Nightlife

The Oldest Bars in New Orleans: A Group Evening Through NOLA's Most Storied Watering Holes

The bars with actual history behind them — Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, Old Absinthe House, Napoleon House, the Carousel Bar, and Tujague's — what makes each one genuinely worth visiting, how to manage a group of 15-25 in these spaces, and the one-bar-per-neighborhood approach to a bar history evening.

Last updated: June 2026

New Orleans has more historically significant bars than any other American city. This is not opinion — it’s the result of a culture that has been drinking communally in the same buildings for 200 years, a French and Spanish colonial history that brought drinking culture to the continent before the United States existed, and the fact that New Orleans managed to survive Prohibition with a wink rather than an actual compliance effort.

The bars on this list are not bars that happen to be old. They are places with documented histories, specific cultural significance, and an atmosphere that a newer bar cannot replicate because it cannot buy 200 years of use.

A group tour of these bars — one or two per evening, moving slowly through the French Quarter — is one of the best evenings available in New Orleans for people who care about place and history. It’s also just a good bar evening that happens to have excellent backstory.

Here’s what to know about each one, and how to move a group of 15-25 through them.

Quick Checklist

Choose 2-3 bars maximum for the evening — rushing through five historic bars in a bar crawl is a poor approach; these places deserve 45 minutes to an hour each
Brief the group before leaving the villa: what each bar is, why it matters, what to order, what to look at
Establish the route order before leaving — moving between these bars without a plan produces wasted walking and decision fatigue
Check whether any bar on your list requires cash only (Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop famously does not have electronic cash registers; bring cash)
Pick an early-ish dinner time so the bar evening can start by 9pm — these historic bars are best experienced with a sober enough group to actually absorb the history
Have a split-and-reconvene system for the smaller venues — the Carousel Bar has 25 seats at the bar; your group of 20 will not all sit at the bar simultaneously

The Bars

Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop — 941 Bourbon Street

The building housing Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop is one of the oldest surviving structures in the United States. Constructed in the early eighteenth century under French colonial rule, the building predates the American Revolution and has been operating as a bar for most of the last two centuries. The exact origin story — whether the pirate Jean Lafitte actually used it as a cover operation for smuggling — is contested, but the building’s age is not.

What makes it unlike any other bar:

Step inside and your eyes adjust to candlelight. No electric lights. No TVs. No exposed Edison bulbs or reclaimed wood — the actual wood, original to the building, is still here. Candles placed throughout the bar and along the windowsills are the only light source after dark. The effect is striking enough that first-timers often stop in the doorway for a moment.

The bar itself is simple: drinks poured from a standard back bar, no elaborate cocktail menu, no craft beer list. The Purple Drank — a blended frozen drink that has become the house specialty — is the thing you’ll see most people carrying. It is not a subtle drink.

Group logistics: Lafitte’s is relatively large for a French Quarter bar. A group of 20 can get into the building and find space without it being a crisis, but you’ll be split across standing areas and the bar. The front room, the back room, and the side courtyard all work. No reservations; it’s a walk-in operation.

Cash matters here. Lafitte’s is famously resistant to modernity. Come with cash.

Old Absinthe House — 240 Bourbon Street

The building opened in 1807 as an importing business and has been one form of drinking establishment or another ever since. The bar’s name comes from the absinthe drip fountains that operated here in the nineteenth century — absinthe was served using the traditional drip method over sugar cubes, and the bar became associated with this practice across the city.

The walls of Old Absinthe House are covered floor to ceiling with business cards, license plates, and memorabilia accumulated over many decades. This is not a design decision — it is 150 years of customers leaving evidence of their presence. The history of the room is visible on the walls.

What to order: An absinthe cocktail, obviously. The bar has kept the absinthe tradition alive even through Prohibition (during which it temporarily pivoted) and through the long period when absinthe was banned in the United States. The Absinthe Frappe — absinthe, simple syrup, anise liqueur, and soda water over ice — is the classic.

What to look for: The absinthe fountains behind the bar. These are not decoration; they are functional antique drip systems used for the traditional preparation.

Group logistics: Bourbon Street location means significant foot traffic and a bar oriented toward the walkabout crowd. A group of 20 is fine here in terms of space, but you’ll be competing with a steady stream of walk-ins. Come on a weekday for a more manageable experience.

Napoleon House — 500 Chartres Street

Napoleon House has one of the best-documented origin stories in New Orleans history. In 1821, the house was offered as a refuge for Napoleon Bonaparte following his exile to Saint Helena. Mayor Nicholas Girod owned the property and organized a planned rescue mission to bring Napoleon to New Orleans, where he would live out his days. Napoleon died before the plan could be executed.

The building has operated as a bar and café since the mid-nineteenth century. The atmosphere inside — the peeling paint on the walls, the classical music playing from speakers hidden in the corners, the dark wood and slow ceiling fans — is not curated. It is genuinely aged. Napoleon House is one of the few bars in New Orleans where the decay is original.

What to order: The Pimm’s Cup. Napoleon House did not invent the Pimm’s Cup — it’s an English drink — but it became the defining drink of this bar over decades. A cold Pimm’s Cup at a marble table in the back room of Napoleon House in the afternoon is a specific New Orleans pleasure that visitors often describe as the best moment of their trip.

What to eat: Napoleon House serves a short food menu. The muffuletta — the Sicilian-style sandwich on round sesame bread with olive salad — is worth ordering if your group is hungry.

Group logistics: Napoleon House has indoor seating, a bar area, and a small courtyard. It is quieter than most French Quarter bars. Classical music on the speakers rather than a DJ is either the best or worst thing about it depending on your group. Best for the portion of the group that wants to sit, drink slowly, and actually have a conversation. Not optimal as a high-energy stop — use it as the middle or late stop when the group has already had its energy peak.

The Carousel Bar — Hotel Monteleone, 214 Royal Street

The Carousel Bar opened in 1949 inside the Hotel Monteleone, one of the oldest hotels in New Orleans. The bar is built as an actual carousel — the circular bar rotates slowly throughout the evening, completing one full revolution approximately every 15 minutes, powered by a motor below the floor.

This is not a gimmick. Or rather: it started as a gimmick and became something more. The Carousel Bar has been a gathering place for writers and artists since it opened. William Faulkner, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Ernest Hemingway, and Eudora Welty all drank here, some regularly. The hotel itself provided long-term residency for literary figures in New Orleans’ mid-century creative period. The Literary Trail plaque on the exterior acknowledges this history.

What to order: The Vieux Carré cocktail was invented at the Hotel Monteleone (though at the bar in its earlier configuration, not at the Carousel itself). Made with rye whiskey, cognac, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine, and Peychaud’s and Angostura bitters, it is one of the classic NOLA cocktails and belongs in a glass in this room.

Group logistics: The Carousel Bar has 25 seats at the actual rotating bar. Your group of 20 will not all sit at the bar simultaneously. This is fine — the bar is surrounded by a standing area and the hotel lobby provides overflow space. Send 8-10 people at a time to claim bar seats, have the rest standing nearby, and rotate. The rotation of the bar itself becomes a social mechanic: you end up sitting next to a new person every 15 minutes as the bar moves.

The bar is inside a hotel lobby and maintains a relatively genteel atmosphere. No cover, no reservation required for the bar, though the adjacent restaurant requires reservations.

Tujague’s — 823 Decatur Street

Tujague’s (pronounced “Two-Jacks”) opened in 1856 and holds the claim of being one of the oldest continuously operating restaurants and bars in the United States. The bar itself — the original cypress wood bar installed in the nineteenth century, shipped from Paris — is the oldest standing bar in New Orleans.

The bar at Tujague’s is a long, narrow counter that looks across at a mirror. The mirror is also original — brought from Paris in the same period. The room has barely changed in a century. The effect of standing at this bar, looking at yourself in the mirror, with a glass of something in front of you, is the closest thing to a genuine time-travel experience available in New Orleans.

What to order: Grasshoppers (a classic Tujague’s specialty — mint crème de menthe, white crème de cacao, and heavy cream) or a simple whiskey. Tujague’s is not a craft cocktail bar — it is a bar that has been a bar for 170 years.

What to look for: The original cypress bar. Run your hand along it. This is the actual bar from 1856. The mirror. The scale of the room — it is small, deliberately so. This was a working bar for locals, not a tourist institution. It became historic by continuing to be what it always was.

Group logistics: Tujague’s is small. A group of 20 will fill the bar room entirely. This is fine — walk in together, acknowledge the space, order, and be present in the room before deciding whether to overflow into the dining room or the sidewalk. The sidewalk on Decatur Street is busy and loud; the interior is the experience.

The Route

The most logical route for a historic bar evening combines walking distance, neighborhood, and energy progression.

Route: French Quarter History Walk (3 stops, ~3 hours)

Stop	Time	Bar	Drink
1	8:00pm	Tujague’s (Decatur St)	Grasshopper or simple whiskey
2	9:00pm	Napoleon House (Chartres St)	Pimm’s Cup
3	10:00pm	Carousel Bar (Royal St)	Vieux Carré
After	11pm	Frenchmen Street	Your call

This route moves roughly from the river inward, covers three distinct atmospheres (historic workers bar → aristocratic ruin → literary hotel bar), and ends at Frenchmen Street for the live music portion of the night.

Route: Bourbon Street History Walk (3 stops, ~3 hours)

Stop	Time	Bar	Drink
1	8:00pm	Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop (Bourbon St)	Anything, cash only
2	9:00pm	Old Absinthe House (Bourbon St)	Absinthe Frappe
3	10:00pm	Napoleon House (off Bourbon, Chartres St)	Pimm’s Cup
After	11pm	Continue on Bourbon or cut to Royal St	Your call

This is the Bourbon Street approach for groups that want to stay roughly in one area and still see real history rather than just neon.

What the One-Bar-Per-Neighborhood Approach Actually Means

The alternative structure to a bar crawl is: one night, one bar, chosen because it’s exactly the right bar for where you’re staying and what the evening calls for.

Staying in the Bywater? Spend an evening at a Marigny bar with history rather than doing a crawl through the Quarter.
Staying in the Lower Garden District? Napoleon House deserves its own evening as a destination, not a stop.
Want to do the Carousel Bar properly? Go for a pre-dinner cocktail when it’s less crowded, sit at the bar, and let it rotate.

The groups that try to hit all five historic bars in one evening typically do none of them properly. The groups that pick two and spend real time in each leave with actual memories of the places.

Pro Tips

Brief the group before each stop. 60 seconds of “here’s what this place is and why it matters” before walking in changes the experience from “just another bar” to “a room with 200 years of use.” This is the difference between a bar crawl and an actual evening.
The Carousel Bar is best before 10pm. After 10pm it’s crowded, loud, and harder to get a seat on the rotating bar. Go at 8pm and you’ll have a different experience entirely.
Napoleon House is not a nightlife venue. It is a contemplative, quiet, classical-music bar. If your group’s energy is high after dinner and they want loud fun, save Napoleon House for the afternoon or as an early-evening start before the group finds its energy.
Bring cash for Lafitte’s. This is not a suggestion.
Tujague’s is best as the first stop of the evening, not the last. The small scale and quiet atmosphere set the tone for a history-focused evening. As a late-night stop for a group of 20 who’ve been out for four hours, it’s too small and too quiet to work.
The Vieux Carré cocktail belongs at the Monteleone. The drink was created here. Drink it here. You can make it at home from a recipe — drinking it at the Carousel Bar, rotating slowly, is the experience.
Do not rush. The worst version of a historic bar evening is one where the group spends 25 minutes at each stop, finishes quickly, and moves on. Give each place 45-60 minutes. Settle in. Look around. These rooms have absorbed a lot of time — give yours to them.

Large Group Accommodation for a History Evening

The French Quarter bar history walk is easiest from a base in or near the French Quarter. Both properties below put you in the right position for an evening that doesn’t require significant transport.

Castleday Retreats — Three private villas in the Bywater, each sleeping up to 30 guests with 12 bedrooms, 17 real beds, and 8 baths. The Bywater is a 15-minute walk or short rideshare from the French Quarter, putting all five historic bars within easy reach. After a historic bar evening, the route home goes through or near Frenchmen Street — a natural add-on before the group calls it a night. The Florentine is ADA-accessible. 4.98 average across 99 reviews.

The Syd — Multiple villas in the Lower Garden District, each sleeping up to 22 guests, with local artist-designed interiors, shared heated pool, hot tub, sauna, and outdoor kitchen. The Syd is a St. Charles Streetcar ride from Canal Street — 20 minutes to the edge of the French Quarter, putting the historic bars 5-15 minutes’ walk from the Canal Street stop. The streetcar back at night is the right way to end a history-focused evening.

Plan Your Historic Bar Evening

Castleday Retreats — Bywater villas, up to 30 guests, 12 bedrooms, private pools, 4.98 stars
The Syd — Lower Garden District villas, up to 22 guests, heated pool, outdoor kitchen, streetcar access