3 Ways to Rock a NOLA Weekend: Locals Share Their Secrets

New Orleans may well have invented weekend partying.

As Friday rolls around, neighborhood fetes abound, with happy feet dancing from the Treme to uptown on Freret. Local art, live music and good eats are the common denominators, regardless of where the good times unfold.

This is a town that throws parties to honor the homely mirliton squash and local Creole tomato. We celebrate oysters, fried chicken, gumbo and Louisiana seafood on the regular.

Here are some locals’ tips on how to rock your next New Orleans weekend.

The Road Less Traveled

When Shanika “Tru” Beatty takes you for a ride, hold on tight. Beatty, the founder of the Caramel Curves Motorcycle Club, was featured in the Unexpected Tour Guide series carried on the @VisitNewOrleans IGTV channel. Her idea of showing a newbie around town delivers a few delicious surprises.

“I always take folks to Lakeview and West End,” said the high-energy fashion plate.“So many tourists miss our views of Lake Pontchartrain, but it’s a beautiful place to drink a daiquiri, eat crawfish and watch the sunset.”

City Park, with its gorgeous live oak trees, is another place she likes to ride and connect with the city’s green side. “That’s where I go to feel calm and serene.”

A big burger fan, Beatty recommends hitting Port of Call on the edge of the Quarter for a chargrilled burger, loaded baked potato and a Monsoon. “That’s their version of a hurricane — it’s strong; you only need one.” Another favorite spot for burgers is the Camellia Grill on Carrollton. “It’s really quaint, like an old-fashioned diner.” Her fave? The One Eyed Buck burger with a fried egg on top.

Although she isn’t big on clubbing, Beatty like to smoke a cigar and heads to cigar bars, including Dos Jefes Uptown, with its live jazz; the Mayan Import Co. on Magazine; and Whiskey & Sticks, a sweet spot on Bayou Road just off of Broad Street.

Looking for the perfect treasure to bring home? She recommends heading to Frenchmen Street for music, of course, but also to visit the Palace night art market where, in between bar hopping, local jewelry and art will tempt.

Deep Dive

Whether you’re in town for the weekend to celebrate the big game, a festival or a special event, chances are, cocktails will flow. Here, thanks to an open-container law, “walk-tails” can be ordered to go, and the bar is set high when it comes to creative mixology.

Bars divey and haute await. On the dive side, the Chart Room, sits on the corner of Chartres and Bienville, and pours the cheapest drinks in the Quarter. Retreat into the Chart Room’s dark confines and anything can happen.

Head to the Bywater, downriver from the Quarter by about two miles, and hit up Saturn Bar, a quintessential dive. Heck, Mick Jagger partied here before he was eligible for Social Security. The place always looks closed, but if the chain isn’t on the door, step inside. You’ll find feisty bartenders, grand graffiti and on one Saturday a month, an epic mod dance party.

Drinking Fancy

Trending on the haute side, Manolito and Jewel of the South are two French Quarter gems shaking heady drinks. Both are run by bar guru Chris Hannah, who won a James Beard Award for his bar program when he was at Arnaud’s French 75, and the cocktails are pitch perfect.

Absolutely get the frozen guava daiquiri at the Cuban-accented Manolito on Dumaine. At Jewel, just steps away from Armstrong Park on St. Louis, everything is amazing, but Tuxedo Tails, an elegant riff on a gin martini made with sherry, maraschino liqueur and a shake of orange bitters is umami in a glass — especially when paired with the pickled quail egg garnish. Do it.

From festivaling to feasting, touring to bar hopping, New Orleans delivers the kind of good times on a weekend getaway you just can’t find anywhere else on the planet.

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