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.
