The AllWays Lounge & Cabaret

The AllWays Lounge & Cabaret is the performance heart of queer New Orleans outside the French Quarter. Behind its red-lit facade on St Claude Avenue hides a velvet-curtained lounge and a back theatre where the calendar runs from drag and burlesque to experimental theatre, comedy and live bands. The programming is defiantly local and queer-led; many of the city's best-known drag and burlesque performers cut their teeth on this stage. Cover charges stay low and the bar pours honest drinks. Check the online calendar before you go, as the room changes character nightly. It anchors the St Claude arts corridor along with Kajun's Pub opposite, and it is a ten-minute walk from the Frenchmen Street clubs.