Make Yourself at Home in the Heart of the French Quarter.

The French Quarter has been making gay folks feel at home for about as long as anyone can remember. And that’s true whether you’re a resident, a recent transplant, or a visitor. The Quarter is the Quarter, and that means who you are, and what you do, ain’t nobody’s business but your own.

The Heart of it all was the Start of it all.

Lots of folks who visit New Orleans, and even some who live there, don’t realize that the French Quarter (or Vieux Carré) is the site of the original French settlement - the very place where New Orleans began in 1718. And indeed, almost three hundred years later, it’s still the spiritual heart of the city, and the place where residents and visitors alike go to “let their hair down.”

The French Quarter is also still at the heart of the city’s “Gay” scene, (although it has been steadilly branching out into the Marigny for the past fifteen years or so). Bars, restaurants, shops and galleries are many, and varied. And although most gay boys prefer to hang out in one of the many gay bars in the French Quarter, you’d be hard pressed to find a restaurant, hotel, shop or art gallery that doesn’t open its arms to the Gay community.

Bar Crawling through the Quarter (and the Marigny).

It would be difficult to make it all the way through the Quarter (and the Marigny) if you tried to hit every gay bar, and have just one drink at each one. OK. So you could try. And if you did, your journey would more than likely end in a “crawl.” Drinks in New Orleans are not for the faint of heart. And there’s no shortage of gay bars in which to buy one! Nor is there a shortage of bar variations. Whatever your pleasure, there’s bound to be someplace where you’ll feel right at home. Take a look at a few...

Big Daddy’s, 2513 Royal Street (in the Marigney) - Neighborhood Bar with live entertainment. A local favorite.

Bywater Barbecue, Lorenzo’s, OutBack Bar, 3162 Dauphine -Popular restaurant/pizzeria and bar. Lots of barbeque, burgers, sandwiches, pasta, pizza, salads and specials.
Bourbon Pub & Parade Disco, 801 Bourbon Street - The largest gay nightclub in New Orleans. It’s downstairs bar has been consistently voted “the best happy hour in New Orleans,” while the upstairs dance club, the Parade (Disco), is known for its fabulous and flirtatious balconies and its popular dance floor light show.

Cafe Lafitte in Exile,
901 Bourbon Street - The “oldest gay bar in the country” features two floors of music and video, and a popular balcony. Tennessee Williams is said to have frequented Lafitte’s while he lived in New Orleans.

Corner Pocket, 940 St. Louis St.
The Corner Pocket is a cozy neighborhood place that also has male dancers and drag shows .

Cowpokes, 2240 St. Claude
New Orleans’ only country/western bar offers dance lessons, Country Dancing, and Lube Wrestling.

Golden Lantern, 1239 Royal Street Neighborhood bar, and the second oldest Gay bar in the City.

Good Friends, 740 Dauphine Street
Great locals bar, and a favorite because there’s never a cover.

Le Roundup, 819 St Louis Street
Popular with everybody - from drag queens to trannies to hotties!

Ninth Circle at Congo Square,
700 N. Rampart Street, Neighborhood bar on the edge of the Quarter.

Oz, 800 Bourbon Street, New Orleans’ best high energy dance club. Most folks say that the biggest attraction at Oz is the dance floor (although some would argue it’s the strippers!).

Rawhide, 2010, 740 Burgundy Street - New Orleans’ only Levi/Leather bar.

And there are more...but enough about the bars. Let’s move on to the food!

Eating in the Quarter.

Food is a New Orleans tradition, and the French Quarter has more than its fair share of wonderful, and world-class restaurants (not to mention celebrity chefs). Start your day with breakfast. Go (somewhat) light at Cafe Du Monde on Decatur Street at Jackson Square, and do some people watching while you chow down on fresh Beignets and sip hot Cafe au lait. Or, you might prefer to enjoy a hearty breakfast, Bourbon Street style, at the Clover Grill (which serves breakfast and burgers twenty four hours a day). Either way, you’re sure to come away satisfied.

Brunch more your style? You can’t go wrong at Brennan’s, or at the Court of Two Sisters. Brennan’s offers great New Orleans originals like Eggs Benedict or Oysters Benedict, and the Court of Two Sisters lays out an all-you-can-eat Brunch selection that simply can’t be beat!

Lunch can be varied, but is never light in New Orleans. The Central Grocery makes up muffelettas to order that can feed an army (or make a couple of ever-so-filling meals for you and your boyfriend!). The Gumbo Shop offers every traditional New Orleans dish you can imagine - jambalaya, red beans and rice, crawfish ettouffee - and, of course, the perinneal favorite, and its namesake - gumbo! Or maybe you’re in the mood for a Po-Boy Sandwich. There’s no place better to find one than at Johnny’s Po-Boys on St. Louis Street. They’ve got them in all your favorite flavors - roast beef, fried shrimp, or fried oyster!

Afternoon snacks, assuming you can still move after breakfast and lunch, just have to include some fresh Pecan Pralines. Every time I visit it seems they’ve come up with more variations, but for me the basic pecan praline is still the very best. Still hungry?
Walk right on over to La Marquise Pastry Shop and order up some of their great French pastries. It’s surely sugar heaven!

Dinner brings out the best in the Quarter, and there’s no shortage of world-class selections. Chef Paul Prudhomme’s original K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen (where he created “blackened” cuisine) is conveniently located down on the 400 block of Chartres (although the line to get in may wrap around a couple of corners on a weekend night). Brennan’s, (even better for dinner), is another good choice (as are the other seven or so Brennan family restaurants located in the Quarter). And of course Galatoire’s still serves up the very best French Creole cuisine amidst elegant surroundings. Enough? Not really. When I started looking at the list of great restaurants in the Quarter (where I’ve eaten at least once), I quickly realized there simply wasn’t enough room to list them all. In the end, it’s hard to find a bad restaurant in the Quarter. The trick is figuring out a way to stay long enough to visit each and every one of them!