There are about 120 bars (including restaurants with bars) in French Quarter. I don't know how many more there are in the entire New Orleans area, but there are many, many bars here. Although I didn't (still don't) drink much I had a few places I didn't mind going with my college friends back in the days. One was Coop's Place on Decatur St. near Ursuline St. I used to eat their Rabbit Jambalaya or Mardi Gras Pasta while my friends discussed music and films, wondering off to the Abby, Molly's and the Hideout. A few years later El Matador opened up down the street on the corner of Esplanade Ave. El Matador became my would-be husband's favorite, thanks to the quality bartenders (or "the best looking tattooed up lady bartenders in the Quarter"). They had a circular bar counter in the middle of the main room and Vince Vaughn once served us beer while Supagroup played on stage.
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| El Matador I, 2012 |
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| El Matador II, 2014 |
El Matador closed way before 2012, but I painted those from photographs that I took on the last night of their existence. They moved the circular bar to their new home, One Eyed Jacks. My husband still calls that place Shim Sham Club.
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| (used to be) Butler's, 2014 |
In the late '90s Butler's still had cheap beer and Atari's. I was never a regular at Butler's. I lived too far and drank too little to appreciate the place.
Later on, we lived in a place between the Saint and the Halfmoon, and we felt at home. I think I miss that apartment the most probably because that was our home right before and after Hurricane Katrina. The various bars in town were the first to come back - if you reopen your bars, your people will come.
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