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I had a dream last night that I was sipping an ice cold dirty martini on the front porch of the Columns Hotel on a hot and sticky New Orleans summer evening. I don't know if I was dreaming this because I constantly ache for New Orleans or because I constantly ache for a cocktail now that I am pregnant and abstaining. Either way, I woke up feeling sad and nostalgic.
I haven't eaten at the Columns and haven't stayed there but I sure have visited the bar a number of times. While pricey, the cocktails are very large and well-mixed. The view from the front porch is stunning, overlooking St. Charles and the trolley line. If its uncomfortably hot or humid outside, the indoor bar area is fancy and antique-like. Overall, its very pleasant and old-world New Orleans.
A few years back a friend of mine was a Professor at Tulane University. She lived about a short block and half away from St Charles Avenue and The Columns Hotel, in the heart of the Garden District.
The Columns Hotel is a really cool, big, white mansion which was converted into a Hotel years ago. It has a great front porch on which to chill with friends, have a drink and people watch.
Whiskey and Bourbon is poured quite liberal-y in New Orleans and The Columns Hotel..... Check them out next time you head down there...
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New Orleans Birthday Trip = After Dinner Drinks on St Charles
After a upscale dining, there's really only one thing to do: go to a classy place to go sip on some bourbon. It is the South, after all, so where better to go than a plantation house converted into a hotel?
Venue:
The Columns is a large, white mansion, made all the more impressive and presence-demanding by it's traditional atmosphere. The main lounge is decorated in elegant Victorian style, complete with a mahogany bar and chandeliers. The fireplace will keep you warm and if you get too hot, you can lounge on the front patio and watch the streetcars ramble by.
From what I've heard though, the atmosphere has changed some. What used to be relaxed and mostly quiet has transformed into a site of the popular and trendy, but that undertone of sexy sophistication is still there. Grab a Sazerac or a bourbon on the rocks, or if you're me a Mount Gay and diet, run a tab and talk the night away.
You'll meet a whole range of people: college students looking not to get carded or break away from the usual Greek watering holes, locals who are so perfectly Southern, visitors staying in the hotel and as far away as Metairie, or businessmen from downtown looking for a break. No matter what, you'll fit in here.
Food:
While we were only there for drinks, they do serve food and have a brunch on Sundays. I hear it's not too shabby but nothing to lust over. Still, I prefer it as a late night spot, the vibe just feels right for it.
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I've never eaten or stayed at the Columns, but there has been many a day or evening where I've craved (and, more often than not, obtained) a cocktail from here. Traditional cocktails are well-done. I am particularly fond of their mojitos and mint juleps in the summertime, sazeracs in the winter. The only draft beer is Abita Amber. Don't go at night when there are a ton of students; go early and drink with their parents and professors. After many visits, I've found plenty of quiet areas to drink despite any crowd.
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Cool spot for a drink in the old white columny building.
Cost to worth it rating: 3
Highlights:
- Atmosphere: old time saloony, haunted house feel to it. Divided into a few areas: bar, maroon veloury circular couch you can sit on facing outwards, room of tables, and the patio.
- Shoot location: a movie with Brooke Shields was filmed here.
- High cab trafficed location: right on St. Charles so easy to grab a cab--the staff at the hotel will go stand on the middle divider to hail one for ya.
Lowlights:
- Cab ride distance: not really a destination spot, but if you're in the Garden District area, definitely go check it out.
Not sure if I'll be back, but enjoyed the short time I hung out there for a post-dinner drink.
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I was really disappointed with this place, mainly because of the service.
We made reservations for their Sunday Jazz brunch well in advance. When we arrived there was a guy playing an acoustic guitar outside and all the tables were full. The host told us we had to sit inside. The inside was empty except for a large group of loud guys (maybe 8 of them). LOUD!
It was freezing inside.
The dinning room was not even set up right and it took three tries to get us silverware and napkins. T
The food took forever to come out and it was cold when it did.
THERE WAS NO JAZZ!!!!!!!!!!
Our server was inattentive and was just hanging out in the kitchen according to another server who we had to ask to get ours twice.
FAIL! The service here blows and considering the price range there is absolutely no excuse for this.
We will never be returning.
Thanks for a crappy brunch Columns Hotel!
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*NOTE: This is not a review of the actual hotel itself, but the Sunday Jazz brunch.
I've never stayed in the hotel, but passed it on the streetcar while riding through the Garden District one Saturday afternoon, and knew that was where I had to have brunch the following morning. I was not disappointed.
The food quality is exquisite... perhaps something you'd expect to eat as Scarlet O'Hara's brunch guest, from a century gone by. Each person gets a complimentary glass of champagne, and for an extra $10 or so, you can purchase the whole bottle (our choice). I had the scallops, and while I cannot remember the exact sauce (this was almost a year ago), I remember it was very rich and drizzled over a bed of greens. The breakfast potatoes were good as well, and the champagne just made everything that much better!
We very much enjoyed sitting on the outdoor porch and watching people mosey along the sidewalks to and from church or shopping. The antebellum-style columns, the hotel's namesake, are breathtaking -- and why I noticed it in the first place. The musician who was there the Sunday was also very good, and played a wide variety of jazz favorites and covers of more recent songs.
Our service was quite good and we left full, happy and appreciative for the small joys in life (like a lazy Sunday brunch with the one you love). Highly, highly recommended.
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During college, I spent many evenings at the Columns, drinking cool drinks on green tablecloths. It's a great central meeting point uptown, and accommodates everybody- nobody has a bad time at the columns. The only bad thing is erratic waitress service, but no matter- you can always trot inside to the darkness of the bar and get your own. No big deal.
I returned recently and stayed here. I actually had a great experience. Everyone was very friendly, and while this is not a luxury hotel, I felt the accommodations were very fair for the price. Plus, they're so eclectic and sooo New Orleans...I'm sure there are ghosts in there somewhere. Plus, how great is it to be able to walk upstairs from happy hour and take yourself a little nap before the evening's activities? So great.
Drink here, stay here, whatever. Just go to the Columns!
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Decent place for a drink, very awkward couples getting sloshed before they head back upstairs
My go-to-bar for when I have out of town guests. If they have a teenager, you can sit outside. If you have a member of the senior generation, they still love the locale.
Great ambiance, good drinks, amazing people-watching
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I stayed here in the fall and well it was interesting to say the least. Each room in the hotel has a specific theme. Check out the hotel's website so that you can really get a gist of how different each room is. The hotel is the opitomy of old school New Orleans, which means it has that kind of eerie feel to it. A lot of the rooms have those paintings that follow you with their eyes, which would be okay if it wasn't a painting of children across from your bed.
All in all, The Columns Hotel was an experience that is unique to New Orleans.
FunFact: Pretty Baby (1978) was filmed here.
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I am going to skip the part where I would normally rave about the awesome happy hour, good drinks, unique atmosphere, etc, because it's been clearly established how great the Columns is on a day-to-day basis. However, I just held a party there over the weekend and I wanted to let everyone know how awesome it was!
The catering director, Sasha, is great. She was very communicative and accommodating.
We got to have a tasting before-hand to pick the food (we were just doing hors d'oeuvres) which was quite fun. They had to pair our tasting with a wedding rehearsal group, which ended up being a blessing in disguise because we sampled some things that I wouldn't have thought to try. The tasting was what sold me on their wonderful mini quiches - I could eat those all day! We picked the quiches, mini-muffulettas, oysters Rockafeller, and petit fours.
The staff on the day of the party was superb. Our bartenders couldn't have been more friendly, and their drinks were perfect as usual. The servers were great about making rounds with the hors d'oeuvres. One of the senior staff members was on hand the entire time to make sure everything went smoothly.
By the way, the petit fours were a huge hit. You can't sample them beforehand, but they are made by Sucre and trust me, they're worth it.
Just wanted to add an update for their Sunday Jazz Brunch, which I haven't attended in almost 6 years. It comes a-la-carte, $30 / person includes soup (Gumbo and de jour available), salad, entree (2 breakfast specials and the rest lunch), and either champagne or mimosas. The Southern Breakfast includes the most perfectly prepared grits I have ever tasted.
Brunch at The Columns is pefect for a special occasion, but is undoubtedly lovely in the fall when the its not stifling outside. The uptown oak trees have finally regrown their canopies 3 years after Katrina and the St. Charles streetcar is running again! Perfect picturesque breakfast spot to enjoy the deep South.
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I stop at the Columns everytime I am in town. This old-time mansion-turned-hotel is in the company… Read more »
I'm rating this on the bar. This place is known for it bar, not its food, and based on the reviews below, that seems to be the consensus.
The bar is fantastic. While service can be a bit slow at the actual bar, the drinks are good (despite a moderate beer selection) and reasonably priced. Sitting at a table and getting a cocktail waitress is a better option. Sitting on the porch is a fantastic every time. They manage to make it comfortable even in the summer heat. This is New Orleans and old school south at its most relaxing best.
When I go to Heaven (fingers crossed) it will be sitting on the porch at the Columns with a dirty martini... watching the streetcars pass by.
The garden district is beautiful in itself, but with a cocktail and great clientele and this porch, you just cannot get a better time.
Love the bar in the back, very speakeasy-style. Decor is old NOLA.
Highly recommended, not so much to bring your A-Game, just to relax and have some laughs while spending time in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
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This is a really cool place to hang out for a drink. As visitors, we were looking for an experience that was uniquely NOLA, and I think we got it. I've had some cool experiences in Miami, but this was really unique. The drink prices were good too.
Really nice place to have a drink on the porch amongst the greenery of the Garden District and watch the cars go by. I had heard the food was not so great so I didn't try anything. Make sure you walk a little inside because the decor is really cool.
Downsides: poor service, expensive drinks, no happy hour specials. The patio waitress was inside at the bar hanging out so we got our own drinks from the bartender and then sat outside. She passed through a few times, but never made eye contact with us or checked to see whether we wanted anything else. We had to go back into the bar to close the tab. Lame.
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I feel as though I can now write a full bodied review because I have not only visited the Columns on many a day sipping cocktails on the front porch, but I have most recently spent the NYE as a guest upstairs. (sorry to disappoint, but no ghosts :( ., my companion was talking with the owner on NYE, and he claims there are no ghosts)
This once brothel is an outstanding place to spend your afternoon. How one can complain about this place, I don't know. You are in a magnificant landmark, overlooking St. Charles avenue. I mean, really.
I spent a Thanksgiving here many years ago with a family member and I can tell you that the meal was wonderful.
As far as the hotel, my only complaint was that the walls were very thin and we continued to hear some tunes from downstairs into the early morn. Other than that, the room was wonderful, and to be honest when I am in NOLA I'm not spending my time in my hotel room.
How can you beat a place that served some damn good black eyed peas, cabbage, corned beef and cornbread on January 1 for all patrons?
Oh yea, I'll be back................hopefully soon.
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This is an old ante bellum mansion with soaring columns and a wide sweeping deck with a charming cozy bar inside and several rooms for private events.
It is deep in the garden district and is well-worth visiting if you're here on vacation nd want to get out or the French Quarter and to see some of the beautiful older homes.
Dinks are ok, service adequate, it's just a great stop for a lazy dink. The columns is also rumored to have one of the best happy hours in town, but I have yet to make it that early, it's more of an after-dinner spot for me.
Note: It can be very difficult to get a taxi home l if you didn't drive, so make sure you arrange for a ride or bring a taxi number with you.
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Seriously one of the best brunch experiences of my life. A brunch like this would need a payment plan in my old beloved city of NYC. In NO however you get the royal treatment (a 4 course brunch) for 32 bucks. We walked right up and got the best table in the house seated directly front and center on their amazing patio. As our waiter came by to offer us a mimosa an effing butterfly floated by on a breeze and landed in the GORGEOUS garden below. I felt like I was dreaming. The bartender knows his or her stuff and our drinks did not disappoint. My dish was sort of a flaky birds nest with an egg nestled inside but was prepared to be eggs benedict. It came with a side of alligator sausage which was delicious. The prix fixe also came with a dessert. I chose the cheesecake (which was awesome with a raspberry compote) and my husband got the strawberries and cream which were HEAVEN, and my friend got the chocolate brownie in a fudge sauce which was v. good but not my favorite of our table's selections (a bit too heavy for my taste but good). When we finished our heavenly meal our waitress encouraged us to stay and enjoy our coffee as long as we liked. It was the cherry on top of a perfect weekend....with some mother-effing butterflies...damn, I still feel like that part was a dream.
I thought the decor and the atmosphere was what made this place really nice since it was a traditional old school Southern hotel and I was all about experiencing charm and Souther hospitality on visit to New Orleans.
Seeing as it was Mardi Gras it was pretty crowded and all I ordered was beer so I can't really comment on the drinks much. Still it was quite charming and the person I was visiting says she goes all the time for a drink with friends mainly because of the feel of drinking in an old Southern hotel.
This is a story called, "A Rainy Sunday Brunch on the Columns Hotel Front Porch."
We ducked in for brunch to escape the rain on Sunday. The maitre'd offered us a wet table or the one by the door, saying that that was the only one available. OK, we took the one next to the door. Three minutes later, one of the inside tables left and no one ever replaced them. Why didn't he offer the dry table indoors?
The menu was poorly laid out and did not say that the brunch was prix fixe, which is fine, but it would have been good to know that given that we read over the menu and waited well over 10 minutes for the waiter to greet us. When he finally did greet us, we had to ask him to explain how the menu works and if there were any specials. Isn't that his job? Why did we have to ask?
We ordered mimosas. The waiter brought over our old-timey, charming champagne glasses, you know, the ones that are wide and shallow and help the bubbles diffuse faster? Yeah, those. Then, he proceeded to mix our mimosas at the table using a bottle of Tropicana and a bottle of cheap champagne, which had perspired and dripped water all over my bread plate. It was incredibly tacky, especially for a $30++ meal.
Speaking of the bread, the maitre d' brought us bread immediately upon seating. He laid out FIVE short, cold french loaves and some cold butter. Why do two people need FIVE loaves of bread?
When we asked about certain items on the menu, the waiter responded with a bunch of "I really don't know's," and few confident suggestions.
The crab, corn and brie bisque was very very good. It was creamy, but not too rich. I liked that the portion size wasn't for an army.
We ordered salads, but the waiter forgot to bring them out and brought our entrees. He'd forgotten who ordered what and laid them on the table with the meat facing the wrong direction.
We reminded him of the salads and then he brought them. The meal was delicious, though, to be honest. The crab & crawfish cakes were rather rich, and would be well balanced if they put a few baby greens on the plate, but they were excellent. The german beef & veggie special was down-home tasting and yummy. The salads were fresh and well-presented.
Then, for desserts. He brought back the giant menus for us to read the three desserts they were offering, obviously because his brain was fried and he couldn't be bothered to memorize them. He brought out the desserts in no time, but didn't bother to notice that we'd need utensils. So, we sat staring at our lovely desserts until he returned with someone else's food.
While we were dining, we overheard our waiter talking (in a boasting sort of way) about how he'd worked another job until 5:30am that morning.
Overall, I would not recommend The Columns for Sunday Brunch. I think for drinks at night it would be lovely, though I can't say I've been in ages. For brunch, the service was LOUSY, the food was pretty good, though they could improve upon the bread service, and the host could use some training. I'm giving it 2 stars: 1 for the food and 1 for the decor and nice jazz guitar action.
On a hot, summer night in NOLA, sit out on the porch of the Columns. Drink your mint julip, watch the streetcars pass along St Charles, and you'll realize why there is no other city like New Orleans.
Happy hour runs 5:30-7 mon-friday, and that is when i would recommend going to the columns. The food is unremarkable, but this is a great place to sit out on the patio and look out over St. Charles Ave. If you ever end up spending the night here, watch out for ghosts.
The place for drinks in New Orleans. True southern style and hospitality, with an outdoor area on the steps overlooking Charles street and a couple of opulent oak paneled rooms to sip happy hour cocktails. Just as a reference drinks for 8 during happy hour ran around $30 including tip?!
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