Carnival season is upon us, and if you’re anything like me, you’re excited because this feels like the first “full” Carnival season we’ve had in a few years. Parades will roll, king cake will be sliced, and drinks will be served. So, in the spirit of combining two of our favorite things, Carnival and cocktails, these restaurants are serving special libations that will get you in the Carnival spirit.
UPTOWN
Bakery Bar
1179 Annunciation St.
Parade Day made with coffee, Bambu cream, chicory whip, and served iced or hot.
Price: $10
King Cake Martini made with beignet vodka, cinnamon sugar, and Grand Marnier.
Price: $12
Mardi Gras Sazerac made with Sazerac Rye, cinnamon sugar, and bitters.
Price: $12
Strawberry King Cake Fizz made with strawberry puree, cream, lemon, and soda. Add vodka or rum for an additional $6.
Price: $6
Gris-Gris
1800 Magazine St.
King Cake Daquiri made with King cake rum cream, praline liqueur, bayou rum and vanilla.
Price: $13, 16 ounces; $35, half-gallon
Hot Tin, Jack Rose, and Bayou Bar
2031 St. Charles Ave.
Second Line Spritz made with tequila, pamplemousse, Bonal, lemon and champagne.
Throw Me Something made with Cathead Honeysuckle, lemon, elderflower, pamplemousse and muddled strawberry.
Café Sazerac made with coffee-infused rye, vanilla, mole and Peychaud’s.
Price: $14
Saba
5757 Magazine St.
Dionysius Revival, a cucumber margarita with tequila, Ancho Reyes, cucumber agave syrup, lime and aleppo pepper.
Price: $14
The Vintage NOLA
3121 Magazine St.
I Would Pie for You made with vanilla vodka, almond liquor, amaretto, chocolate bitters, cream, and Moon Pie.
Price: $13
FRENCH QUARTER
Cane & Table
1113 Decatur St.
Hurricane & Table, A New Orleans classic painstakingly recreated with all-natural house-made fassinola, fresh citrus, and rum.
Price: $15
Effervescence
1036 N. Rampart St.
Mardi Gras Float Like a Butterfly made with Empress 1908 “Original Indigo” Butterfly Pea Flower Gin, lemon, lavender, rimmed with naturally colored cane sugar and topped with Bianca Vigna Prosecco.
Price: $16
Sotol Me Something Mister made with La Higuera “Leiophyllum” Sotol, Contratto Fernet, Bonal Gentiane-quina aperitif, grapefruit, orgeat, lime, Bertolani “Rosso All’antica” Lambrusco secco, star anise.
Price: $16
Jewel of the South
1026 St. Louis St.
Carnival Colada made with Plantation OFTD, Don Q, Hamilton Pot Still, Loquat Coco Money Love, Cointreau, Orange Blossom Cordial, and lime.
Price: $14
The Will and the Way
719 Toulouse St.
Hurritang made with rum, house-made tang, orange citrate, and burlesque bitters.
Price: $13, sold in to-go flasks with custom stickers
Tujaque’s
429 Decatur St.
Mardi Gras Smash made with bourbon, blackberry syrup, blackberry liquor, and lemon juice.
Price: $14
Virgin Hotels New Orleans
550 Baronne St.
Carnival King made with reposado tequila, Evangeline’s Praline & Pecan Liqueur, King Cake reduction, lime juice and almond milk, garnished with cinnamon sprinkle and rimmed in purple sugar.
Krewe de Espresso made with Ketel One Vodka, Amaro Averna, Evangeline’s Praline and Pecan Liqueur, Bailey’s Irish Cream, La Colombe Cold Brew Concentrate, El Guapo Chicory Pecan Bitters.
Mambo #75 made with Hendricks Gin, St. Germain, lemon, Butterfly Pea Reduction, topped with Brut and garnished with a green sugar rim and edible flower.
Price: $14- $16
Palm & Pine
308 N. Rampart St.
Simple Pleasures is an Old Fashioned variation with a brown butter brandy, canela and jeera masala syrup, and orange bitters. Served with a lollipop as a “throw.”
MID-CITY
Frey Smoked Meat Co.
4141 Bienville St.
King Cake Milkshake, a creamy, sweet zero proof milkshake served with a slice of king cake and a festive sugar rim.
Price: $11, in-house; $9, to-go
Ralph’s on the Park
900 City Park Ave.
King Cake Martini made with Stolichnaya Vodka, Chila Horchata, butterscotch schnapps, cream, with a Mardi Gras sugar rim.
Price: $12
Toups’ Meatery
845 N. Carrollton Ave.
Kings & Queens made with Cheramie Rum, Velvet Falernum, Liqueur de Cassis, Orgeat, lime and 2 dashes tobacco bitters.
Price: $19
WESTBANK
Gattuso’s Neighborhood Restaurant and Bar
435 Huey P. Long Ave.
Frozen King Cake Martini made with King Cake Vodka, praline Liqueur, and ice cream with a Mardi Gras colored sugar rim.
Price: $9.25
Mardi Gras Martini made with Grey Goose Vodka, Crème De Cacao, Frangelico, and King Cake syrup with a Mardi Gras colored sugar rim.
Price: $10.25
WAREHOUSE DISTRICT
Peacock Room
501 Tchoupitoulas St.
Carnival on the Rhine made with Pernod Absinthe Superieure, mint, coconut cream, and egg white.
Price: $19
LAKEVIEW
Sala
124 Lake Marina Ave.
King Cake Martini made with house-made cinnamon-infused vanilla vodka, Irish cream and amaretto.
Price: $12
The Velvet Cactus
6300 Argonne Blvd.
King Cake Cocktail made with King Cake Vodka, sweet amaretto, and cream.
Price: $10
METAIRIE
Los Jefes Grill
3224 Edenborn Ave.
King Cake Margarita made with Patron and King Cake syrup and served on the rocks or frozen.
Price: $14
Espresso Mardi made with vodka, espresso, King Cake syrup, and rumchata.
Price: $14
VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Copeland’s
Various Locations
King Caketini made with made with Gambino’s King Cake Rum Cream, Absolut Vodka, and soft serve vanilla mix.
Price: $11
Mardi Gras Punch made with Don Q Coco Rum, Bols Peach Schnapps, and fruit juices.
Price: $10.50
New Orleans Original Daquiris
Various Locations
Mardi Gras Mash made with bourbon, triple sec, and tropical fruit punch.
Price: $4.50- $23 (gallon)
Reginelli’s
Various Locations
King Cake Cocktail made with Fireball, Rumchata, vanilla soy milk and cinnamon, and topped with whipped cream and cinnamon crumbles.
Price: $10
