Cafe Lafitte In Exile

New Orleans, United States

4.1

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 504-522-8397
Website:
www.lafittes.com
Address:
901 Bourbon St, New Orleans, LA, 70116
French Quarter
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.3 miDumaine Station
0.3 miToulouse Station
0.3 miFrench Market Station
Categories:
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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Parking
Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Music
DJ
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Fri, Sat, Sun
Coat Check
No
Smoking
Yes
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
Yes
Has Pool Table
Yes

Today

Today –
Local time (New Orleans) 13:42 Friday, 30 May 2025

Business hours

Monday –
Tuesday –
Wednesday –
Thursday –
Friday –
Saturday –
Sunday –

Description

Specialties

Great Drinks, Great Music, Friendly Bartenders, Pool Table upstairs

History

Established in 1933.

The Daddy of ‘em all! Café Lafitte is the oldest gay bar in North America. The bar has a long and interesting history, during his years in New Orleans, Tennessee Williams used to frequent Lafitte’s along with Truman Capote. That tradition continues today as you just never know who you might run in too! The famous, infamous, locals and visitors alike all find Café’ Lafitte a great place to see & be seen while in New Orleans. Located at the corner of Bourbon and Dumaine St., Lafitte’s is at the center of New Orleans Gay Night Life and just steps away from French Quarter hotels and attractions. Downstairs is the video bar playing today’s hottest hits. «The Balcony» @ Café Lafitte’s located upstairs is a Non-​Smoking bar with Handcrafted Cocktails and contemporary lounge atmosphere with banquet setting and intimate lighting. The wrap around Balcony has sweeping views Bourbon Street and the French Quarter skyline. Check out www​.lafittes​.com for the upcoming events.

Meet the Manager

Benjamin R.

Manager

Benjamin is originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana working in the hospitality management for years. He enjoys having a good time while making people laugh. He loves Sci-​Fi movies, classical music and long walks on the beach. Come out and welcome him as the new manager.

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20 reviews of Cafe Lafitte In Exile

No registration required
Place rating: 2
New Orleans, LA
Café Lafitte is a cozy little gay bar. In the winter they have a nice fire going. They have a Balcony where you can watch the parade of people walking along Bourbon St. A draft beer will cost you 6 bucks which I think is ridiculous. If you ask the bartenders if they have local prices you will get different answers. One said yes on well drinks. The other said no. A third said yes during Happy Hour. I don’t like paying 6 bucks for an Abita Amber it leaves no room for a tip.
Place rating: 5
Alexandria, VA
Visited many of the gay bars in New Orleans over a weekend in town, and the bartenders here were the best by far. Lots of friendly guys that are happy to chat while still keeping up with good service.
If you visit, ask for Nicholas, my personal favorite who was amazingly handsome and super sweet as I flirted with him all night, though I’m sure he gets it all the time.
Fun bar — enjoy!
Place rating: 3
New Haven, CT
Ended up here a couple times for drinks. It’s a cute place and good for people watching from the balcony. It’s a gay bar but definitely a good mixed crowd. They also make a nice strong drink!
Place rating: 5
Dallas, TX
Fun bar! Our fave bartender there, Johnny, kept us entertained! Not only that, he’s a nice, smart guy! Great place! Thanks!
Place rating: 4
Sugar Land, TX
Last stop for our barhop for the night (or early morning if it matters ;)). Bartender downstairs got my first order mixed up but just ignoring it and still charged me for the drink I didn’t take, but Im mellow already and decided to let it go. After we had a couple of beer we went upstairs. It’s late Sunday evening/​early Monday morning so there’s almost nobody there. There’s long comfy padded bench around a pool table and we decided to chill there and chat. Suddenly the bartender upstairs came over to give us spicy shots on the house — turns out it has oysters and tabasco, my favorite! He’s really cool! Likes him being proactive and making things exciting for us. He deserves a nice tip when we left ^_^
Place rating: 4
Kent, WA
Had a local show me the bar on a thursday night, bartenders were great, but I’m confused over the heavy pours. They were definitely using some electronic measuring system for the booze and they were just average pours.
Extra points for the extra friendly bartenders, and was a good stop in the city in a bar that’s not overly crowded.
Place rating: 1
Heath, TX
Had one of the most embarrassing moments here last night. I go in, pay for a drink and ask where the restroom is. I’m from out of town so I naturally do not know. At this point, the bartender makes a loud announcement to everybody that I want to use the restroom then proceeds to pull out a giant toilet seat with a loud clanging key and continues to taunt me for over 5 minutes. I keep asking him to stop but he continues to make fun of me while other patrons there laugh at my expense.
I managed to snap a pic of the guy as he waved the toilet seat in my face to prove this. You absolutely should never treat another human being this way. This guy thought he was being funny in front of his friends but it was flat out mean!
I eventually had to leave because he wouldn’t leave me alone. I told him I would leave if he didn’t stop and he just shrugged. Obviously, this must happen here all the time. It was extremely unprofessional and I will never come back here again.
Place rating: 5
New Orleans, LA
Stopped here for only a short while out on my birthday bar crawl. The experience was still a great one, even though it was short. Jarek was our bartender and he was the absolute best! He made us the best lemon drop shot and was a total sweetheart. We’ll definitely stop by again.
Place rating: 3
Saint Louis, MO
We spent our last evening in NOLA here per the recommendation of local friends. It was Super Bowl Sunday, which I generally don’t care about. BUT — they were broadcasting it on the neighboring building, and we happened to land patio seats. Therefore, it was a more unique SB experience.
So there’s this thing that goes on here on Sunday nights. It was worth going here for. Perhaps a lil’ known secret amongst the LGBTers in NOLA. They do this hilarious thing involving ‘Looking for a City’ by Vestal Goodman followed by an even more hilarious affair featuring ‘Love Is In the Air’. I’ve never seen so many napkins in the air, on the bar, on the floor… everywhere…before in my life.
So worth it. Trash Disco. If in NOLA on a Sunday and looking for something to do — go to Café Lafitte and share this moment.
Place rating: 5
Sulphur, LA
Mardi Gras would have been much worse anywhere else on Bourbon Str. My crew and I visited several other bars that required us to pay between $ 15-​$ 25 a head just to get in the front door!
We came to Café Lafitte and we were greeted by Dennis at the door. Dennis gave us the red carpet treatment and showed us to the restroom. Most other places would have demanded that we purchase a drink right away or leave! Thank you to Dennis we made this our favorite spot during the Carnival season! Drinks were just $ 5 and we have many laughs with bartenders on both floors… Did I mention even the bar manager came up and said hello to us and made great conversation??? Truly amazed we offered to buy him a drink and he politely stated that while grateful for the offer he would decline because other employees were not allowed to drink behind the bar and he should respect his fellow employees by not drinking in front of them.
Truly an outstanding bar from management on down to even the little Asian Bar back whose names escapes me. They have their holiday season really organized and made us feel right at home!
Thank you guys!
Place rating: 5
New Orleans, LA
Had a great time at Café Lafittes over Mardi Gras. Mainly due to Jake Sniffen he was witty., funny and very charming and makes a great drink. So do yourself a favor and look him up when you pop in there. He is also nice to look at!
Place rating: 5
New Orleans, LA
The bartenders here are really really nice.
Pro tip: locals get $ 3 wells all day.
The Bloody Mary is… a Bloody Mary. Lol it’s fine but at this point don’t we all expect some pickled veggies and citrus? It’s 2014.
Both times I’ve visited I’ve been the only lady in the bar but this didn’t phase me and didn’t seem to phase anyone else. If you don’t like being surrounded by gays and Kelly Clarkson videos you may not like it here. I LOVE it.
Place rating: 4
Vancouver, Canada
Love the balcony. This is on the quiet end of Bourbon– you can see the crazy part of the strip in the distance, but this end is lively but not crazy. They project videos of the music they’re playing on the wall across the street above the Clover Grill. I like that kind of thing. Friendly bartenders, decent prices for Bourbon St, and the you can look right down into the windows of the Clover Grill. Watched a couple of big bearded dudes have an arm wrestle, bicep flex, then a thumb war. In that order.
Place rating: 3
Washington, DC
Grab a mimosa and a screwdriver for our BYOB brunch at EAT, just 2 blocks down. New Orleans amazes me — Sunday morning at 11am and you’ve got the locals and tourists in there trying to grab a drink.
The price for 2 drinks was $ 12, I believe, which is such a steal coming from DC where a mimosa can cost you $ 12. I should have asked for the champagne bottle to go too.
Place rating: 4
San Francisco, CA
Probably overall my favorite gay bar in the French Quarter. That said, I wasn’t massively impressed with gay bars in the French Quarter.
THAT said, Keith was a nice fellow and gave me cheap drinks and local advice, and I enjoyed chatting with him a bit… so… props to Keith… and props to the vibe at this place, whose name remains inexplicable to me.
Place rating: 5
Jacksonville, FL
Awesome time! Great bar staff! Friendly and helpful and very knowledgeable about alcohol and the area!
Place rating: 5
Saint Louis, MO
This place treated me and my friend (who just turned 21) very well during our visit in March. This is much more of a bar than a club. Its a good place to take a break during the day and enjoy a drink.
All the folks working here are friendly.
The upstairs balcony is amazing. Its great for people watching and enjoying some good drinks.
This bar is open 24⁄7 and has very cheap happy hour specials.
Its located in the heart of the FQ.
Place rating: 4
Baton Rouge, LA
Great Bloody Marys that are well balanced between booze and juice and garnished with a Cornucopia of fresh and pickled veg. Oh yeah, the double was only $ 6 on Sunday morning. Between the great drink and the fast, friendly service, it was a great day to start off the day! This place just has a great vibe too!
Place rating: 4
Chicago, IL
Stopped in one late afternoon for a drink and a break from the craziness that is the French Quarter. Was immediately welcomed by the upstairs bartender. Since it was early in the evening (for New Orleans anyway), it was just myself and the bartender upstairs, so we talked about New Orleans in general, and the history of the bar.
He also made a real good drink for me too.
After a while other patrons started coming upstairs, and they joined in the conversation. Felt very comfortable there.
Unfortunately I didn’t stay long enough for the «night activities», but when I come back to New Orleans, I look forward to coming back.
Place rating: 5
Pasadena, CA
Clearly the best gay bar in the French Quarter and just possibly the best bar in the French Quarter (can’t say for sure, since I’m still working my way through all of them).
Everything a gay bar should be: welcoming, naughty, fun and cheap (just like me!).
Lose your pretensions and inhibitions, grab yourself a new friend and a bourbon, and sit on the balcony and enjoy the never-​ending show.
Weirdest bathroom award. There’s a bizarre little slot in the bottom of the bathroom that adjoins the neighboring bathroom. The mind boggles as to its purpose!
A special shout-​out to barkeep Jeremy (a.k.a. Sharpie), who’s lighthearted, wry charm was one of the highlights of my most recent trip to the Big Easy (a nickname after my own heart.).