Snake and Jake's

John DiLeo

Charlotte Strode

Photo credit: Yelper Eddie "Crabby" C.

Last night, I took my friend Amadeus to what has become my favorite bar in New Orleans. Possibly my favorite bar in the world. I'm not a bar aficionado, so that doesn't mean very much. But I do have a thing for fairy lights (red ones!) and sleepy dogs (pets allowed!) and a low tolerance for pretension (except when it comes to fancy vocabulary .. love that).

The outside of Snake and Jake's is pretty unbelievable. I mean, it's just difficult to believe the city (even this city) hasn't shut it down. It's a literal shack, the diviest dive bar you'll ever encounter, and an institution in a neighborhood that has put a moratorium on new liquor permits. Amadeus pointed out that all of the lighting inside is red. Can you imagine? So sleazy and wonderful.

And just when I was feeling super happy with my Schlitz beer and the Supremes wafting out with the air conditioning, a chocolate lab came and fell asleep on our laps. He seems to be a regular, as I was able to find a photo (by Eddie "Crabby" C.) on Yelp.

The only downside is that smoking is allowed inside. Smoking in bars is a New Orleans tradition, which like many New Orleans traditions, doesn't make very much sense and will not catch on to evolving standards of civil decency for a very long time.

As a New Orleanian and a former occasional smoker, I feel I'm entitled to say the following: smoking indoors sucks. For everyone. This is obvious to all non-New Orleanians, but the smoke gets in your hair, your clothes, even your bra! Which is why almost every other city in the world doesn't allow it. Consideration for undergarments. And what about the romance of taking a cozy cigarette break outside? That's how I got all my dates when I lived in Paris!