See Nola

The Hermes Bar at Antoine's

713 Saint Louis St. (French Quarter) 504.581.4422. 7 Days: 11:00am to 'till. Credit Cards. A member of the Comus Mardi Gras Krewe took one look at the new bar (and it will be called "new" for the next thirty years) and said, "This is not befitting of Antoine's," and walked out. Such is the pseudo-aristocratic ridiculousness that perfumes Antoine's old but incredibly beautiful 19th century dining rooms. It's called the Hermes Bar, after the Hermes dining room it displaced, and it is the first stand-alone bar in the restaurant's history. Thus, the controversy. With a separate entrance to the street, The Hermes Bar gives the unwashed masses a backdoor into the rarefied world of drunk lawyers, gorgeous surroundings, pleasant wait staff and might-have-been food. Food tastes better when we're wasted, but no martini could help the food we sampled. The full menu is available from the bar. By any measure the Oyster Rockefeller (famously, their invention) and Oyster Foch (not-so famously, their invention) were miserable, stale, brutal. This made us feel miserable. We don't need another reminder that New Orleans, in many cases, is just a bad charcoal rubbing of what was. The bar is an okay place get drunk, but high prices and the display of souvenirs (shot glasses, aprons, hats, cookbooks) give the air of well-groomed tourist trap. Live music on weekends disconnect the Hermes Bar further from its ritzy mise-en-scene, pushing it into the realm a "bar near Bourbon Street for men who like to wear pastel shorts out at night." The nice wood finishes, history, classic drinks and a beautiful mosaic floor, however, are enough reasons to take a peak. Good lighting for a date. Unofficial dress code of jackets preferred, but they'll let in anybody...even us. 

The Bar at Tujague's

823 Decatur St. (French Quarter)  504.525.8676. Credit Cards. 7 days: 11am to 10pm. Established in 1856, Tujague's could easily be a ghostly parody of itself and yet the bar manages to stay relevant and functional with a healthy local/tourist mix and prices that recognize the possibility of return customers (it's a different story for Tujague's kitchen). The long and tall bar has all the things we love: video poker, TV, drunk locals and very knowledgeable bartenders. There are no bar stools. Patrons stand, in groups. Three tables and a few chairs line one wall for bar diners (the full restaurant menu is available). On Mondays, after work, the bar fills with locals hunched over plates of traditional red beans, a bit of tourist marketing made flesh. They serve a fantastic bourbon milk punch, one of our favorite New Orleans fru fru drinks: bourbon, milk, simple syrup, vanilla, nutmeg. Also recommended is their strong and serious mint julep. A top shelf martini is cheaper and better made than in most. Update: Tujague's recently formalized and expanded their cocktail menu. The English Milk Punch takes three days to make. Their "Pousse Cafe" recipe comes from the now defunct "Jewel of the South" bar established by Joseph Santini in 1852. If you drink their whole list of 43 specialty drinks you get a ... t-shirt. Video Poker.

Pizza Thursdays

Pete's Easy Pizza Speakeasy. 383-HEAT (Delivery to Bywater, Marigny, French Quarter, Mid-City). Cash only. On Thursdays after 5pm, Pete fires up a wood brick oven and delivers his secret pizza. $10.00 per pie. $1.00 per topping. $3.00 for bread. It's fun because it's a secret. 

Petunia's

817 Saint Louis St, between Dauphine and Bourbon. (French Quarter) 7 days: 8am-3pm. Credit Cards. 504.522.6440. UPDATE: Closed in June 2009. Creole food, casual. Grab a bloody mary at the cowboy-themed gay bar next door, then wait. The last time I stopped there, the line put me off and I wandered into a nearby liquor store. The guy who owned the store made me put all my stuff down and go back. He was right. The food -- like crepes with fresh fruit and eggs benedict mixed with crab meat -- and coffee are served hot, very hot, by unpretentious waiters. It's a breakfast that can keep up with the Brennan's restaurants. But when the bill comes you won't question it. Remember: Get a drink first, then get in line.

'Let's get a drink at Pat O'brien's!'

718 St. Peter (French Quarter) 504.525.4823. Monday to Thursday: Noon to 'till. Friday & Saturday: 10am to 'till. Credit Cards.

No.

Molly's at the Market

1107 Decatur St. (French Quarter) 7 Days: 10am to 6pm. Credit Cards. Its poker machines are gone and the gorgeous wood bar is topped off with Formica, but it appears that Molly's has returned from the wilderness. Not quite what it used to be, approaching what it once was: a beacon, a drinking Switzerland where uptown and downtown mix with writers and journalists, firemen and politicians. In the good old days, you knew that at some point in the evening everyone in New Orleans would roll through Molly's either for a drink or to pick up their mail. A great big window overlooking hipster Decatur Street made for excellent people watching. Old wood tables, stone floors and high ceilings gave it that breezy subtropical feeling that we love so much in New Orleans. Then in 2001 Molly's (in our minds) half fell apart with the death of Jim Monaghan, the beloved owner and founder of Molly's. For some reason Monaghan's passing appeared to usher in an era of angry employees, bad music, snobby crowds. And were the lights always that bright in there? Who knows if this is the truth or we were simply mourning Monaghan, but for us the Molly clouds have mysteriously lifted, and we've started getting drunk there again. Over his career as a tavern owner, Monaghan owned over 30 different New Orleans bars -- some still carry his trademark: terrific hot and frozen Irish Coffee. We're convinced he got the recipe for the hot Irish Coffee from the Buena Vista in San Francisco. In any case, Molly's still serves it and so does 13 and Erin Rose. Molly's also serves barfood (kitchen changes hands every few months) and has a second courtyard bar. Hipster transplants, fauxhemians, tourists.

Deja Vu: Restaurant & Bar

400 Dauphine St. (French Quarter) 504.523.1931. 7 Days: 24 hrs.  The Deja Vu is a sort of locker room for the Quarter's vice professionals. After they put in their shifts on Bourbon Street and in hotel lobbies a fair amount of them come here after-hours to unwind and mingle with a variety of Quarter rats, night crawlers and transplanted punks. The food, served 24 hours, is surprisingly well-prepared. We suggest the biscuits and gravy with sausage. Unfortunately, they have an internet jukebox. And one of our reporters was kicked out because he tried to bring his child, in the daytime, even though they serve food. Video Poker.         

Verti Marte

1201 Royal St. (French Quarter) 504.525.4767. Credit Cards. 7 days: 24 hrs. Their slogan is "The best kept secret in the Quarter." Not really. Maybe at some point in the indistinct past, but not now. Almost everyone we know has had a late, drunken bite to eat at this takeout deli. The cooking is butter busting New Orleans southern: creamed spinach, ribs, crab cakes, country fried steak, fried oysters, shrimp, bread pudding. We almost always order the prepared food displayed in their huge deli case.  Many faithful customers order the sandwiches cooked to order. A local favorite is the "All That Jazz" poboy ("a medley" of grilled ham, turkey & shrimp, swiss & american cheese, grilled mushrooms, tomatoes, on grilled french bread). Our favorite: the oyster poboy. Booze. ATM.

Patio Bar (at the Balcony Music Club)

1331 Decatur St. (French Quarter) 504.599.7770. Wednesday through Sunday: 6pm to until. Owned by the Balcony Music Club and connected to the Balcony Music Club, the Patio Bar is an effective hideaway from Decatur Street crowds (that end up at the Balcony Music Club). A long narrow alleyway leads to a small, beautiful courtyard faced with french doors, exposed brick, iron chairs. There is a comfortable bar with a newly installed copper wall. There are well drinks that run about $4.00. There are attractive light fixtures. Drawbacks include an internet jukebox, flat screen television, and a fratty drinking contingent. But the courtyard is an excellent and unexpected place to talk, relax. Video Poker. 

Rawhide 2010

740 Burgundy St. (French Quarter) 504.525.8106. 7 Days: 1pm to 5am. We ended up at Rawhide around 3am or so. Hardcore porn played on two televisions hanging from the ceiling. About twelve men sat at the bar, sipping their drinks. A couple college students played pool, one of them exclaiming that this was their first night in New Orleans. At the start of some signal -- that we must have missed -- most of the men got up from their stools and sauntered to Rawhide's dark, cavernous backroom, near the bathrooms. The bathroom doors kept closing and opening.  Occasionally someone would come back to the bar and sit down. We sipped our expertly poured bourbon and coke (cheap and strong) and enjoyed the company of the cheery bartender who politely ignored the rush for anonymous bathroom time. Dark and red neon, decorated like a sex club from an 80s movie, this is supposed to be a gay leather bar, but it seems like everyone is welcome. Video poker. BBQ every Wednesday at 7pm.