gay guide to NOLA

March 13, 2008 9:17 PM

Tell me about gay bars in New Orleans.

I'm staying with a friend for the next ten days in New Orleans. I'm gay and she's not, so she's not a great source of info about the gay bars in her city. She lives in the Marigny, which I know is near quite a few bars, and I could just try going into them and seeing what there is to see. But maybe you guys will have some insight about a little-known bar, or a night when a particular bar is really fun, or something like that.

I'm a 24 year old guy. I've been to NOLA before but haven't done much in the way of gay while I was there. I like laid-back, more neighborhood-y bars. I also like bear bars. Not a big fan of clubs.

Thanks in advance!

posted by fugitivefromchaingang to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

I'm not gay, but I do drive a cab in New Orleans, so I might have a little insight here.

The bottom end of the French Quarter--that is, the one closest to the Marigny--has a pretty high density of gay clubs and bars. At St. Ann and Bourbon is Parade (which most people still call The Pub) and Oz. These are really clubby...they're pretty much like any other Bourbon St club, except the drunken 20-year-olds dancing on the bars are skinny dudes instead of sorority girls.

Within a few blocks of there is Good Friends and Lafitte's Landing, which are a lot less crazy and not nearly as loud. (Don't confuse Lafitte's Landing with Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, which is right around there and isn't specifically a gay bar. I recommend it, though.) I'd hesitate to call them neighborhood bars, per se, because they're in the French Quarter and therefore susceptible to all sorts of random skeevy people coming through.

Also around the bottom of the Quarter is Rawhide and The Roundup. These are obviously a little rough around the edges, though I wouldn't exactly call them dangerous. Based on the people I pick up or drop off, The Rawhide seems to be a club for normal dudes who are into a more "serious" scene and who don't want to hang out with the college kids and straight girls and tourists who gravitate to The Pub and the Oz. The Roundup is a bit more iffy...I get a lot of users, losers, and abusers out of there. However, it also has a lot of old school Quarter types who seem like they've been going there for 100 years.

(I'll put it like this...if you were my younger brother, I wouldn't mind you going to The Rawhide, but I'd be a little sketched out if you called me from The Roundup.)

Over on North Rampart is a string of gay bars, like The Ninth Circle and a few others, that are probably not dangerous but are pretty sketchy. Many things seem to be for sale there.

These are by no means the only gay bars in the Quarter, but these are the big ones. Pretty much any bar in the back half of the Quarter is, if not explicitly a gar bar, at least very gay-friendly.

Down in the Marigny is The Phoenix, which is probably the closest thing to a bear bar we have. It's also--I don't know a delicate way to put this--a bar where guys go to, uh, meet each other and relieve each other's stress. I've never been inside, so I don't know what the atmosphere is, but the patrons I get in my cab are nice, respectful, and normal. And free of stress.

(I feel like I'm gonna get blasted for using the word "normal" to mean educated middle-class professionals who aren't coked-up disasters or tragic drama queens or rent boy meth addicts. To which I can only say that I don't want my advice to get you into a bad situation.)

Around the Quarter from the Phoenix is another Western-themed bar I can't quite remember the name of. I don't know a lot about it...it's a local's bar, so most of the patrons walk home instead of take my cab. The nerve!

There's another neighborhood gay bar in the Marigny whose name I also can't remember. To be fair, it doesn't have a sign out front. Tell your hostess it's the blue building on the 2400 block of Chartres. You'll see the rainbow neon light in the window.

These last two bars have always struck me as a bit insular and even a bit dull, like all neighborhood bars I guess.

Mimi's, in the Marigny, isn't a gay bar, but it's definitely one of the more happening of the local joints. It's one of the few Marigny bars I go to.

My email address is in my profile...drop me a line and I'll hook you up with a secret numerical code that, when entered into your cell phone, will contact me. Sorcery! Chauffering vacationing MeFites around is the closest I get to a meet-up...

(This offer is good for anyone else reading this, too, even if the thread is archived. Send me some mail, be a MeFite in good standing, and I'll take care of you. I believe that Jessamyn will give me a good reference.)
posted by Ian A.T. at 1:47 AM on March 14 [9 favorites]

IAANG (I am also not gay), but I did spend some time wandering around a few gay bars in The Quarter just for the experience. Basically, wandering around Bourbon (and the side streets off of it) around St Ann will yield a variety of different gay or gay-friendly places.

It's not a bar, but I recommend The Clover Grill which is right on Bourbon somewhere close to St Ann. It's a small, cool diner with great late-night, gay-friendly burgers.

Also, I'd like to second Ian A.T's recommendation of Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop. That was my favorite bar that I found in NOLA. I went there alone several times, and always ended up in a great conversation with the bartenders and/or fellow travelers.

The one thing that I wish that I'd did in New Orleans that I didn't get to: calling Ian A.T.
posted by TurkishGolds at 6:04 AM on March 14

IANG, but I hung out in a bar on Decatur called Aunt Tiki’s that I think was a gay bar. It was a very low-key dive, and seemed to cater to the hipster locals. I think I was there on a week night, because my friends and I were nearly the only patrons, but the bartender was very friendly.
posted by breaks the guidelines? at 7:02 AM on March 14

Just a quick note to say that I also recommend the Clover Grill and that Ian A.T. is a swell tour guide.
posted by jessamyn at 7:33 AM on March 14

My boss loves The Corner Pocket. I'm not exactly sure why. It's a small bar with a bunch of twinks in sneakers and underwear wandering around so you can tip them. It's kind of fun if you're there with a bunch of friends, but going there by yourself might be remarkably weird.


That said, when I went there I thought some of the boys were cute. And it was kind of interesting, 'cause we don't have places like that where I live.
posted by hapticactionnetwork at 12:37 PM on March 14

Well shit, Ian A.T. pretty much summed it up! Locals refer to St. Ann as the "Lavender Line" - a.k.a. when you are going down Bourbon, once you cross it you're in homo-zone. :)

If you do feel like going to a club, I recommend the Pub over Oz. As a straight female, I enjoy the Pub, so your friend might also. Thursday is "Student Body" night, which is fun.

I do also recommend Mimi's in the Marigny as a fun place in general. I'm willing to bet your friend goes there already.
posted by radioamy at 8:33 PM on March 16

There's another neighborhood gay bar in the Marigny whose name I also can't remember. To be fair, it doesn't have a sign out front. Tell your hostess it's the blue building on the 2400 block of Chartres. You'll see the rainbow neon light in the window.


I believe that one is called "Cowpokes." a country western dance club.

Gay New Orleans has a rather comprehensive list and short description of all the gay bars in New Orleans.
posted by aigledouble at 9:05 AM on March 31