Your Starting Point For Letting The Good Times Roll In The Big Easy
New Orleans is one of the world’s great nightlife cities, and PubClub has been covering the Big Easy for years. This guide brings together our firsthand reports on Bourbon Street bars, local nightlife, restaurants, sightseeing, Mardi Gras, JazzFest, New Year’s Eve and more. Consider this your starting point for letting the good times roll in New Orleans. This article is continually being updated.
By Kevin Wilkerson, Editor & Publisher, PubClub.com
New Orleans is a city that has gotten it right.
While most other places struggle to deal with excessive partying, New Orleans opens its doors and welcomes in the crowd. It is a perfect party host, a place so inviting that it adds to the existing frenzy with huge events such as Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest and New Year’s Eve.
It’s called The Big Easy because the parties are big and they are easy to find. This is a town built for fun where people walk casually down the streets with a large cocktail in hand and bars have no set closing time. It is laid-back, late-night, non-stop entertainment with a musicial, historical and have-fun heritage. What happens in New Orelans stays in New Orleans. That’s because we can’t remember what happened in New Orleans!
New Orleans is part Key West, part Las Vegas, part Spring Break, part Greek Islands. But with a rich cultural heritage, it is also distinctly New Orleans.
At some point, it seems as if the entire world has passed through what the locals call “Nawlens.” Truman Capote is from New Orleans, Tennessee Williams and Mark Twain spent considerable time here and tributes to Jean Lafitte are everywhere.
Lafitte was a local hero and pirate who joined Andrew Jackson to fend off the British invasion at the end of the War of 1812. Legend has it that he had two wives and six mistresses but that’s largely been debunked. “That makes him a hero to me,” said singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett, who started his legendary music career on Bourbon Street. For us, it represents what makes this city and its people so uniquely New Orleans.
So we are proud to present our complete city guide to New Orleans. Click the links below to hop on our virtual party bus to learn all about letting the good times roll in the Big Easy.
New Orleans Visitor Information
Our pre-party orientation guide provides the essential information you need before visiting New Orleans, from getting around and understanding the French Quarter to weather, transportation and nightlife. This is what you should know before heading to Bourbon Street.
• Start here with our New Orleans Visitor’s Guide
New Orleans Nightlife: The Best Bars On Bourbon Street
• Start your nightlife exprience here with this complete guide to the best Bourbon Street bars
• The 5 Do’s And Don’ts of Borbon Street bars
• Check out our favorite French Quarter bars.
New Orleans Local Bars: Nightlife Beyond Bourbon Street
Bourbon Street attracts visitors from around the world, but much of the local nightlife scene takes place elsewhere. PubClub has followed New Orleans locals to their favorite watering holes on Frenchmen Street, in the Warehouse District, Uptown and beyond.
• Party with the locals at these bars on Frenchmen Street, in the Warehouse District and beyond.
The Nightlife Blogger In New Orleans
For a first-person perspective, pull up a barstool with The Nightlife Blogger for stories and observations gathered over years of partying in New Orleans.
• Fallingnder The Magical Spell Of New Orleans
• How I Spent $30 in 30 Seconds On Bourbon Street
• Taking A New Orleans Pub Crawl On The St. Charles Streetcar
New Orleans Food & Restaurants
New Orleans is one of America’s great food cities, with a cuisine as distinctive as its nightlife. From gumbo and po-boys to muffulettas, oysters and legendary restaurants, eating is an essential part of the Big Easy experience.
• Learn about and enjoy New Orleans’ distinctive cuisine in our dining and restaurant guide.
Things To Do In New Orleans
Yes, there is considerably more to do in New Orleans than drink. When it’s time to put down the Hand Grenade, explore the French Quarter, ride the streetcars, see Mardi Gras floats, visit the National WWII Museum or head into the Louisiana swamps.
• Here’s what to do when not slamming drinks in Post Party.
New Orleans Events
New Orleans doesn’t simply host events — it turns them into citywide celebrations. PubClub has boots-on-the-ground guides to some of the biggest, including Mardi Gras, JazzFest, New Year’s Eve and the Sugar Bowl.
• Check out the boots-on-the-ground guides to the city’s major events: Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, New Year’s Eve and the Sugar Bowl!