Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop

This gutted brick cottage is one of the most atmospheric in the Quarter; it’s a bit of a crying shame it feels like a frat boy hang-out half the time. Rumors hold that this was once the workshop of the smuggler Jean Lafitte and his brother Pierre. Whether that tasty bit of lore is true or not (historical records suggest ‘not’), the ancient house did go up in the 18th century and endured the fires that destroyed most of the French Quarter during the Spanish era. This is the oldest bar in the Quarter, but that sense of history is thrown out the window at night (in a fun way), when drunk tourists gather round the back-room piano and sing along to Fats Domino and Otis Redding tunes.