New Orleans has no last call, and some of its best rooms have been on the same corner since before you were born. You'll find set-ups in the Seventh Ward, second lines stopping at Second and Dryades, and Kermit on a Thursday. Nineteen bars where the regulars keep a stool open for you.
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Rollin "Bullet" Garcia's Seventh Ward room, 25 and up, no stage, no nonsense. Buy a set-up: your half-pint, a bucket of ice, your mixer. Kermit Ruffins has held down Thursdays for years, and on Saints Sundays the whole neighborhood fills the place.
Pip’s Tip Order a set-up, catch Kermit Thursday
A Black-owned Tremé corner bar that one family has kept going since 1952. Fried fish comes out of the kitchen, the jukebox plays the crooners, and old photos hang on the walls. Kermit Ruffins played here early on. It's open weekends only, so plan around that.
Pip’s Tip Fried fish Friday, family-run since 1952
The Elloie family has run this corner at Second and Dryades for decades. It's the home barroom of the Young Men Olympian Benevolent Association and a regular stop when the Uptown second lines roll through. Seafood fries, club meetings and baby showers all happen here.
Pip’s Tip Second-line stop at Second and Dryades
Leona "Ms. Chine" Grandison opened this Tremé room with her brother in the 1980s, and it's where Rebirth cut its first record. The Tremé Brass Band plays Wednesdays, and a small cover gets you a plate of red beans. Order a set-up and dance when the horns start.
Pip’s Tip Wednesday Tremé Brass Band, red beans included
A Seventh Ward bar and lounge in the corner spot that used to be Winnah's Circle, the room schoolteacher Sylvia Crier ran in the 1990s. Live music and a neighborhood crowd. Walk in, say hello, and you're one of the regulars.
Pip’s Tip Seventh Ward lounge on the old Winnah's Circle
A weathered shotgun of a building with a rusted roof, and a bar up a few brick steps. Thursday nights belong to Corey Henry and the Tremé Funktet, and the red beans are homemade. Drinks are cheap. Plenty of people call it the best dive bar in America.
Pip’s Tip Thursday nights, Corey Henry and red beans
It's been pouring on the corner of Esplanade and Burgundy since 1939, and the front bar runs around the clock. The back room has live music seven nights, with a trad jazz brunch on Sundays. Every dollar of the cover goes to the band.
Pip’s Tip Front bar never closes, music nightly
A shack on Oak Street lit red with Christmas lights all year. The owner has run it since 1994, and nobody comes in before midnight. Grab a cheap beer, find a seat on the back patio, and plan on leaving when the birds start up.
Pip’s Tip Red Christmas lights, open till daylight
Two blocks off Bourbon, and it stays dark no matter what time it is. The French doors open right onto Chartres, and the alcove benches let a small group settle in. It's cash only, the jukebox is old-school, and the bartenders will tell you where to go next.
Pip’s Tip Cash only, open doors, jukebox till late
Half a block off Bourbon, and still a locals' bar. The long, narrow room has a neon shamrock over the bar. Order the frozen Irish coffee, then head back to the Killer Poboys counter for a sandwich. Bartenders, musicians and visitors all end up at the same bar.
Pip’s Tip Frozen Irish coffee, po'boys in back
A 1770s building with a smuggling legend and bare, crumbling walls. Candles on the tables do most of the lighting, and a piano plays in the back room. It gets crowded, so come after dark, get the purple frozen drink, and grab a low table.
Pip’s Tip Candlelit 1700s room, piano in back
A corner bar a few blocks from Bayou St. John, done up in the style of the 1960s. The regulars have been coming for years and treat newcomers like neighbors. Different food vendors set up on different nights, so check before you go and come hungry.
Pip’s Tip Bayou St. John regulars, rotating food pop-ups
Magazine at Napoleon, open 24 hours, cash only. The drinks are about as cheap as it gets Uptown. There's a mirrored bar up front and pool and air hockey in the back. The outside got a coat of purple paint, and the inside stayed a dive.
Pip’s Tip 24 hours, cash only, cheapest pours
You can't miss the bright yellow building on Magazine. Inside, a long bar runs down a narrow, dim room to a pool table lit with Christmas lights and old neon. There are two jukeboxes in the back. The neighbors held vigils to bring it back when the owner died in 2019.
Pip’s Tip Yellow building, two jukeboxes, pool room
It's marked by one small neon sign, and it runs from 8pm to 6am. The room is small and dark, with stuff all over the walls. Bartenders and servers show up after their own shifts. Tuesdays are tiki drinks and karaoke from 10pm, and there's a photo booth.
Pip’s Tip Late-night industry bar, Tikioke Tuesdays
An Irish Channel corner bar that has made it through Katrina, the pandemic and everything in between. You drink up front and get the roast beef po'boy from the kitchen in the back. There are picnic tables out front. On St. Patrick's Day the whole block becomes the party.
Pip’s Tip Roast beef po'boy, picnic tables outside
A Riverbend anchor since 1979, at the end of the Carrollton streetcar line. There are more than 400 bottles and cans plus 40 taps, and oysters get shucked at the bar. Wooden booths line the back, and screens are everywhere when the Saints or LSU are playing.
Pip’s Tip 400 beers, oysters, game on everywhere
Take the ferry across from the foot of Canal, walk a few blocks and you're on Algiers Point. Live blues, jazz and R&B play three or four nights a week. The beer is cold and the regulars have been coming for decades. Stay for the skyline across the river.
Pip’s Tip Ferry over for blues on Algiers Point
An old Central City lounge on Washington Avenue that's been brought back to life. It has red naugahyde seats, a black-and-white checkered dance floor and second-line memorabilia on the walls. The house motto is 'Calm down, cool off, cocktails,' and on Tuesdays there are cheap tacos and margaritas.
Pip’s Tip Checkered dance floor, second-line memorabilia
Bullet Garcia's Seventh Ward room is grown folks only, 25 and up, and he runs it with set-ups, Saints games and Kermit Ruffins on Thursdays. He has put the place up for sale, so go now while he's still behind the bar.
Members pull up first for a Thursday set-up at Bullet's: half-pints, ice, horns, and the family on the next stool.
Dive bars are one chapter of Pip's Lifestyle, find the whiskey bars, lounges, steakhouses and the Domino Club below.
