A timeless local music institution who's famously hosted The Goo Goo Dolls, Patti Smith, Willie Nelson and many other unforgettable musicians on tour throughout the Big Easy. 

Bubbles and bites. An elegant champagne bar in the French Quarter to get the day or night started. 

A speakeasy living-room style bar in the 7th ward who's mission is to serve the best whiskey and cigars in the city. Simple as that. 

Local Funky split level bar for different moods: The relaxed downstairs with pool tables and an upstairs for dancing and jazz. Live music seven nights a week plus incredible late-night Spanish tapas to keep you going all night. 

A required stop for serious cocktail enthusiasts. Every detail in their cocktail crafting process is a work of art and you'll know from the very first sip of their classic French 75, made with cognac instead of gin.

Inside the newly opened Peter and Paul Hotel is the talk-of-the-town bar (from the same people behind wine-hang Bacchanal) serving part French, part Southern small plates with an antique decor that you'll want to extend your aperitif-o-clock to all day. 

The mantra: Rosé all day. And this little wine and cheese shop has an extensive selection. Take yours out back to the private courtyard and enjoy live music (seven nights a week).

There is a carousel — complete with carnival lights on the cresting — rotating ever so slowly in a counter-clockwise fashion around two bartenders and their top-shelf liquors. Stools act as chariots. Sidle up and take a spin. Things really get interesting after a few gin cocktails.  

Teetering on the edge of the French Quarter (on a nondescript street behind a nondescript door) is a fine drinking establishment for modern cocktail enthusiasts. Drinks are made with more than TLC: Fresh juices, homemade tinctures, and rare liquors go into every concoction.

A divey, boozy spot for live music (jazz, Dixieland, zydeco) and real good beer.

A very classy, Mad Men-style living room setting for polished cocktails and conversation. What's not to love about a snack menu divided into Fried, Sliced Meats, and Sweets?

The "proto tiki" bar is all about classy daquiris, gin with coconut water, and the Boss Colada. An excellent Caribbean-inspired menu (peas and rice, grilled yardbird) can be served to you at the rustic bar or at tables in the airy courtyard out back.

A classic dive bar and headquarters of awesome sandwich operation Killer Poboys. French bread is stuffed with meat and veggies and other stuff that can soak up all the booze.

Familiarize yourself with the house rules (no baseball caps or shorts, boys) before heading over to this schmancy cocktail bar on a happening little strip Uptown. The space, a reclaimed firehouse, is spacious and sharp. Small plates are carefully prepared and served late.

The offerings in the bakery up front give king cakes around the city a run for their money. The other baked goods put a modern spin on Southern delicacies: housemade biscuits and Hawaiian rolls, sweet potato casserole, pot pies, buttermilk panna cotta, monkey bread, and more.  A full restaurant for breakfast, lunch, and dinner can be found in the back.

Pick up a croissant or an iced latte and marvel at the delicious treats on display. Those dessert cases were shipped over straight from France. The lunch menu offers sophisticated bistro classics. The space is bright and white, with pretty French blue chairs that summon the Riviera.

Look out for a strange-looking building with a blue roof. Mosey inside for French Press, V60, Chemex, or any other fancy coffee drinks you can muster, and do not sleep on the range of beautiful pastries and baked goods (coffee cakes, breakfast kolaches, biscuits, and sausage rolls).

A teenie-weenie Third Wave espresso joint perfect for to-go lattes and post-drinking, pour-over perfection.

This corner shop, quietly residing on a residential street, feels like a real find. A diverse crowd settles into the morning with Vietnamese coffees, chai teas, and Japanese mochi sweets. A bright orange couch punctuates the bright white room.

Beat the heat with the local treat of choice, an icy snoball drenched in sweet fruit-flavored syrup. Open April through September.

Step a few feet off Magazine St. for a frothy chai tea latte, vegan muffins, and plenty of seating to spread out with a newspaper or computer.

It's a tourist trap, but there's fried dough covered with mounds of powdered sugar, and you are only human. Best bet: Buy a can of chicory coffee and a souvenir box of beignet mix to recreate your own Du Monde at home.

It's a marketer's dream-come-true: The city's most buzzed about doughnut shop is run by a couple of police officers. It's one big pastry case of delights: red velvet, maple bacon, pb&j, and orange frosted doughnuts are glazed, filled, twisted, and also made into ice cream sandwiches.