The ultimate girls’ night out in New Orleans

The Hangover’s got nothing on NOLA

If there ever was a city for a girls’ night out, it could only be New Orleans. Sure other places have music and booze and dancing (@ everywhere else in the world), but do they have second lines parading down the street on any given Tuesday, a lack of open container laws and a disdain for a drinking age of 21, and the birthplace of jazz and bounce with some blues thrown in for good measure? New Orleans is special – it’s a magical realm of decadence and history and strength and spooky. It’s a humid wonderland that just begs for the ultimate GNO, so here’s how you do it…

Dress

So your plans are set and you are super stoked about this ultimate girls’ night out. But what do you wear? In New Orleans – anything goes. If you wanted to put on the best LBD or the highest heels, go for it because ain’t no one stopping ya. But maybe you should take a moment and consider the terrain that is the pothole-ridden streets of the city and its predilection of spontaneous torrential downpours. And you should definitely consider that rarely in New Orleans are you underdressed, but too often you can be overdressed (and no I’m not talking about going topless)

Probably the wrong (but cute) way to dress

The best places to eat and dance in the city tend to be holes-in-the-wall that only care whether you’re there for a good time, not a good looking time. So feel free to wear some crazy colored and themed gear, comfortable shoes (and clothes that understand what 110 percent humidity really means), and glitter from here to heaven because that’s where your headed.

Definitely the right way to dress for New Orleans

Dinner

As every good GNO should do, it must start with a banging meal. If New York is the city of lights, Nola is the city of everything else. And lucky for us one of the things that you come to New Orleans to do is eat – so eat. Start off your night out with a meal at a restaurant like St. James Cheese Company (gourmet fruit plates and sparkling wine, duh) or head a bit fancier by trying any one of the city’s famous chef John Besh’s restaurants (if I were you I’d do Domenica just because). The point of this exercise is to get in a meal that borders (or crosses the border) of being considered orgasmic while lightly beginning to drink the night into chaos and to get a feel for the food of a city that loves their food. Besides, it’ll be a bit taxing to do the rest of the night on an empty stomach.

Thank you John Besh, thank you pasta

Drinking

I know this may come as a surprise to most of you, but New Orleans is the town for drinking. The liquor is always cheap and poured heavy and it’s the only place that openly accepts public drunkenness at any time of the day (I mean it – any time) without condemnation or the request to sober up. While these tactics may get you into trouble later in the night (when one of your girls should definitely not let you take that next shot), it means that the atmosphere around alcohol is casual and enjoyable. On the ultimate GNO you should have a drink (or two) with dinner and then head to a place that serves great cocktails while you can watch that “Nawlins” sun set:

If you try The Columns Hotel on St. Charles Street or Wayfare Restaurant on Freret, you’ll have the chance to get a feel for different parts of the city like the old-school Garden District, while sitting outside. And getting progressively more sloshed- what could be better?

Dancing

I don’t know about you, but nothing makes my night more than a good get-down. In a city that somehow knows how to blend rap, hip-hop, and jazz seamlessly, dancing is like breathing. I know clubs are fun, but there’s nothing better than shaking your ass to a live brass band that can play Louis and Drake on their instruments and have you feeling the beat like none other.

Venues in the city, like Tipitina’s or the Hi-Ho Lounge, offer cheap (say around $10) music performances almost every night where you can go, drink some more, and dance the night away. Bonus: they also usually include some form of avant garde performance like burlesque shows, vogue competitions, and more!

Blacklight party!

Bourbon

While anyone from the city of New Orleans will tell you to avoid Bourbon Street at all costs, you have to do it at least once. It’s true that the later it gets, the scarier/more unrecognizable one street can become (and yes they do hose the whole street off every morning for the start of the new day), but it’s an important place to drink your first Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s Bar and see what all the fuss of catching a bead is about (people throw them down from balconies all year long, not just at Mardi Gras, and you don’t need to give up the goods to get one unless you want to). This one street shows you how many different sides of Nola can come together for some fun and you’ll be sure to have it too.

A friend made out on Bourbon Street

Café Du Monde

When it’s 4:00am and your ultimate GNO is winding down, you’re going to be tired and drunk and hungry. While you can always head over to Camelia Grille (one is located in the French Quarter and another in the Garden District), a place that serves up diner-counter style anything-you-want grease-fest food, I suggest you finish the night off right with some hot café au lait and beignets at Café Du Monde.

Heaven.

It’s open 24/7 so getting in won’t be a problem and with seating for a couple hundred neither will getting a seat, but don’t be surprised if it’s still packed. It’s the perfect place, nestled between the French Quarter and the Mississippi to scan out across this amazing city, eat the best fried dough of your life, and realize that you are truly somewhere special. Sobering up doesn’t hurt either.

The face of someone sobering up at Cafe Du Monde at 4:38am

So when the night is over and you’re all tucking yourselves back into bed, prepare to nurse that hangover tomorrow with another round of bomb brunch (and cocktails) and remember this one thing my mom said:

“New Orleans is fun and drunk and hot and hectic. New Orleans is… a good time.”

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