March 18, 2010
New Orleans Finest Nightlife
After Hours

November 2009

A Holiday with Pal's

11/18/09

A Holiday with Pal's

Thanksgiving is a time to partake in holiday traditions, but not all those traditions necessarily fit the Norman Rockwell image of the prayerful family gathered around a roasted turkey. For plenty of people without close family ties in the area, the Thursday feast might resemble something more akin to Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving, with friends pitching in a green bean casserole, a bottle of Beaujolais or a Hubig’s pie to help fill out a casual holiday table.

For years, if I wasn’t traveling to visit my scattered family for Thanksgiving, my own tradition called for an evening at Pal’s Lounge for drinks and repeat visits to a bar-top potluck cornucopia.

Pal’s is a small bar with a big heart, though it certainly comes from a...

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Double Takes at d.b.a.

11/04/09

Double Takes at d.b.a.

On early visits to the bar d.b.a., not long after it first opened in New Orleans, I couldn’t decide if I just didn’t fit in or if the bar itself was out of place. The owners operate another bar of the same name in Manhattan, and they replicated many of its features in their New Orleans expansion, from the dark woodwork to the blackboards dangling above with the bar’s high-end liquor selection scripted in chalk. It charged higher prices for better stuff, and the crowd veered heavily toward yuppies and suburban imports.

During that period, I was afflicted with the common and virulent New Orleans notion that shabbiness equals authenticity, as if every club in the city had to look like a Saturn Bar rummage sale to...

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About This Blog

Ian McNultyA transplant from his native Rhode Island, Ian McNulty quickly discovered how easy it is to strike up conversations with New Orleans people simply by asking about their favorite clubs and neighborhood joints.

He asked often, listened carefully and has been exploring the nightlife of the Crescent City ever since.

McNulty was the editor and principle contributor to "Hungry? Thirsty? New Orleans," a guidebook to nightspots and inexpensive restaurants around town. He is also author of "Season of Night," a memoir about life in a devastated part of New Orleans during the first few months after Hurricane Katrina.

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