Courtesy Hotel Monteleone
Situated inside Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter, the Carousel Bar has lured thirsty passersby to its 25-seat rotating bar since 1929. Marvin Allen joined the party in 2002, quickly learning how to hop over the bar top to start his evening shift (there’s no door or entryway) while patrons clapped and cheered. “It’s like the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace,” he says. “People love it.” What they don’t love is the rare occasion when the bar’s historic engine acts up and the rotation grinds to a halt. “People get really upset,” he says. “But if you give them good drinks, they forgive it.”
History Lesson
“Over a year ago, I started offering something for hotel guests called the Carousel Bar Experience. An hour before we officially open, we let 25 people sit at our bar, have a cocktail, and learn about this place. I share how the hotel came into being; the history of the Carousel Bar; Prohibition and its impact on cocktail culture; and what makes a great drink. It’s $100 per person, and when we open, you can stay in your seat as long as you want.”
Courtesy Hotel Monteleone
Grab a Chair
“Our best seats are the 25 at the rotating bar; it takes 15 minutes for them to complete a full circle. I’ve seen people try to pay for them; one guy paid $500 for two seats. I’ve also seen two people scope out the same seat, and when it opened up, they tried to pull each other off it. They both ended up getting ejected. My advice is just to be alert, walk around a little bit, and be patient. If it’s not too busy, bartenders can help with a nod or a wink.”
Drink the Square
“The Carousel Bar originated the Vieux Carre cocktail. Vieux Carre means ‘old square’ in French—it’s a reference to the French Quarter. We created it here in 1935, and some of its ingredients are a tribute to the ethnic groups living in the French Quarter at that time. For the French, there’s cognac and Benedictine; for the Americans, there’s rye whiskey; the Italians were acknowledged with sweet vermouth; and those from the Caribbean had Angostura bitters.”
A Toast to Growth
“I’ve seen the Carousel Bar go from being a local novelty to becoming an international destination. It attracts celebrities like Jessica Lange, Jeremy Irons, and Cuba Gooding Jr. A couple of episodes of NCIS: New Orleans were filmed at the bar. Overall, it’s a great place for people-watching. Not a day goes by that I don’t meet interesting people.”
This article appears in the Spring 2026 issue of Southbound.
