The Bar At Tujague's

The bar is old and filled with the flavor of the French Quarter. At any time, local characters and celebrities can always be seen lined up drinking such classics as Sazerac's and Absinthe frappes'. At the turn of the century, Tujague's was almost half a century old. And New Orleans' original stand-up bar, with its ornately-framed French mirror (shipped from Parish in 1856), was already an institution. Politicians and policemen, lawyers and laborers came together at Tujague's, giving the bar a spirited, freewheeling style all its own. Prohibition was the law. The cypress bar at Tujague's, having splendidly survived prohibition - with three bartenders and no "real" spirits were supposed to be around - as well as depression, was still a New Orleans favorite. Veterans of the war, coming home to new jobs or long-deferred schooling, gathered at Tujague's to rehash the battles of Normandy and Okinawa, to argue about baseball and Betty Grable. The century was nearly half past. Tujague's was nearly a century old. Well into its second century, Tujague's bar, virtually unchanged, continues to delight native Orleanians and visitors alike. The ancient mirror, which graced a Parish bistro for ninety years before its journey to New Orleans is still there. As is the old cypress bar. And artists, professional and business people, workers and discriminating travelers from around the world are still rubbing elbows congenially in New Orleans' original stand-up bar - one of America's great drinking establishments.