Best-of list · City Guide
The best live music bars in New Orleans: Frenchmen Street jazz clubs, Tremé brass bar rooms, and the spots where the real music happens every night.
The short answer
10 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
New Orleans is the only city in the United States where the question of where to find live music is never a problem — the question is which live music to find, and that is considerably more difficult. The best live music bars in New Orleans are not the Bourbon Street clubs with the cover charges and the tourist-facing lineups. They are the rooms on Frenchmen Street, in the Tremé, in the Bywater, where the musicians are playing for the music rather than the photograph. This is where we send people.
Frenchmen Street is the single most concentrated live music corridor in the city, and possibly in the country. On a Friday or Saturday night after 10pm, every bar on this street has live music running simultaneously. The quality varies, but the best rooms here maintain a standard that rivals anything in the jazz world.
How we picked
New Orleans' live music bar scene is the deepest in the United States, which means your choices are actually about what kind of experience you want rather than whether you will find something good. Snug Harbor is the essential stop for serious jazz. The Spotted Cat is the essential stop for an evening that starts with music and ends with dancing. The Candlelight Lounge on a Wednesday night is something you cannot find anywhere else in the world.
The correct New Orleans live music itinerary: one evening on Frenchmen Street starting at The Spotted Cat and ending at Snug Harbor, and one evening at the Candlelight Lounge in the Tremé. Everything else is a bonus.
James has been covering New Orleans' live music bar scene since 2007. He has a strong opinion about which Frenchmen Street bar is worth the cover charge on a Saturday night and will defend it.
Last reviewed 2026-06-13 · The editors recheck hours and closures against current local coverage.