See Nola

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.

'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.

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.

Society Page Lounge

542 North Rampart St. (French Quarter) Monday through Tuesday: 6 to till. Saturday & Sunday: 3 to till. The Society Page Lounge exists in an area of the Quarter known for beautifully broken buildings and vice. The bar caters to African-American gay men, most of whom work in the downtown service industry. But all are welcome. Black floors, black walls, black ceilings and black lights, windowless and not much of a sign out front -- the bar feels like a cocoon, a speakeasy, an old friendly secret. Two televisions play music videos and sports. Cheap drinks. Easy going crowd. The only sour point is that the Society Page -- a truly lovely place -- has installed an internet jukebox. Ugh. Video poker.

Bar Tonique (Delachaise on Rampart St.)

820 N. Rampart St (French Quarter) 7 Days: 5pm to 'till. Credit Cards. The Delachaise's downtown cousin is officially open for business. This small, cozy bar is going for luxury with white leather couches, homemade maraschino cherries and a real wine list.  We are fans of the uptown Delachaise -- a place where we endure the hair-gelled and well-heeled for the reward of an excellent late night meal. And there is something to be said about an upscale bar where you're pretty much safe from being puked on (Lounge Lizards during a Morning 40 show) or being threatened with a can of mace (The Abbey, 2002). Yet, at the moment, Bar Tonique, like the tortured name, is trying too hard. The drink menu is stuffy (they make their own tonic). Bartenders labor under the weight of precious, artisanal cocktail recipes that take forever to render. Trendy, non-offensive music plays on an iPod behind the bar. And the prices are high. This has attracted a crowd of clueless single professionals (the kind who obsess over hotel loyalty programs) and people "blowing their paycheck" on their birthdays. We like our luxury with a good dose of nostalgia and casualness. The razor sharp feel (tempered by the old wooden bar left over from previous owners) would fit in fine in the lobby of a W Hotel, and we're sure the owners would take that as a compliment. Anyway. Everything changes if they start serving that great Delachaise food. St. Germain.

The Abbey

1123 Decatur St. (French Quarter) 504.523.7177. 7 days: 24hrs. Cash only. It would seem that the best "dive bars" recreate the world of a toddler -- a world where one can do no wrong as long as one doesn't puke or hit. Crying is okay, yelling is tolerated and almost every action turns into something hilarious, unpredictable, timeless. And it's like this at The Abbey. The bartenders are tolerant. The jukebox is excellent. A mix of service workers, punk and post-punks mix with tourists in the small, dark space. Dusty stained glass hanging over large wooden booths remind drinkers that in New Orleans even the most fucked up bars have a touch of aristocracy.  ATM. Video Poker.

Jager Haus German Bistro & Coffee Shop

833 Conti St. (French Quarter) 504.525.9200. Credit Cards. Sunday through Thursday: 8am to 10pm. Friday and Saturday: 8am to 'till.  The bar that previously inhabited this space was a kind of break room for French Quarter vice professionals. Hustlers, strippers, gamblers, dealers, graveyard bartenders made this a busy bar at 7am. Never did we envision the pulp novel setting as a launching pad for New Orleans' newest and only German cafe. But that's exactly what happened. And the food (first-class potato pancakes, meat that's sauced and beaten to a pulp, German Chocolate Cake, liver pate, Reubens, etc.) is cooked competently and served a little less competently. More of a cafe (they serve all kinds of espresso drinks and promise to add a breakfast menu) than a bar, Jager Haus is a pleasant and relaxing distraction from the rest of the Quarter. German beer on tap. Video Poker.

Good Friends Bar

740 Dauphine St. (French Quarter) 504.566.7191. Credit Cards. Sunday through Thursday: 1:00pm to 2:00am; Friday & Saturday: 1:00pm to 5:00am. Good Friends, a neighborhood gay bar that's open and friendly to anyone of any persuasion of any age, has a slightly corporate feel -- the kind of bar that has a mailing list, a real manager and "events." Inside, old French Quarter attractive is mixed with clubby kitsch such as urns sprouting neon ferns and blaring techno music and videos on flat panel TVs. Pricey drinks are played against good specials like "Drink and Drown Fridays" ($1.50 well drinks from 4pm to 9pm) or "Martini Thursdays" ($3.25 for top shelf). Another favorite New Orleans fru fru drink has its home here: "The Separator" is made with brandy, coffee liquor, ice cream. On weekends they open up the second floor, which has a charming balcony overlooking the corner of Dauphine and St. Ann streets. Gas fireplace. Pool table. Video Poker.