Pat O'Brien's

The password was "storm's brewin'." During Prohibition, that phrase got you into Mr. O'Brien's Club Tipperary at Royal and St. Peter. On December 3, 1933, the day Prohibition ended, Pat O'Brien opened as a legal bar at the same corner. In December 1942 the operation moved to 718 St. Peter Street, into a building dating from 1791. The Hurricane cocktail was invented here in the 1940s. Liquor salesmen during World War II forced bar owners to buy up to 50 cases of rum to secure a single case of whiskey or scotch. The barmen at Pat O'Brien's came up with a recipe to reduce their bulging surplus. When they served it in a hurricane glass, shaped like a hurricane lamp, the Hurricane was born. The bar charges a deposit to keep people from walking off with the glasses. The courtyard holds the original flaming fountain, one of the most photographed bar patios in the city. The piano bar features twin "dueling" pianos where local entertainers take song requests. This format is thought to be the first of its kind. The Oechsner family took over in 1978, with general manager George Oechsner, Jr. and his son Sonny becoming proprietors. As of 2018, the bar was run by third-generation family member Shelly Oechsner Waguespack. Open daily from late morning until late.