Best Gay Bars & Clubs in New Orleans

Gay bars in New Orleans don't follow the same rules as the rest of the US. There's no last call. Bars can stay open 24 hours if they want. You leave with a go cup. The French Quarter streets between venues are just extensions of the bars themselves. Once you get this, it changes how you plan your night—and how long your nights end up being.

The core of the gay bar scene is the stretch of Bourbon Street from St. Ann Street north to Dumaine Street. Bourbon and St. Ann is the informal center of this strip. Most of the established gay venues are within half a block. The Marigny neighborhood, a 10-minute walk east of the Quarter, has more bars with a local feel.

Bourbon Street: The Gay Strip

The gay end of Bourbon Street has been a queer space since at least the 1950s. These bars cater to tourists. They know visitors are coming and are set up for them. But locals are there too—especially on weeknights and during city events. The two crowds get along just fine.

Bourbon Street's setup—open-front bars, balconies overlooking the street, people moving between places with drinks—creates one continuous party. You're not really leaving one bar and entering another; you're just moving between zones of the same big space. This is especially true during Southern Decadence and Mardi Gras, when the street completely fills up.

A few places have balconies looking over Bourbon Street. These are in high demand during events and often require buying a drink package for access during peak times. On a normal weekend, you can usually get up there with a regular drink purchase.

The Marigny

Faubourg Marigny, just east of the French Quarter along Frenchmen Street and the surrounding blocks, is where New Orleans residents go out. Frenchmen Street has live music seven nights a week in places from tiny rooms to mid-sized clubs. The queer presence here is strong—several bars on and near Frenchmen are explicitly gay or queer-friendly, and the whole neighborhood is accepting.

The Marigny scene is quieter on weeknights and livelier on weekends. The music's generally better than on Bourbon Street. The crowds are younger and more local. If you want to see New Orleans as residents do, not just as a tourist, spend at least one night here.

The Bars

• Bourbon Pub & Parade — Two venues in one, across from Oz on Bourbon Street. The street-level video bar and the upstairs Parade dance club. It's the other half of Oz, completing the Lavender Line's anchor block.
• Oz New Orleans — The big gay nightclub at Bourbon and St Ann. New Orleans' main LGBTQ+ dance club, open 24 hours in a city that never closes. It's anchored the French Quarter's Lavender Line since 1993.
• Golden Lantern — The local gay bar at the edge of the French Quarter and the Marigny. An institution with an older, mixed crowd, a no-frills vibe, and the real character of a bar that hasn't changed in decades.
• Good Friends Bar — The gay bar a block off Bourbon Street. Pool table, friendly staff, and the quieter, more conversational side of New Orleans' French Quarter gay scene. A local fixture since 1989.
• The Silver Fox — New Orleans' long-running leather and cruise bar on Burgundy Street. The French Quarter's dedicated leather venue, operating continuously in the classic American leather bar tradition.
• The Corner Pocket — French Quarter bar and entertainment venue on St Louis Street. Strip performances, a long bar, and the specific entertainment style of the New Orleans gay strip bar tradition. A neighborhood fixture.

Practical Notes

No last call means your spending is your own limit. Set one. No closing time, go cups, and New Orleans' general embrace of excess make it easy to stay out much later than you planned.

Drinks on Bourbon Street are often sold in large sizes. The "Hand Grenade" and other novelty drinks are for tourists and expensive for what you get. Standard drinks from bar menus are more reasonable. A cocktail at most French Quarter bars runs $9-14.

Balcony access during Southern Decadence and Mardi Gras is different from regular nights. If balcony access matters to you, check with specific venues about their policies for those events in advance.

For more on the city, see the Gay New Orleans Guide.