The Top 16 Cocktail Bars in New Orleans
The best cocktail bars in New Orleans, by the professional record: James Beard Awards, 50 Best, and Spirited Awards have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Jewel of the South comes out on top.
The Sazerac Bar and Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29 hold the next two places. Spirited Awards shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Difford's Guide close behind.
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Rank 1. Jewel of the South
Southern Cocktail Bar
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Winner · Outstanding Bar
- 50 Best #44 · The World's 50 Best Bars
- 50 Best #6 · North America's 50 Best Bars
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Rank 2. The Sazerac Bar
Cocktail Bar
The Sazerac Bar holds the rights to both the Sazerac cocktail and the Ramos Gin Fizz, which says something about the confidence of the Roosevelt Hotel's lobby bar. Dark wood paneling, murals, and a long bar that has been drawing New Orleans in formal and informal attire for generations. It's sophisticated without being stiff, which is a harder trick than it sounds in a city that takes its drinks this seriously.
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Top 4 Finalist · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Difford's Guide 3.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Eater These Are the Very Best Bars in New Orleans
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Rank 3. Beachbum Berry’s Latitude 29
Tiki Cocktail Bar
Jeff "Beachbum" Berry wrote the books that revived tiki culture, and then he went and opened a bar. Latitude 29 sits inside a French Quarter hotel, all mid-century lines and lauhala matting, with a chunky oak bar backed by a tiki map of the world. It leans sophisticated rather than plastic-hula-girl, and the rum and fruit cocktails are the serious kind, made by people who know exactly what they're doing.
- Difford's Guide 5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Eater These Are the Very Best Bars in New Orleans
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Bar Team – U.S. Central
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Rank 4. NightBloom
Cocktail Bar
- Eater Best New Bar
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best New U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 5. Arnaud's French 75 Bar
French Cocktail Bar
- Difford's Guide 4.5 stars · Difford's Guide
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Top 4 Finalist · Best U.S. Restaurant Bar
- Eater These Are the Very Best Bars in New Orleans
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Rank 5. Manolito
Classic Cuban
- Eater These Are the Very Best Bars in New Orleans
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 7. Sylvain
Cocktail Bar
- Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Robert LeBlanc - LeBlanc + Smith
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- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Cocktail Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 8. Hot Tin
Cocktail Bar
- Spirited Awards 2025 · Regional Top 10 Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
- Spirited Awards 2024 · Regional Honoree · Best U.S. Hotel Bar – U.S. Central
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Rank 11. Jolie
French Cocktail Bar
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Rank 12. Barrel Proof
Cocktail Bar
- Eater These Are the Very Best Bars in New Orleans
- James Beard Awards 2024 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Robert LeBlanc - LeBlanc + Smith
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Rank 13. Tonique
Cocktail Bar
A square dark-oak bar juts from the wall of this candlelit room on the edge of the French Quarter, just opposite the Louis Armstrong Park arch, which tells you the tourists haven't found it yet. Tonique is a neighborhood cocktail bar that takes its drinks seriously without taking itself seriously, a combination rarer than it sounds. The wine and beer lists hold their own alongside the cocktails, and the vibe is exactly as low-pretense as the place promises.
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Rank 13. Tujague’s
Cocktail Bar
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Rank 15. Erin Rose
Irish Cocktail Bar
Frozen Irish Coffees come out of a slushie machine here, and locals have been treating that as a perfectly reasonable life choice for a long time. Erin Rose is a small, dark Irish bar just off Bourbon Street, walls thick with photos, neon, and memorabilia that nobody has bothered to organize and nobody wants removed. Guinness and Harp on tap, conversation guaranteed from both sides of the bar, and a crowd that skews more neighborhood than tourist strip.
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Rank 15. Pat O'Brien’s Bar
Cocktail Bar
The Hurricane, that tall, rum-soaked fruit bomb, is said to have been born here, though New York City has lodged a competing claim. Either way, Pat O'Brien's is where it became a phenomenon, and five bars spread across several rooms and a sprawling courtyard ensure you have ample space to test that theory. The carriageway entrance, lined with crossed muskets, sets the tone before you even order.