Orleans. And for a craft-beer pub with the same easy spirit, The Avenue Pub New Orleans makes the natural second stop.
Sources
Cooter Brown's official site (menu, beer list, 2026) · Yelp: Cooter Brown's (Sports Bars) · Nola Places: Cooter Brown's · Google Maps reviews (accessed 2026-06)
Reviewed by Marcus Webb, barsforKings. Published Apr 26, 2026 · Last reviewed May 20, 2026.
