The Best Bars in the Marigny and Bywater, New Orleans

The best live jazz room on Frenchmen Street, and therefore one of the best in New Orleans. The Cat books working jazz musicians rather than tourist-friendly cover acts — the difference is immediately apparent in the first eight bars of the first song. No cover charge. The bar is cash only and the drinks are strong. Arrive by 9pm on weekends to secure a spot near the band without standing in the street.

Order: Whatever is cheapest on the bar list — money is better spent on the next round than on premium spirits here

One of the few bars in New Orleans with a genuinely serious Belgian beer selection alongside the live music. The draft list here includes bottles that do not appear elsewhere in the city, and the staff knows the difference between a Saison and a Gueuze without being told. The music booking crosses jazz, funk, and blues depending on the night — check the weekly schedule before committing. The bar itself is long and well-lit, which is unusual on this strip.

Order: Whatever Belgian import they have on draft — ask what arrived most recently

A narrow, dim restaurant-bar that serves cocktails above Frenchmen Street average alongside small plates that justify staying for two hours. The cocktail program here takes New Orleans spirits history seriously — the Sazerac variation and the house Ramos Gin Fizz are both worth ordering — without making the menu feel like a museum exhibit. Live music most evenings; go early for the food and stay for the band.

Order: The house Sazerac variation — a seasonal riff on the standard, always interesting

A two-floor neighbourhood bar with a downstairs that opens at noon and an upstairs dance floor that opens after 10pm and becomes one of the better late-night rooms in the Marigny. The bartenders here have been here long enough to have opinions about the neighbourhood, and they share them freely. The drinks are cheap and not interesting — that is not the point. Mimi's is a room you end up in, not a room you plan.

Order: Cheap domestic beer and a shot of whatever the bartender recommends

A wine shop with a courtyard and a kitchen that has grown into one of New Orleans' most beloved neighbourhood institutions. Bacchanal operates on a specific model: choose your wine from the shop at retail prices, pay a corkage fee, take it to the courtyard, and order food from the kitchen. Live jazz plays most evenings. The combination of good wine at wine-shop prices and a courtyard full of locals eating cheese and oysters is as good as New Orleans gets on a weeknight.

Order: A bottle of natural wine from the shop — ask the staff what arrived this week

A bar, restaurant, pool, and cabaret stage inside a converted Victorian mansion in the Bywater — one of those New Orleans institutions that does not make sense until you are inside and then makes perfect sense. The pool is free to use with a drink purchase. The cocktail program here is better than the eclectic concept suggests, and the weekend brunch is one of the more enjoyable in the neighbourhood. The crowd is famously mixed and intentionally welcoming.

Order: A frozen cocktail by the pool — the frozen Pimm's Cup is the right call in summer

A corner dive bar in the deepest part of the Bywater that hosts the best Thursday night in New Orleans. The weekly Kermit Ruffins show — trumpet, red beans, cold beer — is a New Orleans institution that has been running for decades. The bar is basic, the room is small, and the music is extraordinary. Go on a Thursday, arrive early, and accept that the night may end at dawn rather than midnight.

Order: Cold Abita from the can and whatever Kermit is cooking outside — he often grills before the show

A true Bywater dive bar in the tradition that New Orleans does better than anywhere: cheap drinks, cash only, a jukebox with actual taste, and a clientele that has been coming here long enough to have their own stool. No food, no cocktails, no cover. The conversations at this bar are better than at most cocktail bars in the city — the Bywater has always attracted the kind of people worth talking to.

Order: Abita Amber from the bottle — the correct local beer for this room and this city

A late-night kebab shop with a proper bar attached — the kind of operation that makes sense in New Orleans in a way it would not in most American cities. The drinks here are better than you would expect from a late-night food spot; the bartender during evening service clearly came from somewhere more serious. The kebabs are the reason most people arrive, but the cocktails are the reason some of them stay after they finish eating.

Order: The house cocktail special — changes regularly and is always the bartender's current best idea

A record shop that sells beer from a small bar in the corner — one of those New Orleans combinations that should not work but does. The music selection is exceptional and whoever is choosing the records on any given afternoon is making the drinking experience significantly better. You can browse and drink simultaneously, which is the correct approach. The regulars are reliably interesting company.

Order: Whatever is coldest in the fridge — this is not the place for a cocktail order