New Orleans Tiki?

My husband and I will be in New Orleans for 3 days next month. Are there any tikis to be found there? I thought Alnshely had mentioned it before, but I can't seem to find it.

Mahalo!

Stefani

I never got around to posting my New Orleans Tiki search. So I'll do it now. There's not a lot of Tiki in New Orleans, but, the bars are worthy of note. Go to Borders or Barnes and Noble and pick up a book called "Obituary Cocktail". The Obituary Cocktail is a Martini made with a splash of Absinthe, and, this book chronicles the most interesting bars in a city of interesting bars. A must have guide if you plan to drink in the city of New Orleans. For instance there is Lafitte's, the oldest structure in America that houses a bar. It was the actual building where The legendary pirate Lafitte ran his nefarious empire. Also there is the Absinthe house where legend says Lafitte met with Stonewall Jackson to discuss the fortification of the city before the Battle of New Orleans. Or the Napoleon House which was built to house the deposed general in a failed attempt to free him from exile. Very interesting stuff. There are also these interesting bars on Bourbon Street.




If you go to Rat's Hole do not have the Rat Attack, it sucks.

Legend has it that the Cocktail was invented in New Orleans. A pharmacist named Peychaud came up with a medicine for stomach ailments, Brandy and Peychaud's own Bitters. It was served in a French egg cup called a Coqutier. the American bastardization of this term is cocktail. They still use Peychaud's bitters to make the Sazerac, A new Orleans staple. Pic taken at the Pharmacy Museum in the quarter.

A point of curiosity for the hard core Tiki file is Pat O'Brian's 718 St.Peter Street. Pat's is the birthplace of the Hurricane, a Tiki Bar staple. The place is huge, with several bars, fountains and seating areas. They serve a variety of tropicals, many of them good. The Jab asked if they made the Hurricane at Pat's with a dry mix. They sell a dry mix in the gift shop, also a bottled mix. I don't think the drink is made with a powdered mix, but, it is a vat drink, not made to order. Beachbum Berry got his recipe from Pat's and it does taste like the one I make at home, it's good.





Another bar of interest is the Aft End Bar at the hotel Monteleone, 214 Rue Royale. Nautical in theme, they have a good raw seafood bar. If you go also visit the world famous Carousel Bar, it's in the hotel too.



There are two interesting Chinese restaurants I visited. One is the Hong Kong, 7400 Lakeshore Dr. There's another bar in Metarie I visited a couple years ago. I forget the name and I don't know where it is, but, they have a nice little Tiki Bar that serves in Tiki Mugs. Both places serve acceptable drinks, nothing to write home about.



The Blue Petunia at Petunia's 817 St Louis St. A good drink vodka, blue curacao and lemonade

Misc Tikis ?


Taken at Marie Laveau's Voodoo Shop
Sharkheads in Biloxi Missisipi.

Misc NO

[ Edited by: Alnshely 2011-04-11 17:05 ]

GREAT pics!! I'm especially fond of the first one of O'Brien's with the arsenel of cocktails; as for the bad boy on the right - now THAT'S a mai tai... :D

New Orleans is my favorite city in the U.S.! I try to get there obnce a year, usually for XMAS. Not a lot of Tiki stuff, but good place to find old mugs from the Bali Hai, or Huki Lau. Well, I don't find any, but people do.

Napoleon House is the BEST...just the best. When I die, well don't think I'm nut, don't want no fancy funeral, just wanna be propped up at the end of the bar at Napoleon House!

midnite

Many bars in the French Quarter serve slushie machine drinks, even Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop, so I recommend you avoid most of Bourbon Street for serious drinking (unless you want to check out the strip clubs or just people-watch). I would check out Lafitte's for the atmosphere but not for the drinks.

The best Sazeracs and Ramos Gin Fizzes in the city are served at the Sazerac bar in the Fairmount Hotel (there since 1893). The bartenders there really know their craft. They actually own the rights to the drinks names.
http://www.neworleansonline.com/neworleans/nightlife/sazerac.html

The food in New Orleans is amazing. I went to Commander's Palace and had what was probably the best meal of my life (and one of the most expensive and elegant). Bring a jacket and tie with you because they are more picky about dress there then in, say San Francisco. There are dozens of other equally great restaurants around. Overall, I think the food is even better then it is in San Francisco.

Oh, yes, the Napoleon House makes a great Sazerac too!

One of the best places I remember from N.O. was this bar that was totally heavy metal themed. It only opened at midnight and was filled with skulls and and dungeon stuff with an all-heavy metal jukebox. It was the height of EvilCamp! I was there in 1998, and I can't remember the name, but it was no more than a block or two off Bourbon St. in the Quarter. Can anyone help- is it still there?

-martin

You're right, it's called The Dungeon and it's been there for quite a while. I remember going there in 1982 or 1983. I bet gothtikifish has been there (or else wants to go)!
http://www.originaldungeon.com/enter.html

Oh man! What memories! I actually DID die and was propped up at the end of the bar in the Napolean House! Actually I stayed right next door and visited there nightly on my way out on the town, so I felt like a permanent fixture. And the piano bar in the back at Lafitte Blacksmith's is much fun.

For a city so renowned for it's drinking, there are surprisingly few places to get a "good" drink. The m. o. there seems to be "fill the kids full of goopy hurricanes and hose the streets down in the morning." Honestly, after 3 or 4 weeks of that and I was bored :wink:

As for P o'B's, the fire fountain in the courtyard is neat-o. And I can't believe I actually have been to the Dungeon, too, at Siggraph in '96. Ruder security people you will find nowhere (and WE were well-behaved).

Wish I had someplace to recommend visiting while there, but I usually stayed out in the Garden District and rarely made it to Bourbon Street (which can be visited for a little as ten minutes and you don't really need to go back, except for more bad drinks and strip clubs, if that's your poisen). I had friends who were expert bartenders and made me drinks no bar could touch, so I rarely bothered.

Oh wait, for an interesting experience, go to The Alibi around 4am when most of the bars & strip clubs close - there's quite an "interesting" influx of customers and the place hops til about 8am! You can get bad food and drink there all night.

Good luck with the heat!

Stefani,

I’m afraid there’s not much as far as Tiki bars in the Big Easy. As a New Orleans native, I was lucky enough to have visited some locally popular tiki bars/restaurants such as the Bali Hai at the beach and Huki Lau in Metairie, but those are now long gone. But, if you’re in the mood for tiki hunting (mugs etc.), I would suggest that you visit Magazine Street. It’s located in the Garden District (very short distance from the French Quarter) and is six miles of antique shops, cafes and very unique shopping. No tourist stuff here. My wife and I go there quite often and I have yet to come home “Tikiless”. There are a few places on Magazine that you can shop that always seem to have something tiki. Try “Big Boy Toys”. They usually have the newer mainstream tiki mugs and bar supplies but also carry a small selection of Shag items such as stickers, patches and lighters. Also, visit this day and beauty spa, Belladonna. It may sound strange, but in the front of the spa is a small gift shop that carries a very nice selection of Tiki Farm mugs. There is also an antique shop (the name escapes me) that is close to Belladonna, which deals in the 50’s & 60’s modern home furnishings. Great items such as vintage lamps with fiberglass shades, Eames pieces and they usually have a nice selection of tiki mugs. The last time I was in there, they had this fantastic, vintage bamboo bar with 2 matching stools for I believe $295! If I hadn’t just built my bar, I would have bought it.

Hope this helps,
TikiRob

Almost forgot the link:
http://www.magazinestreet.com/

This may have been posted somewhere else already (I searched and couldn't find any though). In this recent article in the Times-Picayune, it states that Beachbum Berry has relocated to New Orleans and is looking to open a tiki bar there. Wow

http://www.nola.com/drink/index.ssf/2012/06/tiki_expert_recounts_amazing_l.html#incart_river

Yep!

I posted in this thread a little about the Tiki that's beginning to take shape here in NOLA, although I forgot to post a link to the TP article (mahalo!).

I figured we could start a new thread when there was more concrete info to be had, since all these threads are kinda old...

:)

[ Edited by: Haole'akamai 2012-07-11 19:24 ]

Thanks Haole'akamai.

[ Edited by: arriano 2012-07-12 13:30 ]