The Best Bars in the French Quarter, New Orleans

One of the finest cocktail bars in the country, and one of the few places in New Orleans that takes the service as seriously as the drink. The French 75 here — champagne, cognac, lemon, sugar — is made correctly, which means it is better than any other version you will encounter on this trip. The room is all dark wood, portraits, and ceiling fans turning slowly. Dress appropriately and allow two hours minimum.

Order: French 75 made with cognac, not gin — the New Orleans version, as it was intended

The bar where the Sazerac cocktail's legend was formalised, in a room that has not needed a renovation because it was done correctly in the 1940s. The mahogany and marble have aged perfectly. The Sazerac here — rye, Peychaud's bitters, absinthe rinse, lemon peel — is a reference point against which every other version should be measured. Go in the early evening before the dinner crowds make the room feel busy.

Order: The Sazerac — the house version is the reason you are here

The bar rotates — one full revolution every fifteen minutes — and it has been doing so since 1949. The novelty is genuine rather than applied: Truman Capote claimed to have been born in this hotel, William Faulkner drank here, and Tennessee Williams used the Monteleone as a backdrop. The cocktails are competent rather than exceptional, but the experience of sitting at the rotating bar with a Vieux Carré is one of those New Orleans moments that earns its reputation.

Order: Vieux Carré — the house cocktail, invented two blocks away at the Monteleone's predecessor

The most important live music room in New Orleans, which means it is one of the most important in the world. The Preservation Hall Jazz Band has been performing traditional New Orleans jazz here since 1961, and the room is deliberately spare — no bar, no food, wooden benches and standing room, full attention on the music. Buy tickets in advance; walk-up queues on weekends can be two hours. Worth every minute of both.

Order: Drink before you go in — bring only what you need for the set

The oldest jazz club in the French Quarter still operating under continuous ownership, with a rotating cast of New Orleans jazz musicians who choose to play here because the room sounds right. The bar is functional and cheap; the music is the reason you are here. It sits on Bourbon Street but operates at a completely different frequency from its neighbours — step inside and the street noise disappears beneath the band.

Order: House bourbon on the rocks — keep it simple and keep your attention on the music

The bar that helped establish New Orleans as a serious cocktail city beyond its historic credentials. The menu here draws from the city's Caribbean and Creole traditions while applying modern bartending technique — the results are drinks that feel native to New Orleans without being nostalgic about it. The room is long and dark with a bar that runs its full length. Reserve a spot on weekends; the regulars fill this room quickly.

Order: The current house Ramos Gin Fizz variation — their take on the New Orleans classic is always worth trying

A rum bar and restaurant built around the colonial Caribbean history of New Orleans — the city's relationship with sugar and rum predates the cocktail by centuries, and Cane and Table explores that history with drinks rather than lectures. The rum selection is one of the most thorough in the country, and the cocktails are built around it with real technique. The courtyard is the best outdoor seating in the Quarter.

Order: The Nui Nui — aged rum, spices, citrus, built with the kind of balance that most tropical drinks lack

Named for the historic cocktail guide, Jewel of the South serves a menu that treats New Orleans cocktail history as a starting point rather than a destination. The house Brandy Crusta — brandy, curaçao, lemon, Maraschino — is one of the best versions of this nineteenth-century drink currently being made in the country. The room is small and the service is attentive in the way only small rooms allow.

Order: The Brandy Crusta — the drink that made the restaurant-bar's name, and earned the reputation

The neighbourhood bar the French Quarter needed — not a tourist destination but a local anchor, with cocktail quality above its price point and a crowd that includes bartenders from other establishments arriving after their shifts. The Pimm's Cup here is excellent, the whisky list is carefully chosen, and the lack of a theme or gimmick is itself a feature. One of the more honest rooms in a neighbourhood full of performance.

Order: Pimm's Cup — the New Orleans version, which is different from the British one and better

Yes, it is a tourist institution. No, that does not make it wrong to go. Pat O'Brien's courtyard with its flame fountain is one of the more atmospheric outdoor drinking spots in the Quarter, and the Piano Bar — two duelling pianos, audience participation, the full spectacle — is exactly what it promises. The Hurricane cocktail is the drink to order here, not because it is good but because it is the point. Go once, go deliberately, and enjoy it for what it is.

Order: The Hurricane — rum, passion fruit, citrus, in the souvenir glass you will carry down Bourbon Street