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In New Orleans, every hour is happy hour, but the happiest hours are those where drinks are half-priced and plentiful. There is nothing I like more at the end of the work day than going to my favorite local watering hole and having a few of my favorite cocktails. There are seven days in a week (as we all know) so I’ve compiled a list of seven of my favorite different drinking spots in the city that offer delicious drink specials for under $7.00.
Happy Hours are Happier in New Orleans
Monday – Restaurant Lüke (333 St. Charles Avenue) Lüke is one of my favorite places to go after work with a group of friends. They offer 50¢ oysters and half-priced beer and wine as well as specialty drinks. In addition to the extensive beer selection, Lüke also offers three house brews. Raw oysters and good beer are two of my weaknesses and, lucky for me, Lüke serves both. The Lüke happy hour can be experienced Monday – Friday 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm.
Tuesday – La Petite Grocery (4238 Magazine Street). La Petite is a fabulous happy hour spot if you’re catching up with girlfriends, looking for a more upscale atmosphere or meeting a client. Their happy hour includes a featured cocktail for $5.00 and vodka martinis (another weakness of mine) for $6.00. They also offer glasses of house wine, one red and one white, for $5.00. If you happen to get the munchies while you’re sitting in their beautiful bar, you can order from their two happy hour appetizers: pom frites or blue crab beignets. Le Petite Grocery offers happy hour Tuesday – Friday 5:30 pm – 6:30 pm.
Wednesday – The Bulldog Mid-City (5135 Canal Boulevard) and the Bulldog Uptown (3236 Magazine Street). The Bulldog is one of my favorite places to drink beer and has a great patio. They offer weekly happy hour specials but my favorite day of the week to go to either of the Bulldogs is Wednesday. Each Wednesday the Bulldog has “Pint Night,” you get 50¢ off each pint you buy and $1.00 off each pitcher but you get to keep your pint glass. There have been days I’ve left the Bulldog’s Pint Night with 10 pint glasses in my bag. The best part about the Bulldog Pint Night is that for every 20 glasses they get back, they donate $10 to the local SPCA. Both Bulldogs offer daily happy hours, Monday – Friday 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
Thursday – The Maison (504 Frenchmen Street). Spring in New Orleans means beautiful weather and plentiful crawfish. Every Thursday The Maison on Frenchmen offers a non-stop boil from 7:00 pm until there’s non left! And, at just $5/lb plus corn and potatoes with $5 pitchers of High Life and Abita and free music, it’s hard not to have a good time! Maison offers daily happy hours and drink specials.
Friday – Clever Wine Bar (3700 Orleans Avenue). Sometimes, you just want to relax with a glass of wine, and sometimes those days are often. Lucky for us, Clever, a wine destination, offers up one of the best wine happy hours around. Choose from 5 different bottles of wine and enjoy a glass for just $4.00. They also have $4.00 vodka or gin martinis, if wine isn’t your thing. I like to go here on Fridays and grab a glass with the gals, but they run Happy Hour specials all week long from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
Saturday – Cure (4905 Freret Street). Cure is one of the local pioneers in hand-crafted cocktails. Nothing about their drink menu is “normal” and this isn’t a place to come and enjoy a beer. But, for as creative as they are in their developing of new cocktails, they also respect and hold strong the classics. Every Saturday from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm enjoy a classic cocktail for just $5.00. I prefer to visit Cure on the weekends when I really have time to enjoy the cocktails but they offer the classic cocktail special everyday.
Sunday — Bar Tonique (820 North Rampart Street). It’s uncommon for many bars to offer weekend happy hours and drink specials, but Bar Tonique is all about it. My favorite day is Sunday because they offer $5.00 Mai Tais, which, admittedly, is one of the girliest drinks out there and also one of the most delicious. And, this isn’t just any Mai Tai. Bar Tonique takes their cocktails very seriously and everything is artfully and skillfully crafted with care. But, if a $5.00 Mai Tai isn’t your thing, they also offer a plethora of other cocktails and every day there is a different special.
So those are 7 of my favorite places to quench my thirst in NOLA. Where do you like to grab a cocktail?
